When the Sun Cries

Chapter Five

It had been a month and Grace still hadn't been able to stop glancing at the basement door, not sure whether she wished to open it or bolt it shut.

Katherine's stomach was now protruding from underneath her shirt and she was forced to pack away her jeans and trade them in for yoga pants. Apparently she had already been pregnant for six months until Emili had finally noticed the large bump that had started to appear. Katherine had always been a story teller, whether they were hers to tell or not, it never stopped her mouth from moving.

The digital clock beside Grace's bed showed her that it was almost three in the morning. The sun would be up soon. She hadn't realized that she had placed down her book and pulled her fall jacket on until she was at the top of the stairs, her slender fingers barely touching the cold door knob. Glancing back down into the room she noticed everyone was still asleep, meaning that no one would have to know that she even left in the first place. Swallowing her doubt and fears, she turned the knob and willed for the sound of the gears clicking to be quiet enough to keep from disturbing the twins, who happened to be very light sleepers. "You can do this Grace," She took a shaky breath and walked through the door frame, wincing when the old floorboards beneath her groaned in protest to her weight.

Although she had lived there for fifteen years, she had never seen the main floor. It had a very closed concept, although she could see the door to the pantry down the thin hallway, and the living room to her right. The front entrance was just beyond that. Dust had slowly collected over the years, although there seemed to be a small path that had been created by the care givers footsteps, the path of disturbed dust trailed all the way to the basement door. Windows and doors had been smashed, and to say the least, the house appeared to be abandoned. "You've come this far, don't back down now," Grace gritted her teeth and continued cautiously through the house towards the front door.

Even up here, the air seemed cleaner and more pure than it had been in the basement. She allowed it to fill her lungs with several deep breaths and she closed her eyes, feeling a slight fall breeze on her cheeks for the first time in her life. The wind left goosebumps on her arms and a shiver trailed up her spine. A few leaves had blown in through the front door that had been left slightly ajar, as if no one had touched it in decades. Of course that's how the caregivers would have wanted it to seem.

Finally, she made it to the front door and she could feel tears stinging her eyes. The tree's were exploding with various colours that she hadn't even believed she would ever see. The grass was matted down and had a brownish tinge to it. She looked upward to see Canadian Geese honking at each other as they flew in unique formations towards the south for winter. Her old and worn converse touched the grass and it seemed almost as soft as her blankets, regardless of the crunching noise that it had created. She hadn't realized how hard and cold the cement floors had been until that moment. The tears finally started to flow, her hand went up to her chest and tried to push her heart back in where it belonged. It felt as though it were pounding out of her chest and her feet were weighted as though they were made of lead. The urge to run hit her suddenly. To just run and never stop. The need to feel the grass against her feet as they pounded against the ground was overwhelming her and she finally realized that she had never ran before. And so she did.

Tears still ran down her face in a violent stream although she was smiling, her arms were wide and she tried to keep her breathing steady as she ran further and as she did, she noticed how the grass had gotten taller. She had widened her arms and allowed it to go through her fingers and tickle her thin stomach. Colours fused together in a large blur, but this time it was different. A variety of colours still crossed her vision in different formations and unfamiliar shapes.

The sun has started to rise by the time she stopped. An orange and light blue sky awaited her whenever she looked upward and she put her hands on her knees, trying to coax more air into her lungs from the long run. Alsiah or Emili would be coming to visit soon and she needed to get back to the house, which was just over the hill that she had climbed. A forest was slightly further.

She had climbed to the top of the hill when she noticed the police vehicles on the dirt path leading to the house. Four silhouettes were milling around outside of the vehicle, the sun was casting long and extraordinary shadows that covered the path and part of the porch. Then the first gun shot went off, making Grace jump. A few moments later, a small body was being carried towards the car.