in the sky ~ john lennon

v

twirling with a brush between her fingers, lucy's eyes watched in wonder the unfinished painting before her. it had a few strokes of paint, following the pencil sketches beneath them. the shapes of trees bloomed on the sides, green leaves with small white flowers, along with an earthy orange sky, clashed together in perfect harmony.

a soft breeze hummed, as the window of her bedroom slightly opened. it was a chilly day in liverpool, the usual. it seemed the last days of warm weather were gone and autumn had prepared it's arrival. the grey clouds, the faint sun, and the crisp breath of the wind were only the beginning.

on the wood floor, balls of paper were scattered and, in the middle of the mess, the stereo murmured earth angel by the penguins, soothing the occupants of the room.
sleeping fondly, chesire laid on a book, joy drawn in his face, as if he had found the most comfy nest ever. on the other hand, cynthia was wrapped on a blanket, on lucy's bed, book covering her face. it was only eight in the morning, on a saturday and lucy was ready to start crafting.

her father and stepmother went to london for the weekend, to visit a relative lucy had never heard of. it was from jane's side of the family. this only meant one thing, she had to take care of alice, which wasn't a difficult task. since lucy had the house to herself, she and cynthia had planned a sleepover, that consisted on watching tv shows, eating, gossiping and wrestling alice to bed.

"i'm just a fool, a fool in love with you." lucy whispered, dancing with the brush on the canvas.

soon, the sound of footsteps on the hallway, and the jiggle of the doorknob, snapped lucy out of her daze. the bedroom door bursted open, alice proudly standing on the other side of it. cynthia screamed, eyes wide open, head snapping to where the sound echoed from.
"jesus mary and joseph!"

"just alice!" the little girl beamed, running inside the room to hug the frightened girl. cynthia chuckled, hugging alice back, to which lucy smiled, how could someone be so energetic in the morning?

"is that a boat?" alice peeked over the canvas, eyes cruising over the painting. lucy nodded, putting the brushes aside, in a small jar full of water. cynthia joined them, stretching her body, arms over her head. the trio stared at the unfinished painting, as if they were art critics.

"it's really good, lucy." cynthia broke the silence, looking at the girl, admiration in her eyes.

"thanks, but it's missing something. whatever, i still got a week to finish it." lucy mumbled, cleaning the wet brushes with a cloth, that was over her shoulder.

"yay let's eat!" alice squealed and
like a lightning, the little girl ran past the two teens, down the stairs, who stared at each other perplexed. recognition dawned on lucy's face, and she mentally slapped herself.

"alice, i swear if i see you eating jelly babies for breakfast, you better run for your life!" she dashed after the youngster, nearly tripping on the last steps of the staircase. cynthia giggled, picking up cheshire, who had secretly met her on the hallway, scratching his head.

"these two." she shook her head, smile on her lips and the black cat purring, in content, as she strolled down the stairs.

❁

"i'm telling you he's not that interested in me, he hasn't asked me out yet." cynthia sighed, hands clasped around a steamy mug of tea. she sat with her lower legs crossed, on the front porch, eyes travelling to lucy. with her fingers wrapped on yellow cellophane, the girl blinked at her friend, in bewilderment.