The Moon and His Stars

Days Until School: 2

Saturday; Elliot.

I wake up. The sun had already risen, which leaves a bright glow to ooze through my windows. I always preferred my living spaces to be dark, but the rising sun made me catch this warm feeling inside of me: hope. Hope that I can recover, and start over. Hope that I can defeat the demon known as my mind.

I stand up out of the comfort of my bed, and make my way towards the window from which the sunlight oozed from. I use my fingers to pry open the blinds that separate me from the view outside of the window, and I closely examine the view. My Aunt Beth lived in a rather secluded area, which I did not mind at all. In fact, I somewhat enjoyed not being 10 feet away from someone else's house.

The view consisted of miles and miles of never-ending woods; pine and oak trees chaotically spread around the house. I shift my view a bit towards my left. I can see Beth working on her garden that she had previously told me about. She explained how you should never plant a garden in the same spot for multiple years in a row, or else it will slowly deteriorate the soil; along with how you should rotationally change the crops you grow. This way you can help put nutrients back into the soil.

I found it fascinating just how much she knew about soil and crop life. I had never had the attention span, nor the will to force myself to memorize facts and statistics about a topic that I was never going to look into once I began career searching. Nonetheless, she looked exhausted and dehydrated, from what I could see out of my window.

I pull my fingers away from the blinds, and allow them to re-conceal some of the harsh rays from the sun. I run my fingers through my rugged, messy hair, and throw on a t-shirt. I had slept in a pair of my jeans, so I was basically dressed for the day. Once I had "dressed" myself for the day, I look back towards my room. Ugh. It was disgusting. Alright, it's time that I clean my mess up.

First, I toss all of my dirty clothing into the hamper that I had previously placed in my bathroom. It was nearly full once I had successfully placed my clothes in it. When was the last time I had done laundry? I can't remember.

Next, I gather up all of my food/miscellaneous items that were scattered on my floor, and tossed them into a trashcan I had in my room. Beth told me on the car ride over from the airport that I could eat in my room, until I felt comfortable enough to dine with her. It's not that I was uncomfortable around her, it's just that I always had something on my mind. Something I had to think about at every waking moment. And I personally thought it would be rude to be zoned out at the dinner table while Beth was attempting to make small-talk with me.

Finally, I had to tackle my hurricane-like bed. Unlike most people, including my Aunt, I did not sleep underneath the sheets that were provided for my use. And because of this, I always woke up to those unused sheets being ruffled and messy from my body moving around as I slept. It always bothered me, because it forced me to have to make my bed up every morning, which I loathed. Even though it only takes me about five minutes to completely make my bed up, I could have used those five minutes to get dressed, or wash my face. Regardless, complaining about my messy bed wasn't going to make it up any faster. With this in mind, I quickly make my bed up, transforming it from hurricane-like to calm waters-like.

Satisfied with how my room looked, I quickly toss on a pair of socks and shoes, and make my way down a rather long and narrow hallway, and down the flight of stairs. Immediately to my left is the kitchen, and the dining room is to my right. The kitchen was also a mess: Chinese takeout and pizza boxes cluttered majority of the counter space, the rest was taken up by unwashed dishes and glasses. I search through the cabinets until I find a clean cup. Once the desired item is retrieved, I quickly make a tall glass of ice water for Beth. She had been working on her garden for at least an hour and a half, and because of the intense heat, she was more than likely thirsty.

I open the front door, making sure to keep a firm grasp on the cup. Damn, it is hot out here. How on Earth does Beth put up with this? I make my way over to her, my shoes gently crunching on the gravel, which reveals my presence to Beth. She turns and faces me, her hands resting on her knees. Before she can give me some kind of greeting, she quickly swipes the glass of water out of my hand, nearly spilling half of it on herself. She quickly downs about half of the glass, and then turns back towards me.

"Thank you," Beth says, panting. The glass of water was extremely tall, and she had to hold her breath in order to be able to drink half of it at once. She gently smiles at me, with sweat slowly dripping off of her face. She was wearing a floppy beach hat to protect herself from the sun, and by the looks of it, the sun had beaten the hat. Beth was extremely sunburned and red from heat exhaustion.

"You're red, Aunt Beth. Really red, actually. You should come inside for a little while, and go take care of that nasty burn you got going on," I tell her. From my understanding, Beth was never usually the type to get sunburned when we would go on family trips when I was younger. She was always the one who would jokingly brag about how amazing her skin looked, while the rest of us could barely manage to turn in her direction, due to how intense our burns were.

Aunt Beth nods in agreement, and I hold my hand out for her. She takes my hand, and together, we make our way back inside, the glass of water in Beth's other hand. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth as soon as I opened the door. The air conditioning had just cut on, and it must have felt like she was stepping into Heaven. "Feels nice, doesn't it?" I ask her, knowing why she was sighing. I also wanted to sigh; even though I was only outside for about a minute, I already began to sweat, so I can only imagine how she must feel right now.

Beth chuckles lightly, trying not to stretch her face too much. She turns her head to face mine, and I can more clearly see just how intense her sunburn actually is. Jesus, I think to myself as my eyes widen with shock. She actually looked redder than the ripest tomato in her garden, and it was extremely red. Beth notices my facial expression, and lightly shoves my arm with her hand.

"I know, it's horrifying, for the both of us," she says as she brings her hand towards her chest. She barely touched me, and she's wincing that much?

I slightly smirk at her. "I suppose this is payback for all of those times that you would boast about your glorious skin," I say in response, making sure to add emphasis on 'glorious skin'. Beth lightly smiles back at me, obviously in too much pain to have a genuine smile.

"I've had my fun for the day. I'm going to go handle my lovely wound, and go rest. Tonight is a fend-for-yourself kind of night for dinner. Don't stay up too late!" Beth calls out to me as she makes her way up the stairs, eventually disappearing into her room.

Okay, Beth, okay, I silently say to her in response. It was only two o'clock, and I usually don't go to bed until about eleven. Nine more hours of boredom. Lovely. To pass some time by, I make my way over into the living room, and take a seat on Beth's cushy sofa. I immediately sink into the piece of furniture, which slightly restricts me from moving around. I then turn on the television, and "watch" whatever Beth was previously watching, which was Cake Boss. I always thought this show was hilarious, and so I didn't mind paying attention to it.

After about five episodes of back-to-back Cake Boss, I find myself looking at the floor. The sun had began to set, pasting a soft orange glow on the hardwood floor. I was way too comfortable to feel the need to get up, and so, I remain on the couch, and slowly fall into a deep sleep.

×××

Author's Note:

Hello again, bubs! Thanks again for reading this chapter :)
- I knew I needed to expand the length of this chapter, in order for the audience [you] to fully grasp Elliot's character. I hope you liked the extension,, and I will try to make each chapter this length.

If you read the description, you also know that Elliot is supposed to meet "her". That will come in the next chapter, and I haven't decided if their meeting will be at the beginning or end of the chapter. But, we will find out together.

Stay tuned! <3,
k.j. roethle.