Bloom

Everlasting

The rich don't see the poor.

The strong don't see the weak.

The enabled don't see the imparied.

Just like she doesn't see reality.

It's the dead of the night when a stone is thrown against my window. I fold over the late-night novel I'm reading and creep out of bed. My nightlight casts eerie shadows around my room. I gently tug open the pane and a chilled wind attacks my senses. My bare chest turns pale as my blood shrinks away from the cold. She's standing there, ginger hair enflamed by the brass lantern held aloft by a skinny hand. Isadora Kai Violette. She smiles at me with white teeth, and her face turns into a storyteller's. I feel my ears go pink. 

"Well get down here, silly!" She calls up, her voice light as if she has to share an untold secret. 

I withdraw from my perch far too quickly and smack my head against the frame. I curse under my breath and a airy giggle floats up. I yank a tight-fitting emerald sweater over my head and pull on my beat-up black vans. Paired with my black trackies, it's not really a fashion-do. I debate whether it's a good idea or not to leap from my second-story window, but then I realise I probably won't get caught using the front door. I grab my wallet, keys and phone and quietly rush out the door. Except for the creak of the rusty bolts, a single sound can't be heard. As soon as I'm out, I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. 

"About time."

She sits on the bonnet of my car, feet wildly swinging. Half of her brilliant orange hair is tied up, the rest cascades down her back in silky waves. She's dressed in a billowy white dress, so that she looks like a ghost bride. There's so much lace she almost looks like she's drowning in it. But underneath the extravagance are her faithful black docs, scuffed with age and wear. Her face is small and sparrow-like, with a smattering of freckles and large, blue eyes. Her nose is a bit too big for her other features, and her eyes are perpetually widened in a state of surprise. Her mouth is small and elegant, and is naturally a dark pink like they've been stained by blackberries.

She's not pretty to society.

She's beautiful to me.