The voice.
“Zia! Come on, we’re gonna be late!”
I can’t remember who it belongs to.
“Mom’s checking us in! I’m so excited!”
Who is ‘mom’? I can’t remember, but there are other voices, too 一
“Stay close to daddy, okay? We don’t want you to get lost.”
but they’re all so… warped. Disoriented.
“Stay with your sister, Leah.”
Sister.
I finally look up from my hands to see a picture I’ve held onto for years. My eyes widened.
Yes, I remember her now.
Leah was my younger sister, the girl who would laugh at almost anything and urge me to play with her. I recall some times when she fell asleep in her play area and I would have to carry her to bed. She would curl up in a blanket peacefully.
She was so young 一 too young 一 to be taken; too many years too soon to have faded away. I only have one photograph of a girl on the desk. She looked so happy, with her eyes shining brightly. But those eyes are gone and all that’s left is the dust of what once was and what could have been. What could have been me opening the door to see her with a nice man and a child of her own. That is never going to happen… because I’m starting to fade, too.
Glancing at the mirror, I could see parts of my face starting to crack and my eyes losing life by the second; while my hands start to fall apart, my hair start to fall to the ground, my feet almost unable to move, and my voice might as well be gone. This is how everyone goes. It starts with everything getting dry; then they start to crack, and slowly, very slowly一Oh, look. It’s growing. Crack. I inhale sharply as my face starts to fracture more around my eyes.
Longing to look closer at the mirror, I try to stand on my feet. Thump. They crumbled at the weight of my frail body. My breath is starting to leave its vessel forever. Now, as the broken world around me crumbles to dust, I crumble along with it. I smile for the last time.
“Time’s up.”
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