Perfume

      Wandering through the streets was always annoying for Alekya. The city with all its bright lights and flashy billboards was a huge change from the quiet country life that she was used to. In the country, everyone knew everyone and there was a sense of family, but here people glared at you just for breathing their air. The anonymity of the people on the streets upset her, but no one would stop and talk. Everyone was always in too much of a hurry for even a simple good morning. Alekya would not even be in the city if it was not for Ateera, a name that now only brought a stabbing pain in her heart. Ateera was like a big sister to Alekya. There was not a time that Alekya remembered that Ateera was not there for her to dry her tears and help distract her.

           But now she’s going to be gone, Alekya thought, smile turning into a grimace. Ateera had moved to the city in pursuit of her dream. She wanted nothing more than to be a movie star on the big screen and Alekya had told her that she should go follow her dream. Oh, how Alekya wished she could have taken back what she had said. Little did she know that Ateera would be hit by a speeding car shortly after moving there. 

           “Would you like a sample?” This question brought Alekya out of her thoughts. A young worker held out a face mask to her. A polite smile made its way to Alekya’s face.

           “No, thank you. I’m not going to be here long and I can’t fit anything else into my bag.” The worker looked disappointed at the rejection, but quickly masked her expression with a fake smile.

           “Well, have a good day!” Alekya returned the fake smile with an even faker grin. A good day was not in the cards for her. As Alekya was walking past the store, she smelled something. The candle sent a memory to the front of her mind. A day at the beach. This was not just any day at the beach. It was a special one. Her tenth birthday had been spent there with some friends and Ateera. Alekya’s reluctance to have her mom drive her made Ateera volunteer to do so.

           “It’d be no problem, Mrs. Anderson! A beach day with some of the girls would be fun and I’ve been working my tail off! It would be a nice vacation for me.” Ateera convinced Alekya’s mom in no time. When she had heard the news, Alekya jumped with joy and gave Ateera the biggest bear hug she could. The day had been nice, but Alekya’s favorite part had been at the end, after all the girls had been dropped off, Ateera took her out for ice cream at Perry’s Parlor and let her get the biggest cone of ice cream that Alekya had ever seen. A whispered “Don’t tell your mom” left them giggling as they finished up the enormous cone.

           “Are you okay, miss?” Alekya turned to face the person that asked the question only to find that it was a little girl.

           “Just thinking…” Alekya let out a dry laugh and shook her head. The girl looked confused, but let the subject go when her mom called for her. Walking to the hospital seemed to take so long. Every step seemed to be weighed down by some invisible force that did not want her to make it there. When the doctors had called her, Alekya had thought it was a joke. Ateera could not have been in a coma where she was unlikely to wake up. She was at home, safe, in bed, away from all this craziness. They were not going to the city and she most certainly was not going to visit a hospital. Life went on though and before she knew it, she was right where she never wanted to go, in front of David’s Hospital. Ateera did not know who this David was, but she was certain she did not like him. If he had never created this hospital, maybe fate would have been changed and Ateera would not be hanging on to life with her little finger. All sorts of maybes soared through Alekya’s head. Maybe she should have gone on more trips with her. Maybe she should have hugged her more. Maybe she should not have had that fight with her on the phone the day before the accident. Ateera had once told her that maybes meant nothing. If you did not act on the maybe while you had time, it must not have been that important. Alekya doubted that. Her maybes seemed very important now. Floating through the hospital, Alekya felt nothing except misery. She reached the room that Ateera was in and she looked through the window. Until she smelled that perfume. It was rose and vanilla, a scent she had found too strong before, but now she was not weeping about the stench. It was a memory that had been long buried underneath millions of others.

           “I’m gonna go in the pool, momma!” Alekya smiled, a gap-toothed six-year-old grin. Her mom had told her not too about a hundred times, but nothing was going to stop her. Alekya’s mom was currently napping, so at least Alekya could tell her that she had asked for permission. She found her idea to be ingenious and proceeded to hop right into the deep end. Although Alekya could not swim, she was so confident in her ability that she did not even realize she was drowning until it started to hurt. Water filled her lungs as she just barely made it above water. She tried to scream, but a splash from someone else filled her mouth with water. As soon as her eyes started drifting shut and she started to give in, she was scooped into the arms of someone and pulled out of the water. A second later, Alekya opened one eye to see a sixteen-year-old girl looking at her worriedly. She opened the other tentatively to find that the girl was not the only one. Several lifeguards surrounded her and her mom was weeping while one assured her that Alekya was fine. The girl had introduced herself as Ateera and the first thing Alekya said to her savior was, “You smell funny.” Ateera had laughed so hard that she started crying. That was Alekya’s first memory of Ateera, but there had been many more afterwards. She had introduced herself to Alekya and her mom and upon discovering she had no family, Alekya’s mother unofficially adopted her as her own. Alekya’s crying did not stop as she walke into the room and sat on the chair beside Ateera’s bed.

           “I miss you.” She whispered. A frail hand moved over to Alekya’s and Ateera started smiling slightly. Alekya had never called for doctors quicker.