Flash Fiction Collection

Just a Dream

  Cuddling up in a blanket, the warmth it shared radiating through my veins. Tenderly, my body laid against the leathered armrest with my legs stretched across the cushions... The room, rather dark, the only light source mixing with the empty void around me came from the television; the constant scene changes brightening and dimming the room. As each screen played, and my vague attention to the happenings, my mind focused solely on holding my little sister close as we lay together. Her head against my small chest, mind focused on the vigorously changing screens. My fingers tracing her delicate raven hair, the watermelon scent of her shampoo indulged my nostrils each time my hand escaped the small tangles created by her daily tribulations that society pressures her to be.

I wondered as we watched the changing screens, does she hold these moments close? Will she always think back and recall these days of just us laying here? None of those questions held any significance... Mandy was here, in my arms, and safe at home where she belonged.

In these moments as I felt her body rise and fall in tune with mine, my mind resting easy, knowing that I can spend another day with my little sister, safe and sound, where protection is never far away. She was safe here with her older sister, never falling into the hardships presented before her through the day.

"Jessy?" catching my attention, her hickory eyes staring into my mahogany ones. I smiled and lightly laced my hand across her face. Her light tan skin, slightly rough, sent chills up my spine in anticipation of what words would escape her. Saying things about what we should watch next as the action film we watched came to a close, would she want some buttery popcorn to fill the emptiness inside her.

And soon the barely lit silhouette of Mandy faded into the depths of my mind... leaving me sitting in an empty room. The space on my chest that once held her delicacy, now a stagnant memory. The watermelon scent of her hair altered into the fresh island breeze that occupied the rest of my home.

With my heart laid heavy, my eyes unable to close... My mind wandered as I stared into the blank ceiling, of the moments I spent with Mandy in my arms.