thanatos | torvas

two

friday, 7 am. the sun is warm, and the day is young. cath marvels at the mesmerizing view before her eyes, and by mesmerizing she means garbage trucks and the stink of dog pee hanging in the air around her driveway. not that she minds though, since almost every morning she still manages to sit on the front porch with a cup of tea and book in her hand. cath's classes don't start until 9am, so clearly she has time to kill.

"cath," a voice calls from inside of her shared flat, "have you seen my sweater?"

"which one?" she asks nonchalantly, nose still buried in her book. as she is about to place her cup, she glances up and finds that her roommate was already there, towering over cath with her arms crossed and one foot tapping on the wooden flooring. she did not look happy.

"what's up, rhi?" cath's face spreads into an innocent grin and she swears she saw fumes coming out her roommate's nostrils.

"i only have one sweater, cath, and you're wearing it."

"well, i don't think you wanna wear this today, i mean, i kinda spilled my tea here a little." cath shows rhiannon the stain that has defaced a small part of her favorite orange sweater. it shouldn't be much of a problem for most people, but cath knew better than anybody how much of a clean freak her roommate is.

"CATH WHAT THE- GIMME IT!" cath couldn't keep her laughing bone in as rhiannon desperately tries to yank the sweater off of her. thankfully she had a tank on, so when rhiannon finally succeeds, she isn't sitting on the porch half-naked. rhiannon practically growls at her, but she takes it with a grain of salt.

"i swear if you steal my clothes one more time-"

"is it really stealing if you live together, though?"

after rhiannon has just had enough, she finally waves the white flag. "goodness god, i'm convinced you got issues." she shakes her head and walks back inside. cath's attention returns to her book, but something stops her from focusing on her book.

her thoughts run back to her mother. what's she doing right now? is levi taking good care of her? is she keeping up with her post-it habit? should i give her a call? but would she even remember me?

the questions don't seem to plan on leaving her alone anytime soon. cath tries to recall the time when her mother started to slowly but frequently forget the little things around her—leaving the umbrella outside of the house, forgetting whether she's had breakfast or lunch yet—until it developed into something much, much worse. that one time cath arrived home from school and when she ran into her mother in the kitchen, her mother didn't recognize her. instead she started babbling non-stop about some other guy who definitely was not her father. till this day, that man is still a mystery for cath and her younger brother, levi.

and when cath starts thinking of her mother, her father is not far off of the equation. cath sends a short a prayer for him, hoping that he is well and better off on the other side.

"cath, you might wanna start getting ready. it's almost half to 9." rhiannon says, voice echoing from inside. cath doesn't waste another minute and goes back inside to take a quick shower. it doesn't take her long to finish getting ready, so she waits in the living room for her roommate.

when cath hears the other's footsteps nearing, she take the initiative to grab her keys and start the car. it's a good thing that they both study in the same major, so that they can always go to campus together.

cath turns the radio on and sits back.

well, it's not far down to paradise, at least not for me.
if the wind is right, you can sail away, find tranquility.
oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see.
believe me.

it's her mother's favorite song. she would go on and on about how this song reminds her of her younger, better days. the time of innocence, first love, and thinking that she could take on the world—defying gravity and all. and now that her alzheimer's is hitting peak, she's been living in her realm of nostalgia more than ever. sometimes cath would catch her dancing around her room with this song blasting through the speakers, and she'd do it alone with her shadow. cath thought she's be creeped out the first time she saw it, but to her surprise, the look in her mother's face gave it away. cath had never seen her so..

peaceful.

"hello? earth to cath?" rhiannon breaks her off of her reverie, and she's somewhat thankful for it.

"shit, sorry. you ready?" cath steps on the brake and pulls the gear to D, not forgetting the handbrake.

"until mr. diaval stops smoking like a chimney, i'm always ready."

a chuckle manages to slip through cath's mouth and without furthe ado, the two best friends take off.