Forever Alone

Chapter 4

I opened the door to my one bedroom apartment that was about half a mile from school. I sat my bag of books on the floor by the small table I use for homework and eating. Opening my fridge, my stomach growled from hunger. I mentally slapped myself for not eating lunch. I grabbed the container of jelly and a can of diet coke. From the cupboard I grabbed bread, peanut butter, and the bag of Doritos. Once my food was prepared, I sat at my table and ate. Once I was finished, I laid back and stared at the ceiling. I sighed and closed my eyes. The quietness made the atmosphere a bit spooky. Especially since I live alone.

So you may be wondering why I live alone. Well, that's actually a simple question in a sea of information nothing pertains to. All I know is that I've been by myself since I was a child. The church members raised me and when I turned 15 they gave me money so I could live by myself. In a way, even the church abandoned me to my loneliness. At least when I was staying at the church it felt like I was loved. But I guess that fantasy was never to be. It almost feels like anytime I find a sliver of happiness its taken away from me. I guess the meaning of my name made the church members fear what I was to become and wanted no part in it.

As I lay there on the floor thinking of my past, a sudden knock on the door made me jump. I got up and walked to my door annoyed at the person trying to visit me at this hour. When I opened the door, all the annoyance disappeared as I saw Lorea standing there with puffy eyes and stained cheeks.

"Lorea...what's wrong?" I asked in concern.

"I got into a fight with my dad again. Mind if I stay the night?" she asked as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Of course you can." I cooed pulling her into an embrace. "Everything is going to be okay. You and your dad always work things over."

We stopped hugging and I closed the door as she sat by my small table. I sat next to her and felt the sadness radiating from her body. Tears stilled stained her cheeks as she tried to explain what happened.

"It all started fine. I came home and made dinner for the two of us. He asked me about school...so I mentioned about how we looked up our names and that you didn't get to share...and that's when he started to get mad. He said that you were nothing but trouble and would be the death of all the angels. It caused me to boil with rage. He doesn't even know you and yet he makes up this stupid story. Sometimes I just wish he could see the world through my eyes. That would change his ideas about the people I surround myself with."

"Lorea...I need to tell you something. Your dad..." she looked at me with eyes that pleaded for comfort. "Your dad just needs to meet your friends and see for himself that they are good angels. You've said it before that your dad is a good judge of character. After getting to know who you hang out with, I think he would have a better understanding and maybe then he wouldn't be so hard on you all the time."

"I guess that might work. But my dad seems to be okay with everyone but you Kyra. He told me once that your ancestors caused danger and were exiled to hell. Then again, I think he was just saying that so I wouldn't be friends with you. But I know you better than anyone. There's nothing about you that shouts darkness of any kind."

"Thanks Lorea. You always stick up for me when anyone has something negative to say about me." I said with a smile.

"You would do the same for me. That's what best friends do." She said with a smile as she wiped her cheeks and eyes from the leftover tears.

"Did you have the chance to eat?" I asked getting up and opening the fridge.

"Yeah I did. What about you? I hope I didn't intrude." she asked looking at me with a hint of concern.

"No, don't worry about it. I was about to go to bed. I'm pretty tired after the long day we had."

"Oh okay. I can sleep on the couch." she said getting up.

"You know I refuse that option. Besides, I got this new bed and its big enough to fit three people." i said basically pushing her into my room.

"It'll be like old times when you lived at the church. Those were fun times." she said as she sat on the edge of my bed with a smile.

"Yeah. I remember that one day we hit all the choir members with water balloons during rehearsal. That was so much fun." I said laughing.

"Yeah and we got into so much trouble. Oh gosh! They made us clean up the mess. But they ended up helping because we didn't know what we were doing." she said laughing as well.

"Those were the days." I said as I got an extra pair of pajamas for Lorea.

Once we both changed, we climbed into my bed and laid there. I had a hard time falling asleep due to anxiety that came from remembering my days living at the church. I sighed and rolled so I was laying on my left side towards the wall. I closed my eyes but my mind wouldn't allow me to sleep. I guess Lorea was having trouble sleeping too.

"Hey Kyra, are you still up?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Always" I said as I rolled over onto my back with my head facing her.

"You never said what your name meant in class. I was so curious that I almost looked it up myself but I felt it needed to come from you. I guess what I'm asking...what does your name mean Kyra?"

I stayed quiet as I pondered over her question. Should I tell her the truth and possibly ruin our friendship or do i lie and disobey God's rule. I was so confused and before I knew it, my brain started to talk for me.

"If I tell you the meaning then you must promise to keep an open mind. Can you promise me that?" I asked sitting up.

"Of course." she said also sitting up.

I sighed and began to tell her the truth.

"My name...Kyra...it means dark ruler or darkness. My name literally means The Dark Ruler of Angels."

She stayed quiet for a moment thinking. I quickly got scared that she, too, would leave me.

"I don't care if that is what your name means. I've known you almost my entire life and I can honestly say that there is nothing about you that says darkness. You have love, compassion, and kindness in your heart. There is no room for anything else. Just because your name means dark ruler doesn't mean that's what you will become. God gave you that name for a reason. We must trust in him." she said.

I felt my heart fill with both love and happiness. I reached out and hugged her. She was the first to except me even though my name meant something cruel and unforgiving. Once our hug ended something spectacular happened.

Lorea started to pant heavily as she rolled her shoulders forward. I quickly feared for my friend's health but my body refused to move. She screamed and held a fist full of my blanket in her hand. Not long after a wind came from her direction. My body suddenly decided to move. I turned the light on and when I turned around the most beautiful thing appeared in front of me.

"Lorea...you sprouted! You got your wings!" I proclaimed in awe.

Pure white wings protruded from her back and through the torn shirt. She looked at me with sweat visible on her forehead. She was still panting as she looked behind at her wings.

"I really did it." she said just above a whisper.

"I'm so happy for you Lorea!" I shouted climbing back into my bed so that i was sitting next to her.

She looked at me with amazement and with joy written on her face. I reached my hand out to her white wings. They were soft to the touch and yet firm and durable. I remembered what Lorea had said only moments ago. That's when I realized something.

"You got your wings because you excepted me for who I am." I said in shock.

"I don't understand your logic Kyra. How could I get my wings because of you?"

"Your name means The Flower of Light. Flowers are known to each have a different meaning behind their color. And because your meaning is the Flower of Light, it probably goes with the good or light side of each flowers meaning. You're name basically means that you are GOOD, COMPASSIONATE, EXCEPTING, and anything else a flower could mean. You excepted me even though I have a terrible name meaning, so this may be Gods way of telling you who you are and what you will become." I explained my thought process.

"Yeah. I guess you're right." she said as she slowly flapped her wings.

I smiled as happiness filled my body. I was thankful that my best friend sprouted her wings because she was just being herself. Everyone is going to be so happy when they find out. She finally put her wings away after several attempts and we laid down, allowing sleep to take us until the morning.