Chasing The Moonlight

And finally the sun rose, filling the sky with shades of orange, pink, amber and rose, radiating hope, a new beginning. Another chance to live. The start of a brand new day.

"Are you ready for today?," I asked her, who was still gazing at the sun with wonder struck eyes.

"The sun has a special glow for it today. You see that too?" she asked me.

I just smiled and nodded. 

We got down from the roof, as quiet as we could. I cautiously looked around to see if he was still asleep or not. Then we slipped back to our beds, waiting for the daily fuss in the morning.

As the time ticked away I began to think of my life. Just like everyone else , I thought too, we had the perfect life. A loving dad, a sweet mother and a lovely sister, what more could I wish for?

I glanced at my sister who slept beside me. 

Our little family was perfect until God decided to intervene. After all the 'ideal' family shouldn't exist in this world, full of flaws. It took away my dad in the form of an accident which shattered my mom's heart. Mourning over his loss endlessly would take us nowhere, so we eventually coped up with it. But the change in my mom after his death, was for the worse. I saw a version of my mom that i had never expected to see. Once a happy woman, she turned to the most depressed I have seen. Somehow I managed to bring back the happy woman in her.

Mom decided to remarry a few years after dad died. I respected her decision. Which is the only thing that I regret now.

He was the worst drunkard a person could have met. Alcohol was everything for him, he cared about nothing else. I wondered why my mom agreed to marry such a man. That question still remains unanswered.

He used to take out all his frustration on the three of us. In the beginning, tears would roll down my cheeks. Then I found the strength to withstand those tears and even protect my mom and my sister. I decided to go through hell only for the sake of them.

Amidst all that, I worked hard. I took up a number of part time jobs in addition with schooling. I made sure that none of my friends would notice all this. I had to do it. For my mom.

All my hopes ended when my mom decided it was time to join dad. She took her own life, leaving us with him.

I could have left him 'cause I had the rights, but still I decided to stay for Lily. I believed that it was my responsibility to save her from him. That was when I started planning for this day. And finally, it had arrived.

I began saving up. Every penny that I could have. I swore I would make sure Lily was safe and then, I would start my journey towards my dreams. A life with no worries, just me, my books and the whole of nature. While the whole world was having fun and enjoying their life, I was still dreaming of this day and my life after.

I encouraged Lily to find someone who could love her unconditionally. I was glad Lily found Tristan. Somehow I knew Tristan was one of the good ones. I still remember how I revealed everything to him a week ago, how he promised me he would take good care of her and how he acted when he knew the truth. 

There. It started. Crashing bottles. Now he will come kick and bang on the door for a good 10 minutes. I have locked it up pretty well , so I have no worries. And then he goes murmuring something all around the house. And eventually he leaves, probably to another bar. 

As soon as I make sure he left, we start packing up. Clothes, essentials everything. We had a tree house not a little far away, which he did not know of. I took advantage of that and decided to go there for today, while Lily would leave with Tristan.

I had packed up my most valuable possessions, my thoughts on paper ,and hid them away in the treehouse days before.

 Needed to pack a bit of food. I headed to the kitchen and wrap some things up. That being settled up, I returned to my room to check up on Lily.

"Roxy , where are you gonna go?" she asked.

"You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine by myself," I replied giving her a hug.

She nodded. Cause she knew I wanted to start living my dreams, that I was tired of living for others.

It was arranged that we would leave at sunset. I would go with Lily to drop her off at Tristan's, say our goodbyes and then I would head for the treehouse. All we had to make sure was to not let our step dad notice that we were gone. He would probably be drunk at that time and I didn't want us to get bruised.

I wanted to be by my parents side for one last time, so I headed to the cemetery a while later when it was almost noon. 

I got a bunch of roses and placed them over their graves. I knew they would be smiling at me from up there somewhere. A few tears plopped to the ground from my eyes. I wiped them off. Determined to fight him back if he intervenes in any way, I walk back to the house.

When I get back I see that he hasn't still arrived. I had to wait till he gets back for us to get some time or else he would know we are gone and I'm not sure of what his reaction would be, satisfaction or anger, anyway, I didn't want to stay to know that.

We have our last meal together. Lily is pretty convinced about my decision. For once in my life I ate with joy. As I finished with the dishes and was heading upstairs, he returned with another set of bottles. I ignored him and went to my room.

He must be passed out by now. We decided to make our move. We had put away our stuff outside so it was just us to get out from here. We managed to get out quietly. Phew. I pick up my things and so does Lily. And we are off to Tristan's house.

After spending some time there, I decided to take my leave. I kissed Lily on the cheek and gave her a hug. I could see she was trying hard to hold in the tears. I head for the treehouse. There was a lake a close by. I decided to stop by. Even though I had a torch in my hand, I decided to rely on the moonlight.

Gazing at the shiny water lit up by the moonlight, I bring out a sheet of paper and a pen from my pockets and write down something. I decided to get some sleep at the treehouse and start travelling next day. I stare into the depths of the lake and then I look at the moon's reflection off the lake. I look up to the moon in the sky as if it were my dreams, hoping to chase the moonlight and reach to it. I get up and head for the treehouse.