Forgotten

Chapter 16

ONE MONTH LATER

        I THREW HOURS OF EFFORT AND LABOR INTO making Liana's birthday cake. I bought wax candles from the marketplace and used our savings to buy a small bag of real white flour instead of the whole grain one we're always issued in our rations. The outcome isn't perfect, but it's the best I've ever made. Maybe even better than the one Hannah and I made for Hannah's birthday.

            It's a white cake, fluffy and moist with a touch of honeyed sweetness. Homemade buttercream frosting, made with butter, sugar, and milk, is spread evenly on the top and sides. I even colored some of it pink and iced the words, "Happy Birthday Liana" in somewhat uneven but nevertheless heartfelt lettering on the top.

            It's 5:00 AM, half an hour before our normal wake-up time. I step back to admire my finished product. I'm pretty proud of it—it turned out well. Normally, cakes are too expensive and time-consuming to be made for birthdays in the west, but it's always been tradition to make one for a homestead sibling's eighteenth.

            I set the cake on the table and clean up the mess I've made in the kitchen. After I've finished, I go to Hayley's room and wake her, gently shushing her as she lets out an exhausted moan.

            "Liana's birthday today," I remind her in a whisper. "You ready?"

            Hayley sits up, rubbing her eyes. Finally, she blinks up at me. "Yeah," she says.

            "Okay. Go get your present, change clothes, and meet me in the kitchen."

            As Hayley scrambles out of bed and hurries to the closet for a clean dress, I return to the kitchen and open the bottom drawer on the far right. I pull back the folded towels that conceal my secret, look inside, and remove a small box, wrapped neatly in pink paper. Written in dark pen, on the top: For Liana—Happy Birthday!

        I look at the tiny box cupped in my left hand. It's small, and feels insignificant, especially compared to Hayley's present. But if Liana decides to take it to the east as her one allotted keepsake, it'll be worth everything.

        I close my eyes, clutching the present.

        How could you? part of me screams. How could you choose this? How could you choose anything over your sister?

        Hayley's my sister, too, the other half argues. I have to save her first. She's only a child.

        Liana, I'll come back for you. I promise.

        "Stella?" Hayley's small, childlike voice sounds from behind me. I turn, trying to hide the tears creeping up into my eyes.

        She's wearing a beautiful peacock blue dress that brings out the color of her sapphire eyes. She's combed her hair, and it lies straight and flat down her shoulders. In her arms she holds a large box, much bigger than mine, this one wrapped in green paper. She's also used a pen to scribble, To Liana—Love, Hayley on the top of her gift.

        "Oh, Hayley," I whisper, reaching up and stroking a lock of her beautiful golden hair with my fingers. "You look beautiful."

        She smiles. "Do you think she'll like my present?"

        "Of course! How could she not?"

            I hear footsteps and look past Hayley to see Liana making her way down the hall, her eyes still bleary with sleep. "Stella?" she yawns.

            I stand. "Happy birthday, Liana." Without warning, I throw myself into her arms. The tears flow freely now, pouring down and dampening the shoulder of Liana's nightgown. "I love you."