Reflection

Sentenced

Fifteen years had passed since Ray and Jill's death. Luna had used their inheritance money to live on her own, which wasn't too difficult. She refused to let anyone take her in. She had lived with three different sets of caretakers, and none of them lasted beyond her childhood. She didn't want to lose anyone else. As a result, she distanced herself.

Luna woke up at the sound of her alarm and sat up, combing her fingers through her disheveled black hair. Ready to start the day, she got off of her bed and went to the shower. She turned on the faucet and undressed herself while she was waiting for the water to warm up. Afterwards, she stepped in.

She was glad to have her own place now. She couldn't stand to continue living in Ray and Jill's house, so she began to build her own when she was sixteen and finished it three years later.

When she was finished showering, she stepped out and dried herself off. She put her clothes on, which were her usual black tank top, black skirt, and black ankle combat boots. After securing her hair into two low pigtails, she went over to her nightstand where her red gem was. She used it to turn into her bird form, and opened the door, ready to get through the day.

************

As Luna walked through town, all she could feel was envy. All around her, birds were smiling and talking to each other. Two birds were holding wings as their hatchlings played with one another. Overall, everyone was in a good mood. But Luna wasn't. Seeing all of this pained her, due to the fact that to this day she still never had any lovers let alone friends. She didn't even have any parents who would watch her grow up. This jealousy turned into anger.

"Stupid birds," she muttered. "Why am I always the one that doesn't get cared about? Everyone here gets all the luck!" She picked up the pace and fast walked through the village so that she could escape this personal hell as quick as possible. As much as she hated walking passing through this place, she had no choice, because it was the quickest way to the flower shop.

Today Luna was planning a visit to Ray and Jill's graves, and she wanted to bring flowers to them. She walked inside the shop.

"Oh, hello there!" the store clerk greeted. "Welcome to Flower Power!"

Luna didn't bother saying hi back or making eye contact with her. She headed for the tulip section, since she remembered Jill saying tulips were her favorite flowers. Ray didn't really have a preference, so Luna figured it was okay with him.

She picked out a bouquet of yellow tulips and hurried over to the checkout line, wanting to get this over with.

"Ooh, you've got great taste!" the clerk complimented. "Trying to impress a secret admirer or something?" Her innocent question earned a hostile glare from Luna, causing her to flinch back. "Erm...nevermind! That'll be ten." Luna handed her the money and without a word, left the store.

************

Luna looked up at the cemetery gate and took a deep breath. "Here I go." She walked in and passed by several headstones, shrubs, and bushes, until she came across a specific headstone. It was none other than Ray and Jill's.

She bent down and laid the tulips onto the grass. "Mom...Dad...it's me, Luna. I want to let you know that..." Tears welled up in her eyes, interrupting her monologue. With her right wing, she wiped them and continued. "I want to let you know that I miss you so much. I'm still here, and even after all these years, things haven't really improved for me. I need you so much right now. Please, for the thousandth time, I ask you to forgive me. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't because...because...IT'S MY FAULT YOU DIED!"

Her tears came back and now she was crying harder than she did last time. The tears pounded harder down onto the ground. Luna buried her face into her wings to muffle her sobbing. She abruptly stopped when she heard a voice that caused her to freeze.