Raindrops

Breathe

  "Sometimes it's ok if the only thing you
did today was breathe."

***************************

My soft pillow was stained with tears. This can't be happening, I thought. This is a dream. I'm gonna pinch myself and I'll wake up and Mom and Dad won't be getting divorced.

I pinched my arm sharply and winced from the pain. But she I wake up. It wasn't a dream.

My shoulders shook, and I let out a quiet sob. Tears gushed from my eyes like tiny waterfalls, streaming down my cheeks and dripping on my already damp bedsheets. It was really happening. I saw pain in my parents' eyes. I saw the cardboard boxes labeled "Dad's things" in black sharpie. I wished I could label myself with black sharpie: "Girl with unbroken family". But that's not true.

I heard a gentle knock on my door. "Hazel?" a soft voice said. I instantly recognized it as my mother's. I tried to hide the evidence of me crying. "Wh-" my voice caught. "Wh-what do y-you want?" I whispered.

"Dad left to take his stuff to his new apartment." My heart throbbed. "I'm making cupcakes...chocolate." My favorite. She knew me so well. It made me mad.

"I-I'm...I'm coming. Give me a second."

"Okay. I'll be in the kitchen." I heard her flats shuffle against the carpet and clip-clop down the metal spiral staircase.

I sat up, trying to compose myself. I wiped my eyes, slowly climbed out of bed, and walked over to my mirror. My face was blotchy and red, my chocolate brown eyes bloodshot and puffy. "It's ok Hazel." I whispered to myself. "You're ok. It's all gonna be ok. Just breathe."

I took a deep breath...in...and out.

"Breathe."

I studied myself in the mirror. I was slightly ashamed of my chubby figure, but I was quite happy with my hair. It wasn't long, only hanging down to my shoulder blades, and very wavy. Today I had struggled to tie it in a messy bun. It had originally been brown, the same color as my eyes, but I had finally died it dark blue-which required much convincing to my mother. Small freckles adorned my slightly tanned skin.

After a few more consoling breaths, I quietly walked downstairs to our kitchen. I wasn't surprised to see my mom sporting her signature white apron with black polka dots, her ebony hair tied in a messy ponytail. Mom was the owner of Frosted Treats bakery, the most popular bakery in town. It was the bottom floor of our three story apartment.

Luckily, today Mom was off, so I didn't have to spend the day grieving. She always knew how to cheer me up.

She was grabbing the egg carton out of the fridge when she somehow heard my inaudible footsteps. Her face lit up when she saw me.

I loved when Mom smiled. She was so beautiful, her crystal blue eyes twinkling with delight and her lips revealing perfect white teeth. Happiness rolled off of her and onto others-after seeing her delighted grin I couldn't help but feel better.

Mom planted a kiss on my cheek. "Can you grab the flour and the sugar, babe?"

I nodded and grabbed the ingredients from one of our many cabinets. Mom practically slid around the tile floor, grabbing bowls and pans and milk. She really was a natural born baker.

In seconds she had everything ready on our countertops. "Are these for the bakery?" I asked.

"Nope." Mom answered. "These are for
us; some feel-good food."

I smiled. At that moment, I really needed some feel-good food.

We took turns cracking eggs in a bowl, mixing flour and sugar (and 'accidentally' getting it all over each other), and trying to lick the batter without the other one seeing. While the cupcakes were in the oven, we danced around the kitchen and sang Disney songs.

When they were finally done, we ate almost half of them and then put the rest in the refrigerator for later.

Mom laughed. "Oh, I wish your father was here...remember when we got flour all over his shirt, so he chased us around the house with the icing bag?" She smiled sadly.

"Y-Yeah...that w-was-" Tears gathered in my eyes.

Mom's eyes widened. "Oh...baby, don't cry, I-" She wrapped me in a hug. "I know things are rough right now, but we're gonna be ok. We're gonna get through this. I promise." I could feel her steady heartbeat in her chest. I closed my eyes and reminded myself:

"Breathe."

*********************

Author's Note

Hey! :)

Just a heads up, this is a romance/angst story, but it'll take a while to get to the romance part ;)

The main character is Hazel Abernathy, who I'm pretty proud of since I'm not very good at making characters. So yeah HAZEL'S MY PRECIOUS CINNAMON BUN.

Leave a comment with some feedback on the first chapter!

                          Love,
-Pastella ♥︎