"Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me right now?" Matt's slumped back on his bed, pouting. "This is so not fair!"
"What?"
"The circus!"
"...what?"
"The circus! There's a circus coming to our town! They're just a few blocks down the street!"
"And that matters because..."
"I wanted to go! I've waited for this day so long!"
"How old are you now, Matt?"
"Eh? N-nineteen... B-but age has nothing to do with a love for--" He stopped, blushing madly. "Okay... so maybe it's a little immature of me..."
"A little."
Laeli turned her attention back to her book. With all the excitement in the past few days, she hadn't been able to read much. Romeo and Juliet had been left saying their final goodbyes for a full two days now.
I'll to the friar, to know his remedy:
If all else fail, myself have power to die.
Juliet. Such a strong girl.
She had the power to die.
Laeli mused over the line.
To have the power to die.
Oh, how she wished she had that power! Even if she wanted to give up, the machines would still drag her back to the realm of the living. Battered, broken, yet still painfully alive. Those wretched pieces of metal would not let her die until she had lived out the rest of her sentence as a human. Her life was all b--
"What! You went without me?"
"Sorry, bro. We couldn't resist!"
The smell of candy and fried food wafted into the hospital room.
Laeli looked up, her eyes meeting those of the thirteen-year-old girl.
"Oh, Laeli! Meet my sister, Silai!"
"Don't call me that! My name is just Si!"
"But Silai's such a pretty name~"
Laeli could tell the relationship between the brother and sister. They were both so equally hyper, and so incredibly happy and positive. It... hurt her head.
"Nice to meet you, Silai."
"Yup! Nice to meet you, Laeli! We both have strange names, hm?"
"Strange...?"
Laeli's name came from the latin word laetitia. Strange. For a girl supposedly named after joy, she had turned out to be rather joyless.
"Oh, Matt, I got you a souvenir~"
"Really?"
"Yeah, here!" Silai drew out an enormous bag of pink cotton candy from her bag. "The nurse said that you shouldn't have any, but I don't think a little would kill you."
"I... I love you sis!" Matt grabbed the bag, opening it quickly. "This is the best cotton candy I've ever tasted!"
"I love you too, big brother~" She giggled, "Well, I've gotta go. Nice meeting you, Laeli."
The hospital room fell quiet again, save for the rustling of plastic as Matt munched happily on his souvenir.
"Oh, what are you reading now?"
Laeli held up the book. "The same play."
"What part?"
She cleared her throat,
"Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body
Upon a rapier's point: stay, Tybalt, stay!
Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee."
"Quite the actor, aren't you?"
"I fancied playing Juliet in a play back when I was a child."
"You really had a boring childhood."
"I had a fine childhood."
"You didn't even know what a piano sounded like! Hey, I bet you've never had cotton candy before, have you?"
"That stuff?" Laeli raised an eyebrow disdainfully at the pink candy, "No, and I'd never want to."
"Try some!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"For the two day anniversary of our friendship!"
Matt looked so expectantly at Laeli that she found herself unable to resist. She sighed, reaching out for the cotton candy.
"Well? Well? How is it?"
"...good."
"What? I didn't hear you~"
"It's... good. Better then I expected."
"See! Haha! I knew you'd like it. There's a lot of stuff you've missed Laeli."
"I've realized that."
"So... you can't be so ready to die." He ended in a sad smile. "You're always so melancholy. There's still time, right? When you get better, there'll be plenty more time to catch up on everything you've missed. So you can't stop fighting, Laeli!"
"Fighting? Who ever said I was fighting?" She muttered in reply. The cheerful atmosphere in the hospital room shattered. "Don't pretend to understand me. Please."
Luckily, the nurse walked in, interrupting the quickly souring conversation.
"You're frowning so fiersomly today, Laeli. Did something happen?" The nurse handed Laeli her nightly pills, which the girl swallowed with a quick, routine movement.
"Nothing. I had a confrontation with a fool today. That's all."
Yet, even as she tried to sleep that night, his words wouldn't stop rumbling through her head.
You can't stop fighting, Laeli.
"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring--
Your tributary drops belong to woe!"
Laeli buried her face into the starched hospital sheets, refusing to let the water that had begun to gather in her eyes spill.
