Al got up from her bed, shaking the thoughts away. She softly stepped out of her room and snuck down the stairs.She would always play a game with her mom to see if she could sneak up on her without the other one knowing.
At the bottom of the stairs, she tipped toed to the wall dividing the foyer from the kitchen and hid behind it, inching closer to the doorway. As she peeped her head around the wall, she could see her mother swiftly going in between cooking and cleaning up the kitchen and humming her favorite tune.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, I am happy when skies are gray, please don't take my sunshine away."
Al giggled as she slipped into the kitchen, telling her mom the proper tune of that song. Her mom snapped back, "So I can still sing my version" they both laughed.
She made her way to her same old spot as her nose found the smell of bacon and pancakes swirling in the air . At first, it filled her with joy, she always loved her mother's cooking first thing in the morning. Al's finger found its way to the chipped corner and began to trace it with her finger as her eyes followed suit.
"Mom, how do you know you're doing the right thing in life?"
Her mother moved like a merchant running their stall for the day as she cooked and cleaned.
"Honey, with things like that, you just have to trust the pit in your gut and you'll know if it is the right thing or the wrong thing. We all have a thing called common sense." She paused to look at Al, "it's just some of us choose to ignore it and others do something with it. Look know if you ignored it or not based on the things happening around you"
Al stared into her eyes and watched as the confidence of this advice danced.
"Thanks, mom! Call me back down when breakfast is ready." Al raced to her bedroom avoiding the books this time by hopping over them and diving into the chair, her butt sticking the landing .
She started to look things up about reincarnation, stalkers, and recurring dreams. She couldn't find anything linking them together. She could give her determination leaving her body and being replaced with anguish. Once again she was stuck and didn't know where to go from there.
She strolled to the window next to her bed, facing towards her backyard.
As she admired the view, she could see vibrant sapphire painting the skies. The ocean of sapphire was interrupted by a abundance of jade and emerald green leaves. A family of sparrows appeared passed the jagged line of treetops.
She could barely make out the sunlight filtering through the branches.
It gave her a sense of peace as she pushed the stressful thoughts away. She followed the branches down to the trunks. They stood as a solid sea of mahogany army frozen in time while they held their ground towering over the endless blooms that rolled like a colorful tide. The golden sunlight spilled over the petals. She let the scene linger a little longer.
Suddenly as a cloud dimmed the scene, movement in the treeline caught her eye. A boy she could barely make out stumbled out. Her eyes adjusted as she rubbed that. She looked and seen him brushing off leaves and twigs from his chest.
"It can't be?!" She gasped as her hands covered her mouth.
Al ran down the stairs, through the empty kitchen, and out the back door as quickly asher body would let her. She came to a halt at the edge of the concrete porch, searching the wave of vibrant colors.
Bees were humming in the distance while the rustle of the petals and wind clashed with each other. Her eyes found the same peaceful scene that once laid in front of her when she was upstairs. She glanced down at her cold bare feet. Tears formed around the bottom of her eyes, right as they were about to fall she heard a voice almost whispering behind her.
"I know you're not about to start crying because you miss me already."
Al twisted her body towards the voice to find Marco sitting in one of the chairs next to the door she came from. His shirt had torns above his stomach, collar bone, and his left shoulder. There was dirty blood all over his clothes, arms, and face.
She couldn't help but to wonder why he was so dirty.
His hair looked as if he hadn't brushed in a month with sticks and grass hanging out of his brown curly locs but underneath it all was Marco.
"What happened to you?" She sat down in the chair next to his.
"It's a long story and I will explain everything after I get a shower and some of mom's food in my stomach. Do you still have my clothes?" He tilted his head towards her with a faint smirk.
She nodded with a smile, tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Now stop that crying, you dork!" Marco said as he patted her head before standing up.
Right before he opened the back door, he swung back with a grin on his face.
"Why haven't you hugged me yet?"
Al looked at him with salty tears, she stood up and acted as if she was about to hug him. In one swift move, she punched him in the stomach.
"That's for not responding to me. No hugs for filthy people" she pointed to the door. "Now go shower young man, you smell like a swamp!"
