Mouse Ears, a Wand, and a Bumblebee

She closed her eyes as sleep took her, her ancestors was listening, taking away the pain, injecting her with love and light. The light drew her in; flashes of memories flooded her mind. but she didn't remember her sadness when her pet fish nemo died. She didn't see the day her friend got married. She didn't remember the birth of her newborn daughter’s faith, nor the blood on her hands when she touched her newborn son brandon. The light portrayed images but not the image of her wedding nor the image of her graduating med school, shaking professor smith’s hand as she thought of all the things she wished she did to that sinful body. It didn't showcase the night she discovered who she was meant to be or her nights in the closet crying, away from others because public crying is a weakness and Evangeline is not WEAK.

It didn't show the whispers between lovers in the park that spring afternoon when for the first time she rode the bike without falling. The flashes of memories didn't stop to portray the night that water lilies danced and the stars grew with the moon, a flashlight guiding happiness into her body, nor the sun burning a ray of pain and sore bites into her heart, the summer of June when the skin shrunk and the tears grew older and heavier.

Instead, the flashes showcased smiles, smiles at the 21st birthday of her best friend in vegas with the dollar bills taking flight. The smile, a beautiful genuine smile that took control of her mother's face when she said “ goodbye firefly” and it stopped at the footprints in the garden, showcasing each step highlighted by the moon’s light, the oceans fragrance, and the firework band that mixed the hugs and kisses with winks and giggles. The last firework was a painting. A beautiful painting of mouse ears, a wand, and a bumblebee. But what struck her was the outstretched hand she couldn't help but grab as her ears filled with giggles.

Evangeline’s blood latched onto her marble floor and created a bloody trail of footprints that stopped at the back door, playing hide and seek with the grass. Who won the game no one knew but the giggles still echo around the house waiting to take flight with a heart-shaped locket trying to fight.

5 years later

Faith willed her legs to take another step as she reached the front of the only house that still stood. The city was no longer the same after that day, the day the giggles came, the day her mother was murdered, the day they lost all light. Black smoke covered the majority of the city, as Faith continued walking her only company a flashlight as the smoke limited the sun’s power. She walked faster, tucking her mask back under her glasses. She couldn’t help the memories flashing through her mind as she walked. The screams as civilians fled and bleed to death from inhaling the smoke. Those things taking over, running a mock. Her father throwing her into the underground shelter yelling at her to stay hidden while he searched for the Queen. Then the worst part, the look on her father’s face when he finally let her out. Her mother was dead. As she passed the forest, an area that used to be the very background where she learned to ride a bike, she felt overwhelmed, her mind filled with memories of her mother. She slowly climbed over pieces of what used to be her home, stepping into the old garden which surprisingly still stood beautifully somehow unaffected by the darkness as though protected by something. As she walked towards a path of willow trees ,her mother's favorite kind, she saw something shimmering in a tree. Grinning back and forth like a child on a swing she moved closer to the light and she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a locket,...her mother’s locket. Could this be the key to where it all went wrong. The key to finding the three things needed to bring the world together again. As Faith stared in awe of the locket she heard the alarm. Flustered she quickly grabbed the locket and ran into the forest, despite the pain shooting into her legs she kept going, she couldn’t stop until she reached the safe zone until she was safe from them.

Finally reaching the cavern she slowed down her pace seeing her father and other soldiers coming towards her. Faith quickly hid the locket as they got closer and painted an innocent grin on her face to combat the scold waiting to happen.

“Faith how many times must I tell you not to cross the safe zone especially alone, you know how dangerous it is, especially at night”

“That’s why i didn’t cross at night and I made it in time before sunset didn’t I?”

“I swear sometimes you make me age faster than this apocalypse”

“Im sorry dad i just, i just wanted to go back one more time, it’s still there you know and i-i can feel her there dad”

“Faith”

“No dad i know i just….i miss her”

“I miss her too firefly...but that’s no excuse...I lost her and I won’t lose you too”

“I know dad im sorry, ill go to my room now”

Faith hugged her father, feeling the sadness in his voice and felt guilt for making him worry. As she climbed the stairs to her room she patted her left pocket, feeling the locket and knowing this was the key to finally ending the apocalypse, the key to bringing back the light, and the key to finding out what happened to her mother, Queen Evangeline.