Don't Cry for Me

Don't cry for me.

 She looks up, the tears running down her cheeks. No one is there, and the sounds of people in the streets continue. A shout, a call, and an animal's cry, all come through the open window and grace her ears with the knowledge that the whole world is moving on without her. No one knows her pain in full.

 Don't cry for me.

 The golden sunlight creeps over the floorboards, bathing the room in the light of an otherwise perfect day. But her heart is torn.
  One last attempt to keep herself. One last attempt to rebuild those walls around herself. One last attempt to find kindness through her own. And it's thrown away.

 "Why?" She chokes out, before burying her face in her hands again. She's young now. She doesn't realize what else is in store for her; how much this time will strengthen her in the future.
 That's what the older girl thinks, as stoop to peep through the crack in the attic door. Part of her feels for the younger. There is something in her tears that she relates to, something she can understand fully.
 Yet the younger girl was so foolish. How could she stretch out her hand to someone who was bound to swat it away?
 The older brushes her black hair behind an ear as she stands up. Knowing that comforting the other won't help, she makes her way down the stairs.
 "Is she coming?" He asks.
 "No. She's not."


 The younger opens her eyes to find she had fallen asleep. Darkness had settled. She turned to the window to close the shutters, and as she looks up she beholds the sky. Stars, billions of them, all blinking and winking down at her.
 I'll never let this happen again.
 Is the quiet thought that enters her mind. She's surprised by her own boldness. Never?
 Never. Never again.

~A.K.~