"Touch'e" He rubbed his stomach acting like it actual did some damage. He didn't have a comeback for her, he was happy to see she was okay. As they walked into the house, Al realized the kitchen stood peacefully erie, only food and a note on the counter was left behind.
Al approached the note and read out loud.
"Hey honey! Running some errands then off to work, I'll be home around 5 or 6, be good. Love, Mom." Al rubbed her fingertips across the note and sighed.
"Well Marco, it looks like we are on our own today." She shrugged as she spun around towards Marco.
An awkward silence filled the air as they finished preparing their plates and sat down at the table. As Marco sat in his chair, it released a shrieking creak that echoed through the kitchen.
"Darnit! I thought dad said he was going to fix this chair. I hate that noise."
Al found her herself giggling as she picked up her fork.
"Nope."
Marco just smiled back as he adjusted himself and began eating.
The awkward silence crawled its way back into the kitchen as the clacks and clatters of the forks and knives fought against each other on the plate as if they were arenas.
She knew if she spoke, he would dodge the subject telling her to wait even longer. As the last bite was taken, Al stood up grabbing both the plates to clean while Marco made his way to the shower. She placed the last dish in the rack above the sink. Her mother insisted on it because the water would drain directly into the sink. She moved into the library for a few books.
She found herself picking up her favorite mystery book, it was about a boy who had to help found out his sister's murdered though she was claimed as a suicide. She was always fascinated about the storyline, everything had a reason and place for where it was in the book, making the ending so satisfying. She grinned and headed to the room to join Marco after he got out.
" So… are you gonna tell me now?" Al asked with a grin once she was in the room. Marco was walking out of the bathroom that was connected to her room. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and steam ran off his body like he was a hot meal being served right out of the oven. She had to turn around to give herself a moment as her face grew to a strawberry shade.
Once it felt cool again she turned around as she composed herself. She looked him in the eyes and whispered, "please"
"Hold your horses, after I get dressed! He walked over to her and kissed her forehead.
A smile came across her face, making her forget everything that was happening. As Marco got dressed, she sat on the bed while looking out the window, she noticed the same alluring field and strong trees from earlier. She placed her knees to her chest and took a deep sigh while resting her head on the top of her knees.
"Mom and Dad are non-stop fighting with each other. Dad didn't even come home the last two nights and I've been having nightmares of him dying" She lifted her head to rub her face for a moment and looked at Marco. "The other dreams I can deal with, but those nightmares and Incubus stalking me, I'm not sure how much more I can take. I need to know what is going on. She sat up right in the bed with her feet planted to the ground, facing Marco. "Then I couldn't get a hold of you. I felt so alone."
Marco slipped his shirt on gracefully and walked over to Al, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the bed as she stood, he pulled her in close to him. Wrapping his arms around her.
"It's okay, things will get better. I know it will, it will take some time. You just have to trust in me."He put his hands on her hips and she placed her arms around his neck.
They started to slow dance to imaginary music. Al slowly laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes and she felt safe again.
When they were kids, Al was never invited to the school dances, you had to be invited only by dates at her school. Everyone there mocked her and thought of her as a ugly pig because of how plain she dressed and looked. They didn't like her fair skin, it was almost porcelain like and her black hair made her look paler. It was so straight that her hair made it hard to keep any style in. Curls always fell out when her mother would do her hair as a child. Her ponytail always becomes loose after ten minutes.
All the girls at her school had tans and light colored hair making them stand out above her. She looked like everyone else when she would go to the store and doctor's appointments with her parents growing up. She never understood why they felt the way they did, but for some reason all of them disliked her, no matter the private school she attended.
When they were younger Marco offered to dance with her whenever she was sad, ever since it helped her forget those moments.
They danced for what seemed like an hour, slowly falling onto the bed until they fell into deep comas.
Before drifting away, she whispered,
"I love you."
Marco laid there, not saying anything back. He knew he didn't have much time left, but he didn't want to overload her with everything he had to say. After they woke up, he thought to himself as he slipped away.