So ended day 17.
"What?"
"The circus!"
"...what?"
"The circus! There's a circus coming to our town! They're just a few blocks down the street!"
"And that matters because..."
"I wanted to go! I've waited for this day so long!"
"How old are you now, Matt?"
"Eh? N-nineteen... B-but age has nothing to do with a love for--" He stopped, blushing madly. "Okay... so maybe it's a little immature of me..."
"A little."
Laeli turned her attention back to her book. With all the excitement in the past few days, she hadn't been able to read much. Romeo and Juliet had been left saying their final goodbyes for a full two days now.
I'll to the friar, to know his remedy:
If all else fail, myself have power to die.
Juliet. Such a strong girl.
She had the power to die.
Laeli mused over the line.
To have the power to die.
Oh, how she wished she had that power! Even if she wanted to give up, the machines would still drag her back to the realm of the living. Battered, broken, yet still painfully alive. Those wretched pieces of metal would not let her die until she had lived out the rest of her sentence as a human. Her life was all b--
"What! You went without me?"
"Sorry, bro. We couldn't resist!"
The smell of candy and fried food wafted into the hospital room.
Laeli looked up, her eyes meeting those of the thirteen-year-old girl.
"Oh, Laeli! Meet my sister, Silai!"
"Don't call me that! My name is just Si!"
"But Silai's such a pretty name~"
Laeli could tell the relationship between the brother and sister. They were both so equally hyper, and so incredibly happy and positive. It... hurt her head.
"Nice to meet you, Silai."
"Yup! Nice to meet you, Laeli! We both have strange names, hm?"
"Strange...?"
Laeli's name came from the latin word laetitia. Strange. For a girl supposedly named after joy, she had turned out to be rather joyless.
"Oh, Matt, I got you a souvenir~"
"Really?"
"Yeah, here!" Silai drew out an enormous bag of pink cotton candy from her bag. "The nurse said that you shouldn't have any, but I don't think a little would kill you."
"I... I love you sis!" Matt grabbed the bag, opening it quickly. "This is the best cotton candy I've ever tasted!"
"I love you too, big brother~" She giggled, "Well, I've gotta go. Nice meeting you, Laeli."
The hospital room fell quiet again, save for the rustling of plastic as Matt munched happily on his souvenir.
"Oh, what are you reading now?"
Laeli held up the book. "The same play."
"What part?"
She cleared her throat,
"Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body
Upon a rapier's point: stay, Tybalt, stay!
Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee."
"Quite the actor, aren't you?"
"I fancied playing Juliet in a play back when I was a child."
"You really had a boring childhood."
"I had a fine childhood."
"You didn't even know what a piano sounded like! Hey, I bet you've never had cotton candy before, have you?"
"That stuff?" Laeli raised an eyebrow disdainfully at the pink candy, "No, and I'd never want to."
"Try some!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"For the two day anniversary of our friendship!"
Matt looked so expectantly at Laeli that she found herself unable to resist. She sighed, reaching out for the cotton candy.
"Well? Well? How is it?"
"...good."
"What? I didn't hear you~"
"It's... good. Better then I expected."
"See! Haha! I knew you'd like it. There's a lot of stuff you've missed Laeli."
"I've realized that."
"So... you can't be so ready to die." He ended in a sad smile. "You're always so melancholy. There's still time, right? When you get better, there'll be plenty more time to catch up on everything you've missed. So you can't stop fighting, Laeli!"
"Fighting? Who ever said I was fighting?" She muttered in reply. The cheerful atmosphere in the hospital room shattered. "Don't pretend to understand me. Please."
Luckily, the nurse walked in, interrupting the quickly souring conversation.
"You're frowning so fiersomly today, Laeli. Did something happen?" The nurse handed Laeli her nightly pills, which the girl swallowed with a quick, routine movement.
"Nothing. I had a confrontation with a fool today. That's all."
Yet, even as she tried to sleep that night, his words wouldn't stop rumbling through her head.
You can't stop fighting, Laeli.
"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring--
Your tributary drops belong to woe!"
Laeli buried her face into the starched hospital sheets, refusing to let the water that had begun to gather in her eyes spill.
So ended day 17.
