Republic of Omisha

Chapter 3: Kalea

    This evening is full of uneasy sleep. Kalea tosses and turns in bed. She knows that Eliza and her have a greater chance than most to be in the trials. She can her the tick of her clock, but instead of being comforted and soothes by the gentle tick, it is a hammer pounding insanity into her head. When she turns to the clock it reads two am. Kalea loses her patience and sits up in her narrow bed with her feet hanging over the edge as she pulls back the covers to get up. She leans her elbows onto her thighs and rubs her face to wipe away unpleasant and unwanted thoughts about the near future. She slowly rises and nimbly steps out of bed and down the hall. She has learned that doing chores can distract her from her haunting thoughts so she began to the dishes as quietly as she can.

As she picks up a dish, she begins to think about the terrible nightmares that she has been plagued with. She shares in her sisters terror from nightmares about gruesome deaths in the trials. She has been taking extra precautions to make sure that Eliza isn't dragged into Kalea's danger. She has done her best to comfort and reassure her sisters safety, but in reality at this point in time she can't even insure her own. She can't hold in her stress any longer. Her pent up fear is finally forcing her to burst. She abruptly stops with a wet plate in her hand that she rests on the edge of the sink. Her other hand is extended and propping her up from the counter. Her arms are holding her up as if she would fall under the weight of her burden. She soon breaks out in tears. As she whimpers, she hears a door creek shut from down the hall behind her. She quickly turns, but sees no one and when she turned she lessoned her grip and the plates crashes to the floor, cracking into hundreds of shards. She doesn't need to see her to know that that was her sister, who must have been worried and woken up by her cleaning at this hour. She hastily cleans up her mess and now the tears are flowing stronger.

It takes Kalea a minute to collect herself and stop the steady stream of tears. She wipes her hands dry and proceeds down the hall to Eliza's room. She cracks the door open and peers into the room. Eliza is pretending to be asleep. "Hi, El." Kalea proceeds to say even though she doesn't expect a reply. She steps in the room and reduces the door to a crack to limit the amount of light gleaming into the room. She quickly searches her mind for what is appropriate to say. Should she come clean about what has been going on? Kalea decides not to burden her sister and so all she manages to say is, "I love you," when there still is no reply Kalea leaves after saying, "see you in the morning."

She meanders to her room and hunkers under her covers once more, but with a different set of mind. I will sleep today, she thinks to herself, if not for my benefit I will fo El, so that she doesn't waste her time worrying about me and with that Kalea manages to snag a few hours of sleep before dawn.