Spread Your Wings, My Little Butterfly

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Somersault
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Spread Your Wings, My Little Butterfly

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Post by Somersault »

11:00 PM, June 9, 2018

If there was one thing Marlena Higgins had to admit, it was that by this point, in her mid-30s with two daughters and a fairly comfortable two-bedroom apartment, she was quite unsure of how her life had ended up turning out this well. She’d learned from an early to count her blessings when they came, to never question the way God’s will worked. The Bible in her room was barely touched now, earmarks faded, but still, that key message remained.

She too remained, sitting in the kitchen of that very apartment, bright blue glow of the phone screen illuminating her face. It was part and parcel of being an ER nurse. Always up, always vigilant, always ready to be whisked off to the hospital at a moment’s notice. Part of her did live for that, she had to admit. The adrenaline that came with knowing that you had the power to save a life, that your actions had some kind of tangible impact.

It was the kind of power she’d wanted when standing in that coroner’s room, seventeen, almost shacked up.

She looked over at the face of the guy she thought she'd figured it all out with. His face, locked in rictus, a forever portrait of how he went. In pain. He'd changed, he promised, he'd stay, and he did for a time, but those bullets wrenched him away. The wedding dress was still buried within one of the closets, actually. Sometimes, she'd go over and inspect it. She would look over it, wonder if she'd still fit into it-all those Zumba classes had to be good for something, right? Then, the tears'd come, not a waterfall, but two watery paths tracing a trail down her cheeks. With a sigh, though, she'd always drop it back into the box, bury it at the bottom, so neither Belle nor Keisha could come in and find it. Just a little something to hold on to, just a little something to save.

Even with Terrence, it'd never gotten that far, never to rings and roses, to entertaining thoughts of her father walking her down the aisle, flower in her hair and sun gleaming through painted windows. Light, all of it, light, bright enough to take away the doubt. Marlena was older now, she was wiser, but still, she could dream. At least for her daughters, that they’d have that fairytale, and she’d get to dote on however many grandchildren as she pleased. A neat little life that she carved out for herself, far from when she’d gotten that positive that March, pregnancy test tossed into the trash and screams erupting.

She was sure that many of the other George Hunter parents had those wishes tossed away after the news, thrown into a meat grinder until only scraps remained. She cared, she did, sent some condolence messages, posted a hopeful message on Facebook, took times, took calls. Some of them thanked her profusely, offered prayers or wishes for Keisha. Others remained terse, one-word replies that stated much more than that. Finally, others were pissed, asked her why her daughter was allowed to live when their innocent child was whisked off to God-knows-where.

Honestly, she liked those people the most. At least they were honest. Maybe it was from a lifetime of having to work from the bottom, or maybe it was just sheer wariness, but Marlena liked to believe she had a knack for knowing what people were thinking. So, she knew all of them had to be thinking what a stroke of luck she had, her daughter among the lucky few spared from whatever fate awaited the rest.

They didn’t know why Keisha stayed, they didn’t know about the screaming matches and the grounding. They didn’t know the begging and pleading, the blatant attempts to brown-nose before the return to sullen silence. Most of all, they didn’t know the thousand-yard stare, the manic laughter, and then the tears. The ones that came out throughout the day. They didn’t know Belle was gonna be sleeping in Mom’s room tonight, the best way to give a certain someone some space.

They wouldn’t know, they never did, and really? Marlena was fine with that.

She didn’t know either, but all she could think about was the fact that she still had a chance. That was enough.
[+] mona lisas and mad hatters
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Appearance Tracker!
[+] a soiled dove finding herself
Image Tonya Collins - Got messy. - Unpretty - TLC
Memories: Child
Pregame: Rain
Prom: Honey
Trip: Furbies
Island: Girl - Way - Delicious - Rakshasa
Tonya by Irina!
Tonya by Ryuki!
[+] a damsel no longer
Image Kelly Nguyen: Couldn't claw back up. - 1234 - Feist
Memories:
Pregame: Universe - Puppies
Trip: Interesting
Island: Holiday - Play - Down - Robot - Unicorn
Kelly by Mimi!
Kelly by Ryuki!
[+] a sheriff trying to keep the peace
Image Adele Jones: Believed. - Good As Hell - Lizzo
Adele by Mimi!
Adele by Ryuki!
Memories:
Pregame: Chartreuself - Lair - Collisions
Trip: Down
Island: Hunger - Darwinism - Mario - Lucifer - House
[+] a cowboy looking for something to ride
ImageMike Brown: Spoke up. - Oh, What A World - Kacey Musgraves
Memories: Timog
Pregame:
Trip: Life
Island: Steady - Miles - Dive
Mike by Ryuki!
[+] tumbleweeds
[+] the town crier whispered
Image Keisha Higgins-Bell - Scouring out her next scoop. - Q.U.E.E.N. - Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu
Memories: President - Misery
Pregame: Talmbout - Time
Meanwhile: Wings - Persuasion - Everything
Keisha by Mimi!
Keisha by Ryuki!
Keisha by Kotori!
[+] v8
Ji-won "Daniel" Song is just praying along. - I know that you're a sucker for anything acoustic.
Anna-Lynn "Ashlei" Mercado is staying in the spotlight. - Hit or miss, I guess they never miss, huh?
DeDe Dixon is the best. Definitely.
Pari Shirazi has been wreaking havoc since 2000!
Abby Davis wants to be in the know.
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