Chasing the Sun
Chapter 1
I've got a secret. I used to be in love with you. I've never ever told anyone this. Instead it's been a guilty pleasure I've carried around inside me forever. And I know I could never have confessed to you how I felt. How could I when you never noticed me. I was always just that bratty baby sister. I was totally invisible to you. Or at least I used to think I was until that one time you came to my rescue. I'll never forget how you saved me that day. You were my knight in shining armour; my hero. I worshipped you then and even now I sometimes let myself think of you…….
Stephanie stared at her reflection wondering how it had ever got to this. When did she wake up and become this person, this stranger she hardly recognised any more.
Sighing heavily, her fingertips reached up and touched her pale skin. It felt cold in the low heat of the tiny apartment as she scrutinised the face staring back at her. Her physical features hadn't changed but the blue eyes blinking back at her had somehow lost their vibrant sparkle. They were dull and hollow pools and seemed to be a perfect match for the sad and haunted expression she now wore. She guessed it had only been a matter of time before she could no longer hide what she felt on the inside. Her brave façade was slowly beginning to crumble leaving her empty and lost in a place she had never imagined she could be.
Stepping back from the mirror, Stephanie let out a shaky breath glancing at the jewellery box sitting on the dresser. Her hand reached to touch it fondly, lightly tracing the beautifully carved painted wood. As she carefully lifted the lid, the small room was filled with the melodic tune of a lullaby. She smiled as she listened to the soothing music watching the tiny ballerina pirouette in perfect circles. The jewellery box had been a present for her tenth birthday. As a little girl, it had been her most favourite possession in the world. As a young woman, it was her only memory of a life that had been filled with hopes and dreams; dreams that had slowly evaporated away for her one by one until there had been nothing left to hold on to.
Now she had stopped dreaming. She didn't allow herself to hope. Instead she only did what she could to survive. She was all alone in this big, bad world. There was no one else she could depend on. She was the only person in the world that she would ever be able to trust. Self reliance was a lonely place to be but it was all she had left.