The Gray Case

one

Maya wakes up every morning at the same time, exactly two hours before the bus arrives. She lets the sun shine by letting in its rays through the window and admires the beauty of the earth surrounding her, trying to block out the ugly-she never wants to see that.

She never wants to focus on that, there's beauty in everything; that's her philosophy.
She blinds her eyes when it comes to seeing the horrendous, giving those who showed their ugly side a second chance. She lights up everything just by touching it, just by passing by.

For she is molded by nature itself, for her skin glows because of the sun running through her veins. For her body-from head to toe-has the perfume of spring and its most astonishing flowers, for her scent is sweeter than anything that has ever existed.

She makes her way to the quiet living room, her feet tip toeing silently, trying to not make any noise and wake her parents up. She is surprised when she hears voices, her father and her mother to be precise. The scene is unfamiliar to her, her dad cooking something up on the stove and her mother reading a newspaper curled up on the couch.

She swiftly returns to her normal height, stopping right where she is as soon as she is caught by her dad's dark eyes.

"Good morning," he said with a smile.
As he greets her daughter, her mom also turns, smiling largely.

"Good morning," she says.

Maya slowly gets closer, taking a seat at the table.

"Good morning?" She says, seeming more like a question.

The thing is, her dad never cooks. Her mom never readsthe newspaper and usually, they are never up that early. So a few question rise to her mind, not finding any plausible answer. Is it her dad's birthday, her mom's birthday?
Is it her birthday? No, it isn't any of those.

"What's going on?" Maya finally asks.

"It's our anniversary," her dad says, not turning around. "We switched roles today."

Her eyes grow wide, happiness building up from inside of her.

"Oh my God, congratulations. I forgot."

Her mom chuckles, looking up from the newspaper for a second. "Thank you."

She and her mom look tremendously similar.

They have the same enchanting smile and the same heart. They both have the same way of living, they both have the same way of being. They both have that unmistakable glimmer in their eyes, that glimmer that's certainly intriguing, almost magic. It has to be magic, only thing is, there's no trick.

Although they are fire that burns on and on even in deep water, there is no lie in them.

Maya's mom's hair is shorter than her daughter's. Her skin is a darker shade of brown and all the years she has lived are present on her skin like faint and little traces of her living.

Her name is Evelyn and she is beautiful.

"The newspaper is interesting," she says, placing the item in front of her face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it's crazy what happens in this town. You should read it," her eyes never once leave the paper while speaking, her mind fully immersed in whatever she's reading.

"I will."

Maya with a fleeting motion reaches to the fridge, taking a water bottle from it. She then, walks to the full length mirror in the living room, adjusting her dark curls and analysing her outfit once again.