Rupture // h.s au

48. "Anne first."

Autumn

There was a little boy. Brown curls flowing with the kind wind. Laughter, filling the atmosphere, like the whole world was joyful, simply because he was. He was running around his parents, touching their heads, stumbling, and falling over, into their laps. They were laughing too.

The mother pointed a finger, at the far away distance. His curious, perfectly green, eyes followed to find a shadow of a young girl. A breathtaking smile took over his features, as he stood himself up, walking away from his parents and towards her.

She looked familiar. I felt for her. Though, I didn't know what exactly I felt. It was an odd sense of nostalgia, but I didn't know if I wanted to go back, or run away from her, just yet. So, I watched her, as she huffed the hair away from her forehead, smiling ever so brightly at the boy with the calm, green, eyes.

They stood there, watching one another, like the world circled in the other's eyes. Like the stars and the moon fell in his eyes, for the sun to rise in hers. Like that was where they existed, where they could just... be. She touched his shoulder, and he cowered away, immediately running, knowing that she'd chase after him. And she did.

I looked down onto my hands that were cut and bruised and painted in an ugly shade of red. I could feel the blood, drying into my hair, but also, falling onto what was left uncovered of my skin. I could feel the layers of dust covering me, like I had been buried. Like I wasn't even alive. And watching them, radiating love and happiness and life, I realized that I wasn't. I hadn't been in a very long time.

The parents were laughing within themselves. The mother leaned against the father, as he kissed her forehead, pulling her closer, like she was all that mattered. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to be held by him, but then he said something, concerning the playful children, and she squinted a single eye, taking them in, before laughing again.

Then, the girl raised a hand in the air, waving it at a figure that I couldn't see yet. Her features brightened, as she pointed at herself, as if willing that person to watch her, taking pride in how she was almost catching him. Almost, but not quite. My eyes moved away from the children, falling onto a woman. The most beautiful woman I had ever seen. That girl had her eyes, and her hair color, yet she wasn't nearly as beautiful. I wondered if she wished she'd grow into that. I wondered if she reminded her mother that she was beautiful, every single night, before she was being put into bed.

I felt myself almost smiling, though, tears had fallen against my skin. They felt cold. I looked down, to wipe them away, and when I looked up again, the woman had fallen to her knees, screaming out. A gasp went past my lips, as I felt it all at once. The blinding ache in my head. The paralyzing numbness in my limbs. The blood coursing through my veins, oozing out of my multiple open wounds. The arms holding my body. The chest against which I rested.

I willed my eyes to open, before I'd witness anything that would break me any further. I willed myself to awake, before I was too far gone, to ever come back. I was met with the green eyes of my dreams, but they were a bit darker now. A lot sadder too. So much older than they were ever meant to be. He watched me, in a way similar to how the young boy watched the girl, yet, nothing like it. He looked at me like I had ruined his world, rather than built it. Like I had taken away every single source of light, instead of putting the stars and the moon in his night's sky. He looked at me like I had killed something inside him, that he could never be again. Perhaps, I had.

" Another nightmare?" He questioned, looking away from me, as if he couldn't bear it.

" What happened? I thought you left."