Wilting Flowers

Bleeding Roses

4 A.M. Rose had woken up to the sound of glass shattering. She turned on her lamp to find her glass of water had fallen down causing water to spill everywhere. She didn't care but she wasn't sleepy anymore so she took her headphones, plugged it into her phone and played her favorite album. She closed her eyes,  tried managing a smile and let the music take over.

5 A.M. Rose was still up, still listening to her music. The glass was still broken on the floor and none of her parents seem to have even slightly heard the noises. She let out a long sigh. Rose opened her eyes, the sun was slowly rising and there was a faint light coming into the window. She got out from under her blanket and was now sitting on the corner of her bed. Her eyes drifted onto the glass on the floor. It was shimmering in the dark. She smiled. Rose got up from her bed, walking towards the glass. She got down on her knees and felt the shards. They were sharper than she assumed. She took a piece and held it in her hands loosely. Now, she had gotten up and walked towards her window, standing there, staring at the dead city regaining life with the rising sun. She wondered if that's how normal people operate. With every sunrise, do people rest their daily problems into the past day? Or do they cling on to it and carry on with their lives and just move on? Rose just kept standing there, watching the city welcome another day.

5:45 AM. Rose was still by the window. Now the sun was almost fully out and the birds were singing as per usual. She licked her lips. Dry. She opened her clenched fist and realized she was so hypnotized by the rising sun, she didn't realize she had her hands closed tight around the glass piece. Her palm was cut and blood was trickling and dripping on the floor. She didn't feel anything, she just threw away the glass shard, took a piece of tissue and wrapped it around her cut hand. She slipped back into bed, closed her eyes and drifted away.

The skies were blue. The birds were loud. The people were happy. The weather was warm. Rose was at the beach, her favorite place to go to when she was smaller. Her parents had just laid out some sheets to lay on and feel the sun kissing their skin. Rose felt happy. She felt at peace. This is what she had wanted for so long. She had wanted to take deep breathes and smell the fresh water scents up close and not in some form of candle she bought. Her parents called her over, handing her goggles for swimming. She didn't hesitate and quickly wore them. She took off her slippers and ran into the water. The water was nice and warm against her skin. She held her breath and went underwater so her hair would get soaked too. She got back up and saw her parents smiling, waving at her. She smiled and waved back and dived into a swim. Swimming was the only thing that kept her happy and she always dreamed of what it would be like to just be a mermaid and stay in water. She stopped swimming and looked back at her parents but this time, they looked terrified and were signalling for her to come back. What was going on? She looked around and there was no one around and her parents were getting farther away. She tried screaming but no voices were getting out and she felt like she was getting pulled into the water. Her vision started getting blurry and she managed to let out a scream. "ROSE!" She opened her eyes. She was in bed, drenched in sweat and parents looked terrified trying to wake her up. It was just a dream, all just a dream.