Glow In The Dark

Chapter Two

The soft hum of the TV greeted Dani as she walked through the front door of the apartment. The only lighting in sitting room was the glow that was coming from the TV screen. She wasn’t sure what was on but guessed that it was something ‘educational’. The door closed with a faint click behind her and drew the attention of the woman that was sitting in front of the TV.

            A look of annoyance came to her face but was quickly hidden by a fake smile, “Welcome home dear, would like to come and watch the telly with me? We can watch something educational.” She had a faint English accent.

            Dani walked over and dropped her back pack to the floor before sitting in the chair next to her, “Auntie, is dad home? I need to talk to him…”

            “He’s at work luv.” She grabbed Dani’s wrist and pointed at the TV in excitement, “Look! That was educational.”

            “Auntie…” She pulled her hand away, “Have you gone to see mum yet? She has to go into surgery tomorrow.”

            Her Aunt waved her hand as if to dismiss her, “No no, I had tea with Mr. Blue bird today.” Her Aunt fixed her gaze on the glowing screen, “Lost me keys first, took me hours to find them just for them to be in the freeze. How you reckon they got there dear?”

            “Maybe Mr. Blue Bird put them in there…” She stood up and grabbed her bag.

            “I bet her did the silly little man.” She shook her head and looked at Dani, “Go off and do your school work now dear, you dad should be home soon.”

            Dani said nothing more and walked past her and towards the hall. Their apartment wasn’t as nice and it had once been. It had a small sitting room that was connected to the small kitchen. A hall way started right before the kitchen and held four doors. Three of them led to a bedroom while the fourth was the bathroom. She walked down the hall to the room at the end and went right in.

            Christmas lights hung along the top of the room giving the room a colorful glow to it. A one person bed was in the center of the room with strange little stuffed creatures all over it. A small vanity and mirror was next to the bed, a silver mask hung on the corner of the mirror and papers were all over the vanity. The wall straight across from her was covered in papers. If one were to actually take the time to look at the wall they would find it to be an actually world. Houses, shops, forests, and beings were drawn all over the papers.

            Walking to her bed she let her bag drop on it before taking out the drawing she had done earlier and went over to the wall. Scanning it she looked for a place to put her picture. It took just a matter of seconds before she found a spot and put it there. Picking up the tape she kept near the wall on the ground she used the tape to keep the picture on the wall.

            Stepping back, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked upon her work. Her eyes scanned over the large city that she had created, moving down the streets and to the town square. In the square she had created a circus with creatures that one would only see in their dreams. A smile played on her lips as her gaze traveled away and to the castle she had spent long nights creating, a celebration was going on inside and was  open to all of the people of the city.

            She was so caught up on studying her work that she hadn’t heard the door open or the steps of her father’s feet as he walked towards her. A small squeak of surprise escaped from her as he put a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head a little she looked at him with her bright blue eyes, meeting his own that matched hers. Her mother had always told her that her father’s eyes and her own had been made from the tears of joy shed the day they were born. It was one of her favorite things that her mother would say.

            “Dad, you need to go to the hospital and see mom.” Her voice was low and soft, she didn’t want to upset him.

            His hand slipped away from her shoulder as he turned and went to her bed to sit himself on the edge, “I know… But I can’t go yet… I know if I go that they will bother me about the payments and we don’t have that much money yet…” He lifted his gaze to look at his daughter, “How did things get so bad?”

            Dani shook her head as she sat down next to him, “I know your trying dad… But even if they bother you you still need to be there for her.” She gently took his hand, “You can always just shut down the shop can’t you?”

            “No.” He looked at her, his face as serious as she had ever seen it, “I can’t take away those peoples jobs, we are all a family Dani, they rely on us for money, without us they would have nothing.”

            Anger shot through her and she quickly stood up, “We have nothing dad! We have given them all our money just to keep them working in a shop that’s not even running anymore!” She looked at him, “None of them have even gone to see her either, and they don’t even help us out so why should we!?” Her voice rose with her anger and she could see that she had upset him but at the moment did not care very much.

            Slowly he rose and ran a hand through his short hair, “I’m sorry Dani… I’m trying…” His voice dropped as did his gaze while he turned and walked away, “Dinner will be ready soon, and I’ll call for you when it’s ready.”

            “Don’t bother, I’m not hungry.” Her arms crossed in front of her chest, her eyes looking away from him. He nodded as his answer but she did not see it and he knew that she hadn’t. Just as quietly as he had entered he left, the door softly clicking behind him.

            Sitting back on the bed, she swung her legs up and stretched herself out. Her eyes drifted up to her ceiling and a light smile feathered itself to her lips as she stared up at her ceiling. Stars and moons covered the whole ceiling. Dani closed her eyes and remembered when they had gotten the apartment at the beginning of the year. Her grandmother had come over to help them fix it up and had brought along the stars and moons. Her mother, her grandmother, and her had spent hours on step ladders; putting the stars up in the ceiling in random spots until they had the whole thing covered. When the lights were off it would feel as if she were in her own infinite space where all the pains and problems of the world no longer existed. Where her mother wasn’t sick, her father wasn’t trapped in the past, and her grandmother was still alive.

            A shaky breath slipped past her lips as she opened her eyes to let a single tear run down her cheek. As quickly as she could she tried to wipe away her tear and any others that had started their way down her cheek. Sitting up, she got off to her bed and walked over to her vanity. She squatted down and reached under it to pull out a box full of different colored chalks and small chalk drawings that she had done over the years. Straightening herself up she walked from her room and rushed out of the apartments not giving her father or her aunt a chance to talk to her.

            The apartment door banged shut behind her as she stepped put into the balcony like walk way that over looked the old area of the city they lived in. The apartment building had more rooms then she wanted to count, most of them empty, and held seven floors that stretched down a good length. The building was old and looked like it would fall apart from its own weight. Looking away from the deserted street she made her way down the walk way to a staircase that no sane person would trust but she had grown use to the way it shook and groaned under her weight.

            Holding onto her box tightly she made her way up the stairs towards the roof of the building. A man was walking down the stairs as she made her way up and she found herself quickly moving out of the way as he rushed past her. It was as if he had not seen her as he just kept not seem to care if anyone else was on the stairs. Peeling her eyes from his retreating figure she continued her way up until she reached the top and was hit with the cool fresh air that had yet to be soiled by the city.