Marisela Garner{District 10}Finished!

I watch from my mother's bedroom window as our barn burns down. The orange and yellow flames illuminate the sky. The thick black smoke blocks out the sun, giving the sky the appearance of night. You can't see anything for miles, not the fields, not even the well. All there is to see is the ignited barn, glowing like a candle in a dark room. The pungent smell of the smoke reaches me from even here, almost a mile and a half away. I crinkle my nose trying to keep the smell from entering my nostrils. Yet the smell is on the bottom on my list of problems right now. Why I am worrying about such petty things when my sister and parents are no where to be seen?

* * *

"Stay here!" my father yelled at me when the lightning first struck the barn. I got up off the couch and peered out the window to look at the subtle flame that was beginning to engulf the barn. I watched as the dance of flames gradually became larger, it was mesmerizing. I heard my sister's feet running down the hall. "What's going on?" but no sound came from her mouth. The crack of thunder covered her voice entirely. We all knew what she was asking though.

Not one of us spoke. We all looked out the window and that was response enough. She gave a slight gasp and her mouth was hanging open. My mom was already handing her a hat before she could even say a word. "You're coming with us Morganne," she said while she slipped on her boots. "What?!" I protested, "How come Morg gets to go?" Maybe they weren't letting me go because I never really listened to them, or anyone for that matter. They considered it "defiant" and "dangerous", me on the other hand, I saw nothing wrong with it. I crossed my arms in defiance. This wasn't fair. But then again, when was it?

"We've been over this so many times Marsilea. She's older than you," I watched as my father glanced out the window. He became more and more anxious as the fire grew. "She's not even that much older than me," I protested "Just a little over a year!" My mother's eyes narrowed and her voice became impatient. "That's another year of expierence, now we have to go." Just because she was older didn't necessarily mean she was better. Woops, there was that arrogance my parents say they hate about me. I don't think there;s anything wrong with a little confidence though. I watched as her and my father ran out of the house and towards the barn, but my sister remained. She looked at me, so much concern and love in her eyes. There was something else too, fear. My sister was scared. Never in my seventeen years have I ever seen my sister afraid of something. "C'mon Mars, do it for me." Her voice was so soft I could barely hear her, but her message was loud and clear. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them she was gone.

* * *

I unwillingly glance at the clock. Almost an hour has passed since that untimely strike of lightning that put the whole ranch in an up roar. Almost an hour and my family is still nowhere to be seen. The worries that I managed to subdue race through my mind with even greater horrors than before. So many new possibilities come to my brain, for all I know they can all be dead. The images flash through my mind, putting me in a trance like state. I step closer and closer to the window, as if moving closer to the barn will make the images disappear. Only it doesn't. And as if a warning to stay away, a flash of lightning hits not even 3 feet in front of me.

I jump back at least three feet and feel my head crack against something hard. It must not have appreciated my head hitting it because it retaliates and knocks me flat on my butt. A small "Ow," escapes my lips as I rub my hand against the back of my head, checking for any signs of a bump. I frowned a little and stand up to face my attacker. A smile spreads across my face as I realize the only thing that attacked me was my own clumsiness. I turn and fix my mom's revolving mirror so it's facing the correct way again.

With such heavy smoke you think it would be almost impossible to see anything, but the fire from the barn burns so brightly that I can see my reflection perfectly. Except it doesn't look like me, it looks like some creature from another planet. I push my short, blondish hair out of my face and take a closer look. The blaze of the fire makes my feminine features appear better than ever. I touch the ends of my hair, remembering when it was long, but now it barely even reaches my shoulders(sometimes it even looks shorter, depending on how its styled). I always thought when I cut my hair off it was a sign of rebellion and that was it, but now I see that my face looks so much better like this. Except for my lips, even though I chopped my hair off they're still as uneven as they've always been, the bottom is still larger than the top. And my nose somehow still manages to look too small for the rest of my face, but I've always been thankful to have more of my mother's looks. Unlike my sister, who clearly resembles our father. It's actually hard to believe that we're related at all, the only part of us that looks slightly similar is our hair, even then hers is slightly darker than mine. Morganne was always the prettier one anyway, guys always wanted her, not me.

My light skin appears to be glowing with that tan color I'm always jealous of under the light of the flames and my hair has that perfect shine I always try to get. If you look close enough into my blue eyes you can see the flames from the barn flickering in them. For once in my life, my eyes appear to be alive with something other than fury. Too bad they're alive with the thing that's destroying my family's fortune. I close them, hoping that when I re-open them the evil will be gone. But of course it's not.

I continue to examine my face picking out the flaws that aren't noticeable in normal light, like the scar above my right eyebrow. The puckered skin is clearly visible now, giving me a perfect flashback of the accident that caused it. The shadow on my face makes my nose appear even larger than it already is and making the dent in it more visible than ever. I run my finger over it remembering when Morganne pushed me off the horse and how hard my face hit the ground. I begin to laugh at our childishness and how it took me months for me to even go near a horse again. Over my laughter is when I hear it, the sound that I've been dreading all along.

