Take Me To Heaven

The Calling of The Sun

Layla sits at the edge of the window sill and glances out into the open. The sky that is usually dotted with starts is now painted in nothing but pitch black. It stretches on for miles and miles. Like it has no end and no beginning.

The truth is, Layla can't see anything at all. All she sees is black. Everything has been left to waste away in the absence of light and Layla is certain that it's the same throughout the rest of Earth. It's a shame nobody seems to believe her, though.

"Why do you keep looking outside when you can't see anything?"

It's her brother, Odion. He's standing by the door, probably nursing a cup of shai. She can smell the rich herbal aroma all the way from here and the subtle rumbling of her stomach reminds her that she hasn't eaten for the last eight hours.

There's a shuffling of feet and Layla can hear her brother's steady breathing as he stands beside her. He's looking at her and he's frowning because her brother doesn't know how to smile. It's as though he's afraid his face will crack if he does.

There is unspoken silence in the air. Odion wants to say something but he's holding his tongue. So Layla speaks for him.

"I'm not making it up, you know."

"Not this again--"

"Last night the sun didn't set, Odion. It fell. I swear that I saw it with my own two eyes. I swear it!"

"Enough!" Odion slams his cup onto the sill and some of the content spills out onto his sister's hand. The liquid is scorching and it's burning her flesh but Layla doesn't make a sound, and Odion doesn't seem to notice.

"This isn't the first time you've made up ridiculous stories about the things you've seen. You're blind. All you see is darkness. All you will ever see, is darkness." And he suddenly stops, like he's just realised the harshness behind his words and what he's let slip out of his mouth. But Odion doesn't know how to swallow his pride. He speaks without thinking. Their mother used to joke about how his loquacious mouth will be the reason for his downfall.

Odion continues to speak. Continues to rub more sault onto her open wound.

"The entire village thinks you're crazy. The boys at work ask me why we haven't committed you to a mental hospital yet. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is, to hear people talk about my little sister like this?"

"It's not my fault you have more pride then you have sense." Was what she wants to tell him. But she doesn't dare utter a single word.

Upon releasing that she wasn't going to answer him, Odion leaves and the entire room shakes from his unyielding temper.

Layla sighs, bringing her knees to her chest.

She has been warning them for weeks. But they don't listen to a single word she has to say.

You're crazy.

Not only have you lost your eyes, but you've lost your mind too.

You should be put down or locked up.

What was God thinking when he created you?

She hears these rash comments, these snide remarks, all the time. When she goes to the market with her mother. During her Doctor's appointment. When she goes to visits her grandparents. Everyone in their village knows about her. There were even rumours going around claiming that she was possessed by the devil himself.

She'd cry herself to sleep most nights. She'd have vivid nightmares about the villagers throwing her into a pit of flames and chanting Die! Die! Die!

"Don't listen to them, Layla. They don't know what they're talking about." Odion used to tell her. He'd brush off her warm tears with his gentle thumb. He'd ruffle her hair and tell her that she was brave, and that she was strong. He promised he'd beat to death the next person that even glanced at her the wrong way.

However, her brother gave up on her soon after that, too. He joined the villagers in her dreams, as they pointed fingers at her, watching as her body consumed itself in burning embers. Cursing the day she was born. Begging for her to meet her maker and disappear quickly.

She raps her scrawny arms around herself and begins to gently rock. Back and forth. Like a boat at sea.

"I'm not crazy," she whispers to the dark. Because that's all she has left, isn't it? The darkness won't leave her. It's her only companion. Her lifelong friend. "I saw it with my own two eyes. I saw the sun falling." There's a smile on her soft lips.

"And we're all going to die."