moved 5/6/17. originally written 12/5/13 (wow).

written solely because i love the hawthorne twins, my guys.

i dreamed of paradise

(she holds them down while i destroy the world)

i.

When they were little, Dahlia used to steal their mother's cookies.
And she wasn't supposed to. But she did anyway.
Dahlia used to give most of them to her shy younger sister who could barely speak for herself.
The cookie jar broke? Not a problem. They - or Dahlia, rather - blamed it on baby Maya.
An innocent, defenseless baby.
Iris was bothered by it. By the lie. By the hurt Dahlia was causing. And Iris would lie awake at night, tears streaming down her face, slowly and softly, because she was too confused.
"Don't worry, Iris," Dahlia used to say, as she crawled into Iris's bed and stroked her hair, "We'll be in paradise soon."
And Iris believed her.

ii.

Iris used to draw pictures of "paradise."
Dahlia would watch her, gnawing on rewarded ginger snaps, and Iris would always end the picture by drawing two flowers: pink and purple ones.
A dahlia and an iris.
"Look, Dollie, look! It's us!"
Dahlia would give a fake smile that read "wow, how pretty," but Dahlia always sneered at it later at night as it glared at her from the front of the fridge.
Dahlia would rip it apart and shed tears on the scraps.
"We'll never be this pretty..."

iii.

Then they were separated.
Dahlia was always so angry around that time. She would kick and scream and cry the second someone touched her.
Iris made her flower crowns at the temple when Dahlia came to visit. She gave her drawings of paradise and, eventually, Dahlia stopped coming.
Too much pain. Too much of a risk sneaking out of their father's home.
Iris was unwanted anyway. So why should Dahlia want her sister?
Laughable.
And Dahlia believed her father.

iv.

Then there was the form of the kidnapping plan with Dahlia's "boyfriend" and their step-sister, Valerie. People Dahlia hated. People she used to laugh at.
And then Dahlia pulled out the diamond; the huge, gorgeous diamond.
"See this pretty thing?"
Iris would stare at it and the way it shined no matter what.
"It's gonna be our ticket to paradise."

v.

But when Iris pulled Dahlia ashore, something felt wrong.
It felt like when they used to lie, but ten times worse.
She threw the diamond into the river.
They could get to paradise another way.

vi.

Then Dahlia met a boy. She hated him, oh, she hated him, and he wouldn't give her that necklace back. And she dyed Iris's hair because "He's in the way. The way of getting to paradise!"
Iris would cry at night, sometimes, like when she was little. She would tug at her new red locks. Locks that were too sugar sweet for her.
It belonged on Dahlia.
And so did the dress.
And the boy.

vii.

Then Iris fell in love with the boy. The sweet, idiotic, bubblegum boy.
She couldn't get the necklace back. She didn't want to. She never wanted to do. Dahlia would yell "Doesn't paradise mean anything to you anymore?!"
Her red locks made her look like she was on fire. Burning, alluring eyes bore into Iris's soul.
There was something about Dahlia. You had to agree at moments like these or you were making a huge mistake.
Iris cried.
She whispered out her lie: "It means everything to me, Dahlia!"

viii.

Dahlia got arrested. She would never let Iris see her. The boy left their lives and suddenly, Iris was all alone in her mirage of paradise, hallucinations almost sounding great.

ix.

When Iris received her phone call about Dahlia's execution, she bawled.
It was her sister.
Her sister was dying soon. And her sister blamed it on Iris.
Iris swore she could hear Dahlia say, "Don't worry, Iris, we'll be in paradise soon."
And she heard it all the time.

x.

The day of the execution, Dahlia's alluring eyes bore into Iris again, leaving holes wherever she looked. Dahlia didn't look mad at all, not when Iris was crying as hard as she was.
There was pain and Dahlia looked like she was seriously in some.
"H-hey Iris, I'll meet you in paradise, okay?"
Iris could only nod because of those eyes, those damn eyes you had to lie to.
But the whole time, paradise was an unattainable illusion. A stupid mirage.
But Iris believed Dahlia. And she still did.