The sickening splintering of wood fills my ears. I don't turn around and look to see what's going because I know if I do I'll have a breakdown right here. Instead I just close my eyes and listen. But really, what other choice do I have? I hear each peace break. It's as if it drags on to torture me, like a really boring book without an end. I listen. I wait. And after what seems to be a lifetime I finally hear the barn collapse. I finally open my eyes and give a slight shudder. There's a final crack of thunder before it begins to pour. It sounds like one of those unforgiving, ice cold rains. It should be able to put the barn out in minutes.

I have no other option but to wait. Just wait and see who comes back. Maybe it will be all of them. But that dark thought crosses my mind the maybe, just maybe it will be none. I shake my head, as if trying to shake the thought out of my mind. They're all going to come back. From what I heard there was plenty of time to get out of the barn before it fell, wasn't there? My head turns as I hear the creaking of our front door open. I'm waiting for three pairs of boots to come crashing through the halls, three different voices calling for me, telling me they were alright. But I don't hear three people running down the hall towards me. And it's not three voices calling my name, just one. "Marisela," I hear it say "Mar-bar where are you?"

Morganne's voice echos through the house and I'm so caught up in the joy of hearing it I almost forget to reply. "I'm in here," my voice shakes so violently I'm worried Morg won't be able to hear me, but of course she does. She always has, even when I've been completely silent. I know she's heard me when the floor starts to creak as she walks toward our mother's room. But the Morganne that appears in the door way is not the one that I am use to seeing.

The one standing in front of me had matted hair, was soaked from the rain, and almost every inch of her body was covered in mud and ash. There was something else too. Her eyes. They weren't sparkling like they normally did. Instead, they looked reserved, weary almost. As if she was trying to keep something from me. I wasn't worried about that know though. All that mattered was that she was back safe.

She was back. And safe. My sister,my salvation,the only person I actually cared about was alive and I was standing here like a dumb ass doing absolutely nothing . "Morg," I said as a smile spread across my face. I ran up to her and wrapped my arms tightly around her. She must be thinking about something because it takes her a minute to return the hug. We stand there for a while just holding each other. Trying to get past the tragic events. Morganne buries her head in my shoulder and I know she's trying to hold back tears.

I let her calm down before I asked. I pulled away and looked her dead in the eyes. "Mom and Dad?" I asked. Morg looked up at me and said nothing. She didn't have to though. The tears welling up in her eyes explained it all. They were gone. Our parents were dead. I might have despised them but that didn't mean I wanted them to die. I may have disobeyed everything they said and rebelled in any way possible but I never expected them to die. I hated them and they hated me, that's how it went. I never expected it to change, especially so suddenly. I held her tightly by the shoulders and spoke as calmly as I could through my shaking voice, "We'll get through this, I promise." She nodded her head as sobs began to rack her body. I brought her over to the bed and held her for hours, but I did not cry. I did not shed one single tear. No matter how hard I tried they just wouldn't come, and I couldn't seem to figure out why.

* * *

We did get through it eventually. Morg was about two months away from turning eighteen so all we had to do was keep the fact that our parents were dead until the ranch could be signed over to her name. It's a lot harder than you probably think, every time someone would ask for one of them we would have to come up with an excuse, it became harder and harder to avoid the subject as time continued. Finally came the day when Morganne turned 18 and she was able to put the ranch under her name. Thankfully my parents were able to save a horse, two cows, and a few chickens before they died so we were still able to make a living and put food in our mouths. It's been hard though, not having parents, we have to do so much more just to get by, and even though I hate to say it, it's hard not having a support system or someone just to talk to. At least I know I'll always have my sister, she's been here for me for as long as I could remember. Sometimes I think she'd even do some pretty crazy stuff just to protect me. She is my support system, she has been all along.

* * *

Now it's been almost a year since they've gone. I'd like to be able to say things have gotten easier, but I can't. I've had to be a little more responsible though, of course I still manage to mess around too. Sometimes I do things that are dumb and possibly endanger my life, and that's when my sister really starts to lose it. I think it's because she's lost so much and wouldn't be able to stand losing me too. The people in town don't really seem to care though, they know what's happened to me and feel bad so they never actually say anything. I'm practically invincible, I can do whatever the hell I want. But, ever since I saw my Morg cry for all those hours on that dreaded night, I finally realized she isn't as strong as I thought she always was, that sometimes even the ones who seem the strongest need to be held. I tried to do more for her, do more for us. She seemed absolutely fine the next day, but sometimes I can still hear her crying in her room at night. I think about going in, but then remember that somethings are just better left alone. We all have our secrets, our skeletons in the closet, that we never want anyone to find out about. I don't think she ever really forgave herself for letting me see that way. She knew it would make me grow up a little and that's one thing she never wanted to see. Morganne always wanted me too be a little kid and never grow up, but the thing is. I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm an adult. I've seen way too much to ever be considered a child in someone's eyes. And that is just something she's going to have to get use to.


Codeword: Odair