Summer Blaze, as clear as day: Part 2

Here is yet another post, continuing from where I left off. This is "Summer Blaze, as clear as day: Part 2". Again, I will say that this piece involves two girls who are in love with each other. (I wanted to mention something about homosexuality in American media: I absolutely hate the stereotype that gay men are continuously used as a source of comedy [in more PG roles, but much more sexual in MA roles] and lesbian women treated as sex objects for men's delight in any rating from PG-MA. It disgusts me that I almost always find these trends, whether it be in TV shows or in music videos. Also I despise when people consider gay and lesbian couples to be "cute". They are just like any other couple on this planet. It sounds horrifically like they are being patronized. Not every single gay and lesbian couple has to be cute, otherwise you would call every single relationship "cute" and I doubt many people do that. Please consider my two characters to simply be innocent girls who naturally fell in love with each other.) This is actually my first writing on homosexuality, and I'm pretty proud of it whether it's a good story or not. For those who don't mind this subject too much, please enjoy ☺.

(Child laughter can be heard in the background. Language exchanged but isn’t comprehensible. Screams envelope a playground. The sun is shining brightly, only a few clouds in the sky. A friend’s odd smile and her missing tooth. Another child being scolded by mother. The scene goes back to your friend who is at the top of the jungle gym. The sun directly behind her, she spreads her arms out like a bird. Her beautiful red hair whipped around her shoulders. She says something inaudible. You try to make something of it by reading her lips, but nothing comes to mind. The girl jumps. And you wake up.)

Crystal’s eyes peeked open, “H-how long have I been asleep?” Crystal opened her eyes further, only to instigate an immediate headache. “Oh, great,” she groaned. “This hot, infernal day and a splitting headache!!” A wet touch graced her forehead. In too much pain to jump up in surprise, Crystal simply followed the wetness to a cloth, then to an arm, then to a body. A body all too familiar that day. “June…?” The other girl looked on in interest. Crystal scoffed, “You have got to stop reappearing like this.” She laughed, “Someone could easily mistake you for a ghost.”

In response, June simply closed her eyes and smiled.

Crystal watched June as she took the cloth from Crystal’s forehead and dipped it in a bucket full of water. Crystal eyed the bucket with fierce curiosity and couldn’t pin why it mattered. Again, Crystal didn’t want to ponder mysteries. It used too much brain power. “June…?”

June looked up and blinked at the girl before as if to reply “yes”, bringing the cloth back to Crystal’s forehead. The water was oddly cooler than the stream’s water. More relaxing and pleasant. Crystal smiled at June, taking the girl’s other hand in hers, and shook her head. “Never mind…” Crystal’s face turned a bit pink as she looked away. “It’s nothing.”

June remained silent, but her face contorted into that wretched smile again. And a laugh leaped from her lips. A baby tooth was missing somewhere near the back but close enough in the front for it to be noticeable. Crystal couldn’t help but smile and laugh back.

Over the course of seemingly several hours, Crystal engaged in much conversation with her good friend. Not once did June say a word, nor did Crystal even seem to mind. June was always a good listener, Crystal the yapper. Soon the blazing sun began to set and it was time for Crystal to head back home.

“Ah,” Crystal looked up at the evening sky. “It’s getting dark out. We should think about heading back home…”

June slightly smiled, eyes closed.

‘How about we meet again tomorrow? Same place, same time?”

June cocked her head to the side, a soft smile engraved on her pink lips, her eyes wide open and darker than ever.

Crystal smiled and kissed her friend on the cheek, “I promise, I’ll be here tomorrow. So you should promise too, ok?”

June nodded.

“All right, I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon then!” Crystal proceeded to be on her way. She looked back and waved goodbye. June waved back. She walked on. She looked back again and waved bye again. June again waved back. Crystal proceeded. One last time, Crystal turned to wave back, June was nowhere to be found and therefore did not wave back. Chuckling to herself, Crystal joked, “I swear, it’s like she was never there… That girl… She’s so strange…” Holding tight to her bag, Crystal turned and headed homeward.

(A church is ablaze. People surround it, all wearing black. They are desperately trying to put out the fire but they are failing miserably. The fire just seems to eat the water right up and it continues to get bigger and bigger. Your friend walks out of the church unharmed with a shadowy figure walking beside her. Your friend spits out a tooth and says something to you. Her words are nothing but gibberish. The shadowy figure’s pearly white teeth are showing, indicating a gaping smile. The figure starts to laugh. The laughter starts to escalate to the point that it sounds menacing. The people are now ablaze themselves and are no longer putting the fire out. They are facing you and are joining in the figure’s laughter. As the people continue to laugh, seemingly at you, the figure stops and lunges at you. You wake up.)

Crystal’s eyes shoot open, her breath heavy and tinted with fear. Crystal slowly gets up and waits. She can’t understand what exactly she’s waiting for. Something nagged at her thoughts but she couldn’t put it in words. Blinking the cold from her eyes, she looked around and listened to the birds chirping outside her window.

“Just a creepy nightmare…” she whispered to herself. But the dream was all so familiar to her, like she has had it before. But then decided to dismiss it. “I mean, dreams are nothing but dreams. They don’t mean anything.”

Crystal immediately hopped out of bed, onto the floor, and rushed into the bathroom. She took her morning shower and flew downstairs. Her mother was cooking breakfast, a good ole Southern breakfast: chicken and waffles. The pitcher of orange juice stood on the kitchen table, cool condensation dripping down onto the table. Crystal blinked, “Mom, I’m not that hungry today… So I’m gonna head out, okay?”

Her mother didn’t respond.

Crystal’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “Ya know, I dunno how long you’re gonna give me the silent treatment, but I hope this ends soon. You’re being a child. I mean, I’m sorry that I kissed J---“

Knock, knock, knock, someone was at the door. Crystal was cut off. She sucked her teeth, “Well, I’m leaving, so I guess I’ll answer the door.” But her mother swiftly wiped her greasy hands down on her apron and made her way to the door. Crystal snarled, “Ya know what? I just don’t care; I don’t care anymore.” She rushed past her mother out the door, frustrated beyond belief, and brushed past Miss Linley, almost knocking her over.

“What in high blazes…?” Miss Linley hushed her tone and looked in Crystal’s direction. Crystal ignored her and went about her way…

Note: Just so no one gets confused, dreams and flashbacks are all Crystal's and they are all written in second person ("you"). So "you" does not refer to the reader... *Laughing nervously ^_^* Putting "you" in there was actually an early mistake, but I had decided to leave it well enough alone. The truth is I wasn't thinking of the scenes in Crystal's perspective. I was thinking of them more like if they were first-person scenes in a movie. The first dream is actually inspired by the almost silent, childhood flashback of L Lawliet in Death Note. No words are spoken in his flashback but background sounds are heard (i.e. church bells, a child crying...) and I thought that flashback was simply gorgeous. So anyway, I thought the dream was better written in first person to allow you to see through her (Crystal's) eyes, to allow your eyes to be the camera. So after I wrote that scene, I stuck with the second person for the rest of the flashbacks and dreams, not wanting to break the trend.