I AWOKE and I was sprawled on the ground amongst dirt and twigs, the earthy raw scent of it engulfed my senses. The faint hint of petrichor lingered in the air creating the illusion of a rain long poured. I gazed up at the night sky and through the thick coverage of sycamore trees above me, I could see the silver sliver of the moon. Winking at me, mocking me as if it held the knowledge of something I did not. The wind begun to howl and I hugged myself close for warmth, and when I returned my gaze to the woodland floor I met the eyes of a little boy.
He had a button nose dusted with freckles and dishevelled sandy hair, his eyes bright, wide and youthful. He offered me his hand and somehow I knew that it was safe for me to take it, I stood up and dusted off my long white nightgown. He led me towards an opening in the forest where there lay a field of evergreen grass, there were daisies sprouting out of the ground and fireflies illuminating and enchanting the already magical scene.
I looked closer and I could see another boy in the middle of the field, plucking daisies, threading a few through his raven hair, and looking around as though he were waiting for someone. His eyes were a curious marine blue, his skin fair and luminescent.
"Is that your brother?" I asked the little boy beside me but he only shook his head in disagreement. "He's waiting for you."
The little boy only released my hand and shook his head in refusal again gesturing for me to go to the other. I did as he asked and I made my way towards the fair-skinned boy in the field, he reached out to give me the daisy in his hand but when he saw who I was he was confused but still he placed it in my hair. I got the idea that it wasn't me he was waiting for.
He looked past me over my shoulder and in turn did so. Then, the first little blonde-haired boy waved goodbye and the darker-haired boy began to chase after him, to stop him from leaving but it was too late, he had disappeared into the night and the second boy was left reaching for air. He collapsed to his knees and cried, sobs wracked his body like all hope was gone, and the fireflies' light died out as though in tune to his sadness.
I ran after him to console him but he began to run away from me, and all I could do was chase him through the woods, shoving away branches and pushing past tall grass, I didn't know why I felt like I needed to find him, to hold him and be there for him but I did and I chased after him for dear life.
I awoke with a gasp, and I felt like I had just run a marathon. My alarm went off and I heard the water running in the shower, Keomi. Thank God she didn't have to witness yet another embarrassing moment of mine. I raced to my design table, took my watercolours out of my drawer and begun to paint the scene before it disappeared completely from my mind. I recalled vivid images of folklore, fireflies in the dead of night, sycamore trees and lost boys.
By the time Keomi was done in the shower I was halfway finished with my painting and I had to suffer through a whole interrogation process about what I was painting, what the inspiration behind it was and if I was planning on turning in it. However, the thing was, not even I could explain the weird dreams I'd been having ever since I'd gotten here. My dream journal had never been more scribbled in.
I hopped in the shower and felt beyond relieved as the deliberately cold water ran down my body, and as the water soaked through my curls, I felt behind my ear for the daisy that was once there.
It was not.
My hair had suffered a surprising amount of shrinkage because of the water, I moisturized a fair amount of product through it before I grabbed my hair dryer and blew it out before tying it up in a small bun. I changed into a pair of painted denim bootleg jeans and a plain white tank top with spaghetti straps. I decided it was rather chilly outside so I threw a brown coat over it. Just then my cell phone began to ring, and to my surprise it was papa.
"Hello?" The voice said from the other end, it was not papa but my brother.
"Jaadi, I have missed you so much!" I exclaimed,
"The house is empty without you here dada yangu,"sister of mine,
"I had hoped it wouldn't be that way, you've got mama and papa who promised to keep you company while I was gone." I sighed leaning against the wall,
"It's not the same as with you, it's strange to take Kibo out on walks in the park without you and to walk home from school alone." He mumbled and my heart ached for him,
"I promise to send you postcards and pictures from Paris, I'll be home for thanksgiving in no time," I assured him,
"We don't celebrate that selfish American holiday." Jaadi retaliated,
"Of course not but all the American students are allowed to go home for the weekend because of it," I told him,
"In that case, you must bring me back a box of those Parisian chocolates I see in all the movies." He insisted and I laughed,
"Of course, class is soon, I have to go, you should call me more often," I added,
"It makes it harder not to see you." He admitted before hanging up.
His words tattooed themselves onto my heart.
The first class of the day was core math, which I despised more than anything, all of my friends were in the advanced mathematics class and I was all alone with a bunch of people I didn't know or talk to. My teacher Monsieur Marc was a pain in the ass and a total snob, he always pointed out everyone's mistakes for the sole purpose of embarrassing them in front of the class. Which quite frankly was really low of him and I hated that. Your job as a teacher is to encourage, never ever to bring anyone down to fuel your own messed up superiority complex.
My next class was geography which I had with Merilla who was always helping me out with drawing maps because I was incredibly shitty at despite being an artist. Once Geo was over I grabbed my satchel and made my way out of the class, hoping to catch some peace and quiet in the left-wing library which was always empty. To my surprise, I had no such privilege.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Fabian and River getting into a seemingly heated argument by the historical fiction section, I didn't want to risk them hearing or seeing me so I hid behind a shelf and listened in— I couldn't believe what I heard.
I leaned in closer so I could make out their heated conversation,
"Why can't you just leave her alone, all you're doing is hurting her." Fabian pressed,
"You don't know that," River replied in his usual nonchalant tone,
