Finding Aria (Wᴀᴛᴛʏ Aᴡᴀʀᴅs 2013)

18-♪- Hangovers and Bacon

♪-Chapter-eighteen

            Teegan:

            Stirring awake, the bright sun makes my eyes sting with tears. Yawning, my eyes flutter open to see the rising sun settling into the sky.

            I look around at the surround trees and the city below the small cliff area. We had fallen asleep outside.

            The air was slightly cool and I glance to the ground to see Aria resting her head on my chest, her arms clutching me to her.

            Smiling, I brush a strand of her hair to the side and stare at her peaceful features.

            I don’t like her.

            I can’t like her.

            I can’t like her.

            Gosh was she beautiful.

            Being careful not to stir her awake, I slowly lower her head onto my makeshift pillow jacket before standing up and stretching.

            I pause briefly, feeling a pressure imbalance, like my ears were clogged with water.

            I sigh in frustration, my arms dropping to my side. That’s why I didn’t hear any of the birds chirping, or the sound of the city awakening.

            Straying to the edge of the small cliff, I look straight down, thickets of trees and mounds of grass and dirt rolling a path to the city. Looking a bit to the right, I can see the ocean and smell the salty smell of revival and life.

            If only I could hear the roar of waves crashing and tumbling over… if only I could wake up one morning without the worry that I might not be able to hear…if only I could wake up with the assurance that I would be able to hear my own voice.

            Picking up a rock, I bring my arm back before angrily throwing it forward, hurdling through the air.

            It wasn’t fair.

            It wasn’t fair to lose the ability to hear the soft lull of music. It wasn’t fair that it was happening slowly, like a creeping monster about to pounce. I never knew when my hearing would leave and return.

            Crouching down, I drag my finger through the powdery dirt. Instead of the monsters under my bed now, they have moved up to my head.

            Never being able to hear the staccato beat of a guitar, the flow of a grace note played by the piano, never being able to hear the passion and emotion within a voice…

            Disabled.

            What a word.

            ~*~

Aria:

            Yawning, my eyes pop open, the brightness of the sun making me wince.

 I rub my eyes, pulling Teegan’s jacket up to my chin, but now my feet were cold.

            Frowning, I try to situate the jacket so it covered my body.

            Obviously not working, I huff a sigh, fully awake now.

            “To big for my jacket or something?” A voice asks.