Seven and Twelve
Day Two
When they unceremoniously knocked heads with each other, they decided they would not kill each other. Neither had killed someone before and they didn't want to start just yet. They teamed up.
Seven said her name was Beth and she was sixteen. Her hair was the colour of the bark of the trees that surrounded them, and was as wild as the leaves dancing in the wind. She was full of jokes and questions – she just wanted a distraction, really.
Twelve was a shy girl of fifteen. Her name was Myra and her eyes were so pale a blue they were nearly white. She shivered often but was calm when she was under the sun and its golden rays. She basked in the light; as her head lolled back her blonde hair reached the small of her back.
The first night they spent together, they found a small opening in which they made their beds. Beth asked Myra if there was music in Twelve. Myra nodded vigorously, excited. If there was something she knew a lot about, it was music.
In the pale moonlight Myra could swear she saw a blush around Beth's cheek. Beth kept her voice low when she asked, "Do you know any songs?"
Another nod from Myra.
Beth hummed hesitantly before she murmured, "Do you think you can sing to me?"
Against the leafy pillow Myra had constructed, her jaw sort of dropped. She was about to answer but Beth urgently interrupted the silence.
"It's a dumb question," she proclaimed. "My mom sings in our house around bedtime and it kind of helps me sleep." It took Myra to process what Beth had said; years of living next to the loud mining sites had messed up her ears, and Beth did speak rather quickly. She was a little hard to understand.
She searched her mind for a song to sing. In school, the older students don't learn songs as much as the younger students do. There was a song Myra liked in particular, but she couldn't recall the tune. It was about a child, she remembered; a child who preached happiness in the town square. Yes, that was definitely Myra's favourite. She spent a few moments searching through the depths of her mind for this melody, and finally she found it.
In the dark of the night, amongst an uncountable number of trees, Myra sang in a high and mesmerising voice about the boy who only wanted for his mother and his friends and everyone in town to be happy.
While Myra sang, Beth breathed a thank you. Her eyes slowly began to shut as Myra sang into the night.