When Stars Align

Tree Sap In Wintertime

July 28th, 2017.

The following morning came quicker than she wanted too. Her blue and white alarm clock that had a plastic seal plastered on the top chimed a horrendous tune, and she could've sworn the seal was snickering at her. It's stupid plastic face looked like it took delight in stirring it's victims awake. Hannah stared at it as her brain tried to kickstart it self, but was failing miserably. How on earth was it morning already? It felt like she slept for five minutes. With a low sigh, Hannah clambered out of her bed, and silenced the seal.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Hannah stared blankly at the wall as she rubbed her eyes. The rusty pistons in her brain finally started to churn, and her eyes went wide as she remembered the night prior. In the blink of an eye, her phone was already in hand.

No new messages.

Air slowly released from her nostrils as she sat in thought. In her mind, she figured this Victoria would at-least introduce herself more properly. Maybe looks were deceiving, and they were incredibly shy? A yawn escaped as she opened the message prompt, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

HannahTree17: Hey! With class starting in just over a week, I think it'd be best if we got to know each other a little. What time would work for you so we can call?

Pressing the send button shouldn't be nerve wracking, but it suddenly was. Hannah tentatively placed her phone on the nightstand, half expecting it to jump at her with the force of seventeen gorillas.

Placing her paraphernalia into the jewelry box, she made quick work of returning it to Marlene's closet. It was safe there. No one ever entered the room besides her, or her brothers. They were too short to reach up in the top of the closet. It was also unlikely for Connie and Jasper to snoop around in an old jewelry box. Band posters and photographs plastered the walls, and beads hung from the ceilings like vines in a dense rainforest. The earthy fumes of incense embedded itself in the drywall. It was a jungle of punk, she'd like to say. Marlene left for college a year ago, pursuing music like she always said she would.

The teenager returned to her room with a soft sigh, clasping her hands against each other before she made her bed. White sheets and a dark blue comforter lined the bed, along with a heavy quilt made by her mother. The quilt was a mixture of dark blue and green, growing lighter in color the closer it got to the edge. Setting her pillows back in place, she gave a quick glance to the corner shelf about two feet above the mattress. The shelf seated two stuffed aquatic creatures. One was a sea otter, that sported a mischievous grin on it's face. The other was a seal, that had a monocle and a top hat.

They were odd, but one held significant meaning. Oscar the otter was around thirteen years old, given to her by Aunt Cindy at the Georgia Aquarium. She distinctly remembered how hard that woman pinched her cheek as she handed her the fuzzy creature. It was like a Hermit crab that was just itching to clamp down on her poor, tender cheek. Even at five years old, that was the trip that transcended her passion. A unique passion for her location, Mom always said. There was something so tantalizing, indescribably beautiful about the world under water.

Her nose scrunched in thought. Climbing on her bed, Hannah carefully moved her otter's paw. It wasn't resting on the seal's flipper, like she always enjoyed to see. It was an innately minuscule problem, but the seal would get upset without it's friend holding him. With an amused chuckle, she got back down again before straightening the sheets a second time.

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With a hearty sigh, Hannah sat down on a hay bale. The boots she wore and the bottoms of her jeans plastered with earthy, slimy muck. Wiping off her hands with her jeans, she quickly turned to the aluminum wrapped BLT Momma had made for her. A lovely mid-afternoon snack. One bite and she was already in heaven. Nothing beat her cooking. Nothing.