Her weight shifted from one leg to the other. Wooden floor boards creaked and echoed in her mind. Eyes jumping from place to place, she couldn?t seem to peel them from watching the nightfall, the gloom and the misery drench her house.
Looking up, she saw what her mother?s eyes had been meaning to say. ?Save her,? they urged. From what? She wasn?t dying. The little girl, who had matured too quickly, looked outside again. Perceiving it now, through different eyes.
There, a girl sat, staring at the skulls on her shoes. Her fingers moving in a soft, sad, repetitive motion along the side of the fabric. She submerged it in the water. Her foot. Then, soon, her leg, which still remained in jeans. The look in the girl?s eyes was lethal enough to frighten a beast. Her head was tilted at the perfect angle. The girl looked torn. Torn between a life of misery and a life of regret.
The girl went deeper and deeper. Daring herself to take her next step. Tears left her eyes dry. Before this, only solitary tears would irregularly streak her pensive, ghostly face. The crying girl had always been strong. Always strong for the little girl. But, something was different now. Now that she didn?t know the delicate girl was watching from inside the house. Something had changed.
?Save her,? her mother?s eyes screamed at the useless girl. Not knowing what to do the frail girl ran outside. Making herself vulnerable to whatever was out there. The eldest?s eyes grew wide as she saw her approaching. The older sister?s face looked weak and breakable. But, it was not her face, it was her soul. The wise sister, who had the whole world buried deep inside her, stopped crying. Waiting for the little one to say something. But, the guiltily innocent girl didn?t say anything. She just mouthed the words, ?For me.?
Slowly, the older girl backed out. Out of the cold, blue water, which had been dragging her mind in. She turned and gave the best smile she could. It wasn?t much but, it was all the little girl ever wanted. The little girl saved the moment. She carved it into her memory so that it could stay there forever. Never to be smudged or faded. She realized that she heroes weren?t the only ones who saved people. Heroes needed to be saved too. And there my hero stood? crying and holding me in her strong arms. She let her mind pour out onto me through her tears. All her memories and all her thoughts were seen blatantly through her eyes.