The Wishing Flower

Chapter 1

I woke up, my heavy eyelids like a weight keeping my eyes from opening completely. I rubbed my eyes, to try to wipe the sleepiness away but it didn't work. was in the same place, everything looked exactly as it did the night before. I sat up slouching, why couldn't my body have transported with my ever-to-short dreams, I really wouldn't have minded waking up in that little cottage house on the fields where I lazily spend my mornings tending goats and chickens. I wish I could anywhere. Anywhere, but here. Anywhere, but reality. I lazily tossed my blanket to the side and got up, but the first thing I noticed was my big vase. The light blue vase wasn't sitting on my shelf with all the rest of it's little cactus family like it usually is, but it was across the room smashed in smithereens. I couldn't even remember when it broke, but whoever broke it left all the mess for me to clean up. I quickly closed my eyes and squeezed them shut, and thought maybe when I opened them, instead of a broken vase I would be looking at a delicious tray of red velvet cupcakes. Nope, same old broken vase.

It was only 7:24, too early to even be alive, but these paychecks weren't going to get themselves. So I dragged my lifeless body out of bed to get ready for work, my second favorite place to spend my time, after here of course. My whole body ached, longing for my bed, despite just getting up. Why did I always feel like I was functioning on zero energy, no matter how long I actually slept. I wondered if bhaji came back home, yet. She usually came back pretty early in the morning, after storming out of the house when she fought with Hany.

Eew, did I just call her "bhaji', let's not do that again.

I checked all the rooms to see any sign of my sister, but to no avail. I avoided looking in her and Hany's bedroom, the door was shut closed and I hated going in there anyways. I always got a bad feeling, whenever I went into their room. Was it because the only sound that ever came from that room was incessant yelling.

The air in the apartment felt still and was suspiciously quiet. Quiet was definitely not a word I would use to describe the apartment, to the quiet living here, and quite frankly the silence was giving me the creeps. As a young child, I would always turn the television on when I was home alone and just have Cyberchase play in the background, so at least the voices of the cartoon characters would give me company. The only problem here was that the one television we owned was in the master bedroom, so it turns out I had to go in their room, whether I like it or not.

Walking down the narrow hall leading to Sajal's room, I felt something crunch under my feet. I picked up a photo from underneath my feet. The picture must have fallen out of the closet, when Sajal was throwing around items to stuff in her bag before slamming the door behind her. I looked at it and saw two little girls smiling back at me. One was a really chubby, smiley baby with yogurt all over her hair, and the older girl had a bright confident smile, despite the fact two of her teeth were missing. It was me and Sajal. I couldn't take my eyes off the two girls, they seemed to be mocking me with their innocent doe eyes and enormous grins. When's the last time I actually smiled like that? How could they sit there in the photo so happily, while I was stuck here regretting that my eyes still open every morning? I looked at the photo wearily, and felt my hands shake. I couldn't stand looking at myself as a happy child, that was not me. I didn't even know what happiness felt like .I crushed the picture in my palm and tossed it inside the closet.

I shakily went into the bathroom, climbing over the slew of clothes thrown everywhere. I grabbed the Zoloft from the medicine cabinet and popped in two pills. I splashed water on my face and took a few shaky breaths. It was too early in the morning to lose it.

I stepped out of the bathroom and Silence seeped through the ceiling like in an invisible fog and filled the entire apartment, save my own faint breaths.