Luna 2

2

My heart hammered against my ribcage, trying desperately to rip out of my chest. “It was just a dream.” I mumbled, resting my head on my knees in the cruel, new daylight. I was lying to myself, and I knew it. Being a dream didn’t make it any less real. I really was abandoned on my birthday, an exceptionally chilly August 20th. Of course she hadn’t really hurt me, but not having a mother still causes a great amount of anguish in my life.

As I lay back down, the harsh red light from my alarm clock beamed the ungodly hour of 5:45 A.M. I closed my eyes, feeling myself slowly fall back into oblivion. I turned over snuggling into my massive down pillow and sighed contentedly.

“Asha! Asha! Are you alright!?” He ran into my door leaving a body shaped dent in it. “Damn door.” He grumbled, yanking it open, his long brown hair tangled and his pajamas wrinkled.

“My door,” I groaned. “Yes, Sam. Everything’s fine. It was just a nightmare.” I mumbled, throwing a pillow at his head. “How am I ever going to leave you if I don’t get enough sleep?”

His lip trembled, one solitary tear falling onto his plump cheek. “I don’t want you to leave me.” He whispered dejectedly.

“Oh, Dad. I need to get away from here. You’ve protected me from all the bad things in life for too long. I have to see the world, and without you always peeking over my shoulder. Remember what you told me?”

“I said ‘Asha, you need to go explore the islands before it’s too late, and staying home with me will not help you in anyway.’ I know what I said, but I…I think I was wrong to send your brother away and try to send you away too. I thought it would be easier to let you go since you weren’t really my children. You’re almost 16 now and we’ve lived together for a measly 10 years, but I don’t think I can be without both of you for the rest of forever. I just don’t know.”

“Sam, we both know that I have to go. I won’t be happy if I stay here. I’ll learn to hate you , and I really don’t want that. I want to love you forever. I’ll come back and visit you even if Aiden won’t.” I said twirling my heart-shaped necklace in between my fingers. “And who knows, I might even find my mom.”

“You won’t come back. You’ll be hanging out with Aiden, and you won’t even think about your old man.”

“Yeah? Since when is 31 an old man?” I asked trying to lighten the mood.

“Okay, okay. I just don’t want you to be unhappy. So get up, get ready for the day, and start packing ‘cause on Monday - your 16th birthday - I’m shipping you off to Mara whether you like it or not.”

“That’s the Sam I know. I don’t know who that confused, crying man was that just came in my room , but I didn’t like him. He was a total baby.” I teased pushing him in the chest.

“Don’t women like sensitive men?” He asked in mock horror.

“You must have been misinformed daddy dearest. It’s all about bad boys nowadays. I need to get dressed, and you need to leave.” I said pushing him out of my demolished door. “I would appreciate it if my door got fixed!” I shouted down the hall.

I grabbed some clothes and hopped in the shower. The scorching water pulsed on my back and cascaded down my mocha skin. As I washed my hair I thought about what my options in this situation were. I could either kick and scream and make Sam make me stay here and end up being angry with myself for not leaving when I had the chance, or I could just go with the plan and not think about the fact that Sam would be lonely without me. I decided to go with the second even though it was selfish.

I hopped out of the shower and ran into the kitchen, my wet feet slapping the tile. The sound echoing off the walls made me feel lonelier than I ever before.

Being away from Sam shouldn’t have made me depressed, but he was the only person, besides Aiden, that loved me. Being in and out of foster care made me build up walls against people that claimed they loved me. When Sam took us in permanently, those walls came tumbling down. I learned to let people into my heart again.

I grabbed the ingredients to make omelets, and began meticulously chopping the vegetables. I lightly tapped an egg on the edge of the counter and looked for the hole in the shell. When I only saw a crack, I tapped it a little harder, and still got no hole. I exasperatedly sighed and started bashing it against the top of the counter. The unusually thick shell split under my splayed fingers, and I grimaced as a brownish colored goo coated my hand and started to slowly trickle down my arm. That’s when I smelled it. The putrid smell of fecal matter set my gag reflex into action. I was grateful that I hadn’t eaten otherwise there would have been colorful chunks and tangy smelling liquid decorating the counters and floor.

I quickly snatched a dish towel from off the counter, and I covered my nose and mouth with it. The small bristles on the towel tickled my nose and I sneezed. I doubled over with laughter while trying not to get any of the snot from the towel in my mouth.

“Oh my gosh! This is disgusting on so many levels!” I giggled.

“Hey Asha, are- whoa! What is that smell!?” Sam asked fanning the air in front of his face. He leaned toward me and sniffed. “That’s you! Why do you reek? I thought you got in the shower?’

“I was trying to make breakfast, and the egg wouldn’t crack. As you know, patience isn’t my strong suit, so I ended up bashing the egg on the counter. It got all over and now everything smells horrible. So what were you saying before you smelled this?” I asked pointing to the gunk still dripping off my arm.

“Let’s just go to the living room.” He said trying not to breath.

We walked into the living room, and as soon as I was through I ripped the towel from my face, wiped the gunk off my arm, and shoved the towel into the crack under the door.