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[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBMH6Bnnew4][sub]The dead don't make a sound, unless you're chasing rainbows[/sub][/url][/center]

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A pair of lips here, the twirl of hair there, all pieces of a puzzle still incomplete. The shards of memories scattered all in her mind as she slept and dreamed of better days from before her life was turned on a head. This dream, in particular, was especially vivid as if she were right there living in the moment with her mother again. The young Astrid cracked her bedroom door open only to revel one eye spying on her father and mother’s conversation. She couldn’t hear what they said or make out any of the words from their mouths, it was all just a bit too muffled. When she tried to reach out and call for her mother the space in between just began to stretch and stretch. The harder she tried to close the distance the further away they got. Before she was thrown awake, the silence finally broke, her mother mouthing the words 

[color=a0e7a0][i]"She’ll outgrow it, dear. It’s just the age . . .It’s the age when nothing fits."[/i][/color]

Gasping as she woke, she looked around her room in a daze, it was still and pristine having not been disturb unlike Astrid. She noticed the alarm first, 7:59 am always the same exact time she’s been waking up recently. Her sheets were soaked in sweat, this would be the fourth time this week she would have to wash them. And then she noticed the TV, she left it on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to help her fall asleep, but the most unsettling part was [i]Rebel Without a Cause[/i] was playing. The movie itself isn’t what triggered her, but the line Judy’s mother utters in the film, [color=a0e7a0][i]“She’ll outgrow it, dear. It’s just the age . . .It’s the age when nothing fits."[/i][/color] Was she really dreaming, or had she just been fabricating memories?

Whatever it was, it wasn’t normal. The dreams or at this point what she would call nightmares didn’t start occurring until only recently. Her fathers long list of therapists didn’t help but only to further their own narcissism and scribble out doses of medication she didn’t need. Her mind was healthy, but she just had no proof. Flicking off the TV she decided she needed to get out and if she couldn’t get out of Everbrook at least she could get out of her house. These days it was mostly her alone watching over their estate. The quarantine kept her out of school while it kept her father at the funeral home using his crematory on overdrive. That probably wasn’t politically correct of her to think, but her thoughts were her own and none to share. 

Checking the mailbox before she left, she sifted through the mail, bills, bills more bills and then boom another return to sender letter meant for Boston University. While her frustration and disappoint was immeasurable it wasn’t anything new. The string of letters not reaching the universities of her choice was getting stale and wearing thin on her already razor thin sanity. Kicking her stand back and revving the throttle of her bike she took off in a tire screeching dash to their family business. A few knocks were meant with no warm welcome, well it was kind of hard to be warm in a business surrounded by cold. She let herself in with her key only to find the first floor completely devoid of any signs of life. Her dad was downstairs working within the morgue. 

Still unable to face the morgue on her own she waited just outside of the door leading in. 

[color=a0e7a0]“You okay Ast?”[/color] her fathers voice echoed out.

[color=a0e7a0]“…Yeah I’m fine dad.”[/color]

[color=a0e7a0]“More bad dreams?”[/color] there was no hiding her inflections from her dad whether he could see her or not. 

[color=a0e7a0]“No, just another letter that didn’t get through.”[/color]

[color=a0e7a0]“I’m sorry hun, but I can’t get through to them either no matter how many times I call. Why don’t you try going to the library and see if they can do anything for you.”[/color]

While she welcomed the suggestion, it felt like it was futile no matter what she tried. Despite her better judgement she decided to go anyways since she hadn’t had much else in the way of plans. She touched the cold steel door once more trying to get her words out before shoving them back down and turning to leave. 

[color=a0e7a0]“Oh and Astrid, be safe okay?”[/color]

Her lower lip was sucked into her mouth while her feet stopped short of the stairs. [color=a0e7a0]“Thanks, I will. See you at home.”[/color] 

It wasn’t shortly after her departure from the Funeral Home that she arrived at the library. The lack of traffic and open road gave her a reprieve from her early morning start. The roads were empty, but the library was just the opposite. Bike racks and parking spots were filling up quicker than she expected, had the quarantine lift cause everyone to return their books in a hurry? Making her way to the entrance she noticed a familiar girl with looked like a deformed backpack from edges of countless textbooks pressing against the material. [color=a0e7a0]“Ruby isn’t it?”[/color]

[right][@Garden Gnome][/right]
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