The Marble Tower

-14-

Aaliyah was terrified.

It was a simple fact.

She couldn't help it. She could stop going back to that dream. She knew that she was being silly, but she had learned to trust her instinct.

The window had always been kept open during the day, but closed at night. It wasn't always that way. but when she had turned 10 she started freaking out at night because she was convinced that people were watching her through her window. Though now she knew that logically it isn't possible for people to reach her window, her gut still screams at her when the curtains were open.

So maybe she was crazy. She just felt safer when she was the slightest bit paranoid.

And they listened to her paranoia. Though she knew that they talked about her behind closed doors.

Behind those doors. She said referring to the doors across the room.

She glanced back at the widow. The curtains were closed now, but she could still seeing it shining bright.

She was about to really start freaking out when she noticed something. It was too bright.

She stopped for a minute. Then slowly a smile creeped up her face, she had to bite her lounge to keep from laughing. This only made her want to laugh more, if the guards outside her door heard her laughing. It was getting painful to stifle now. She had grabbed a pillow now and was stuffing it against her face now.

She was almost sorry when she let out the loud choking noise. But she wasn't. Not even when she heard the door open and the loud stomps of the guards. In fact she was full on laughing when they pulled the pillow off of her face and her aid came rushing into the room. She was practically choking as her guards stood there dumbfounded, not sure what to do. The one that had her pillow had dropped it. Her aid was the only one who was doing anything. It took her a while to snap one of the guards out of their daze and tell him to go someplace or something.

Aaliyah was honestly not paying attention.