Page 21 - AAEPC Kaleidoscope Magazine Vol.4

Eliza
“So, it’s not just me-”
“Ahh! Lou!” I felt her long wavy hairbrush by my neck, like the monster’s hairy fingers ma used to tell me about.
“Oops, didn’t mean to startle you haha-” Lou says, as her cheeks burn up. “But, did you mean what you wrote-”
“You meanie! Who said you could read that!” I elbow her teasingly as we both laughed. “But yeah, I did mean every word, why?”
“I’ve always wanted to go there. That rock, it’s calling me. And every night, I watch the mountain change colours, from a disfigured black object in a distance, to all the colours of my world coming back. The sky’s golden rays, I feel like they’re trying to reach me. It’s magical, Eliza, like, holding your favourite person’s hand and knowing that someday, you’ll be okay.”
This was the most Lou’s ever said, and for the first time, tears escaped her mesmerising eyes. It hurts seeing Lou like this, yearning for something that she’ll never get, unless-
“Let’s go there!” I blurted out.
“Huh?” Lou turned to me, as if she’s not aware of the tears seeping out.
“Let’s go there together, first thing tomorrow, before those pesky nurses come to our room. I know a tunnel hidden in the wall, right around there. My friend, Morty told me before I came in here that the person stuck in here before us dug a hole.”
“But-”
“We’ll climb through that hole, run towards the mountain and to that rock, and we can soar through the sky together as the colours fill up. Then, we’ll both be okay. What do you say, Lou?”
Blank. But again, her eyes, they’re howling to be free. Say something Lou.
She nods as both sides of her lips rise, her face no longer blank. She enveloped me, burying her face into my chest. Lou sure is giving my heart a workout today. We stay there, as the heat of our skins meet.
“Hey, they’re gonna bring us dinner soon.” I whisper gently to her fragile ear, not wanting this mo- ment end.
Our eyes meet and say everything we have left to say to each other.
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