'Tonight I'm falling, and I can't get up.'
the flat was making strange creaking noises, as if trying to sing a duet with the the rain-drops that were flinging themselves at it's windows. it was a sound that meant she would definitely not be sleeping that night.
sighing, she settled down on her bed with a book that her friends had told her about and began to read.
she had always loved reading, not just because it took her to fantastic other worlds, but the experience itself felt magical to her. the smell of printed paper, the way one sentence could elicit tears as well as laughter or the feel of pages underneath her fingers as she flipped them.
lightning illuminated her room briefly, followed by the sudden boom of thunder, causing the book to slip out of her hands and hit the floor.
as she reached for her book, her mind suddenly reminded her of a certain boy she could've met that night, if not for the bad weather. she wondered if he had got caught in the rain and fretted about his well-being. she hoped he was in possession of an umbrella if he had stepped out and if he wasn't, she hoped that he had rushed home before the worst of the storm hit.
however, she could never get herself to rely on hope by itself.
she hopped out of bed, pulled on a pair of rubber boots and a jacket, grabbed an umbrella and ran out of her appartment building before she could change her mind.
a gust of wind slapped her face the moment she stepped out, but she continued her dogged walk towards the field.
the rational part of her mind told her that there was no reason to take such a risk to ensure the safety of a boy she hardly knew, but it was beaten back by the image of him wishing on a shooting star.
she had never seen someone so ready to dream, to take a leap of faith in a long time, that she couldn't help to want to protect someone like that. in a world where the voices of cynics (which sometimes included her own voice) often drowned out the ones of the hopeful, it was only fair that the latter got a chance to be heard.
as soon as she reached the tree which was his favorite place to sit, she turned to scan the area around, but did not see a single soul but herself standing in the pouring rain.
even though she felt relieved, she also felt foolish to have stepped out of her warm flat, so she decided to hurry back.
when she unlocked the door, she heard her phone ringing. frowning at the strange timing of the call, she rushed to her bedside table.
"hello?"
"you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible."
"mother?"
"your father has had a heart attack."
suddenly, it felt like someone had punched her in the gut. her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. she felt the need to escape, because she needed to breathe, she couldn't breathe in this room but she couldn't get up and move.
for the first time in her life, she wished she was having a nightmare, because at least in a nightmare; you could wake up.
-
This chapter was so meta, haha. The whole one line managing to change everything. :')
Sorry if that special someone wasn't in this chapter, I just felt that their story needs more time to unfold.
Thanks for reading!
