Balloons (Wattys2017)

Chapter 3

The sound of crows flapping their wings and crowing out their cracking calls woke up Sparrow from her slumber. As she sat up, she realized that she was back in the school.

"Ugly as ever." She groaned as she rubbed her eyes. She got up from her bed with a loud creak and made her way to her luggage.

"Wait, wasn't I in Scarlet's room?....." Sparrow's voice trailed of as the events of the previous night played back in her mind. Upon the second take, she realized how made up it seemed. She shook her head and chuckled to herself.

"It was just a dream, Sparrow, just a dream." She said to herself as she struggled to wake herself up completely.

She pulled out a hairbrush and began to untangle her hair (ouches here and there). Once done, she made her way to her luggage to unpack one of the many uniforms her mother packed.

This uniform in particular happened to be a solid beige shirt and skirt, with a grey bow tie, and white knee high socks. The only pair of shoes that her mother packed was a pair of black heels. The one type of shoes she despised the most.

"What a great way to bring out the bland, mom." Sparrow sighed as she began to dress herself. As she straightened out her skirt, a nearly silent knock was heard erupting from Sparrow's door. Sparrow managed to make her way to the door in her heels and saw Molly, nervously playing with her hands.

"Morning Molly, you ok?" Sparrow asked. Molly nodded her head rapidly.

"I-I'm fine. U-um, S-Sparrow, right? U-uh, C-Christa said t-that you i-ignored curfew...i-is that true?" Molly asked, scared if Sparrow would lash out at her. Sparrow's eyes widened slightly, in confusion and shock. It was just a dream, right? If so, how would Christa have seen her move during the night? Maybe sleep walking.

"I might've just been sleep walking." Sparrow defended in a soft tone, not wanting to upset Molly.

"S-she said y-you were c-chasing a b-balloon." Molly finished. Sparrow's eyes immediately shot wide and her skin turned pale.

"I-I um, Christa must've been mistaken." She pleaded. Molly was about to tell Sparrow something, but was cut off by a bell ringing from downstairs. Molly took hold of Sparrow's hand and rushed down the stairs (with Sparrow stumbling behind her).

"Breakfast!" Ivy and Violet yelled out in unison as they rushed to the dining room, hand-in-hand. Sparrow surveyed the room, realizing all the differences now that she had the memory of Scarlet's house embedded in her mind.

The dining room table was chipped and scratched made of faded rosewood that was covered in dust. The dishes were worse, a greyish tone overtaking the original white color they were meant to be. Sparrow groaned when she saw Christa was the one making breakfast.

Down the hall, came Ms. Megan. Her short, fat legs caused the floor to shriek with her every step as she approached the table. Ivy, Violet, and Molly rushed to the cabinets and set down deformed pottery cups; each one was somehow more ruined than the last.

"Peacock, why are you just standing around?! Go help them do something!" Ms. Megan yelled. Sparrow balled her hands into fists before going to the kitchen where Christa was.

Christa was making eggs and bacon and currently was cutting slices of stale bread into triangles. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Sparrow. She slammed the knife loudly, causing Sparrow to jump a bit. Christa turned around and towered over Sparrow angrily.

"I told you curfew was 8 o'clock sharp! No exceptions! Why were you running around with that...that thing?!" Christa yelled. Sparrow was surprised by her sudden outburst but kept a straight face.