Awakening IX - Through the Looking Glass pt. 2 (Prologue)
Jun 4, 2019 20:52:08 GMT -5
Shadowlove, Guillotine (QDT), and 1 more like this
Post by Lissie Hope on Jun 4, 2019 20:52:08 GMT -5
What a dream to see the falling snow.
The still of night, the frigid cold.
Watch in awe; listen! The silent sound;
In the moonlight glow, snow dots the ground.
Like a fairytale, it falls from trees;
The wind gusts by, peppering the streets.
Wake in the morn', a beautiful sight;
The kids will play, but not tonight.
SOMETIME AGO
Lissie Hope gazed out the window, her reflection staring back at her, and watched as the snowflakes floated to earth. The lights were dim and the air was warm as she had turned the dial on the thermostat up a few degrees in anticipation for the unexpected chill that only came once in a blue moon. Maybe an ordinary night in Montana, but in Louisiana, this was their definition of a blizzard.
Lissie's brooding meditation was interrupted by a slam of ivory on the coffee-table.
"Twenty!" Coach Boom delightfully announced, a double-six adding with the five and the three that had splintered off from the centerpiece. Dominoes; it was his favorite game ever since he was a child, and one that he had passed down on to his own. It was the perfect game for a night like this, just a small gathering among friends and family; a night where you could sit and enjoy the company of others while the city was asleep, lost in it's dreams. Robbie Hope instinctively scribbled on the notepad as Boom's hearty chuckle shook the room. He giggled as he raised his vodka soda to his mouth, feeling the burn on his lips as it careened down his throat. "Ooh-wee! Shit's strong!"
"Thirty more and the game's yours," Robbie said, shaking his head. He knew the stakes were riding high on this game. The last one to hit 200 would have to pay for the pizza. He looked over at his sister who just seemed incredibly distant. Her mind was elsewhere, and it was apparent to everyone in the room. "Lis, you're up," Robbie said, trying to alert her distracted mind.
"You 'aight, bae?"
Izzy Slade touched her knee and she flinched, not expecting the physical contact. She shook the cobwebs from her recesses of her mind, and turned her attention back to the rest of the guests here in Coach Boom's old Creole cottage. She squeezed Izzy's hand and turned her attention to the game, still not really understanding the strategy or the purpose of it. But she knew it was a game that Izzy enjoyed playing with his father and was honored when they invited Robbie to join them for the night.
"I wish I knew how to play," Lissie said, always wanting to compete but finding herself in a no-win scenario against them. "I suck at this!" she continued, admitting helplessness and vulnerability. She threw a domino down without any play in mind, a double-three, losing interest in the game with every passing second. She laid down her hand and started playing with Izzy's braids before he slammed down five-two.
"Twenty!" he yelled out, surprising her with his enthusiasm. "Yeah bae, you do!" he joked, shaking her hand from his head. He gave his pop a huge high five and they began laughing at her expense. Robbie could see her demeanor shift, the embarrassment and the anger escaping through her eyes.
"Don't be fuckin' rude," she uttered angrily. She didn't like cussing in someone else's home, much less her mentor and possible future father-in-law. But she also didn't like being the butt of the jokes from the man she loved. She was aware it was petty, and that she was overreacting, but considering their relationship had been rocky lately, the smallest things tended to set her off.
She climbed to her feet and started walking away, much to Izzy's surprise.
"C'mon Lis, I was kidding!" he said, stifling his laughter at her petulance. She could act like such a child sometimes, especially when aided by alcohol, but he thought it was adorable having to chase after and make things right. It was a bit of a game to him; he'd do something stupid, he'd apologize, they'd have great sex, and then on to the next one. "Come on, girl! Sit 'yo ass down!" he joked.
But she was not in the mood for his jokes. Not tonight.
She closed the door to the bathroom harder than she intended and listened at the snide comments. "Shit, kid! You done fucked up now!" Boom joked to his son, and she could hear the hearty laughter at her expense. She knew she was overreacting, that the anger would subside after a few moments of contemplation. It always did; it never failed. But tonight was different.
After dousing her face in a handful of water, she hoped that everything would fall back into place. That she and Izzy could get back to a time when he didn't annoy the fuck out of her and when he wouldn't revel in the fact that he could. She looked at her long, bony fingers; they felt empty. She had invested so much time and so much love into this man and still, she wondered if she would ever be deserving of his commitment. If he would ever be mature enough to ask her. If she even wanted him to anymore.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror, failing to recognize the person staring back at her.
And it scared the fuck out of her.
But she wondered.
What would it be like to see things from the other side?
She demanded to know the answers.
And like a diver fifty-feet in the air, she walked to the ledge, and headfirst: she dove.
Spiraling.
Spiraling.