Here is a new project I have been working on, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments! Chapter one is a short one, sorry!
Angels on the Moon
Chapter One
The first time I met her she was all buck teeth, wild, messy chocolate curls and huge brown eyes that twinkled with laughter and mischief. She was a 4 year old ball of energy, always on the go and always getting herself into trouble. She was charming and engaging, even when I met her all those years ago.
I was the shy little blonde girl with saucer sized blue eyes who was enthralled by her and the energy that surrounded her. I practically hero worshiped her. She was the type of person that people just flocked to, she drew people in and made them never want to leave her orbit.
Unfortunately that was not the case when I came face to face with her over 25 years after our first meeting. It seemed like a lifetime later to be honest. No matter that I had last seen her in person only a few years ago the picture that sprung to my mind, and would probably always spring to my mind, was that of the cheeky tomboy I had known so many years before.
The buck teeth were gone, the result of braces and some very expensive dental work in her teen years. The chubbiness of youth had given way to a frame that was skinnier and gaunter than I had ever seen it. The muscular frame she had once been so very proud of had wasted away to a skeleton with pale washed out skin stretched over it. The abundant, wild mahogany curls were now thinning, dull brown hair that hung in limp curls down over her bony shoulders. But the most troubling of all were her eyes. Those big brown eyes that had once sparkled with so much life were now dead. They were cold. There was nothing even resembling the girl I once knew in those eyes. That little girl I saw in my mind was just that, an image. It broke my already shattered heart.
My Dad stepped forward as if to embrace her, only to draw back as she violently shied away and stared coldly at him. I felt my heart break, even though I was certain it could not break anymore. I mean what was left of my heart for her was so destroyed I doubt it could even crack anymore. Dad flashed me a smile of infinite sadness before turning to face her again with a look of understanding and compassion on his face, "Hello Ashley, I'm sorry we have to meet again under these circumstances. It has been way too long."
She wouldn't look at him, wouldn't even acknowledge that she had known my Dad at all when once upon a time he had been the father figure she had so desperately needed while her father was off and away. My family was her family, well it had been.
My Dad nodded, clearly not at all surprised by her lack of response. He was used to dealing with people with problems like hers. For me it was very different. I wasn't standing in front of a stranger who needed my help, I was standing face to face with someone who used to be my world.
Dad took a slow, careful step closer to her and smiled kindly, "I know this is a lot to take in Ashley, I know it can't be easy to be here," He paused and looked back at me with sympathy in his blue eyes before continuing, "but I really do think we can help you Ashley. I honestly believe that this is the best place for you right now."
She just stared at the gravel beneath her feet and said nothing. The wind whipped at her hair and tugged at her clothes, showing just how skeletal she had become. She looked so fragile, so lost. She just looked so damn broken.
Dad gestured towards the large house behind us, "Why don't we head inside and get you settled in ok Ashley?"
Ashley didn't respond she just followed along behind him wordlessly, not looking at anything other than the ground under her feet. As she walked past me I searched her downcast eyes for any sign of a reaction, of an emotion. Anything to tell me that seeing me was affecting her as much as it was affecting me. There was nothing, it was like she had no strength left in her to feel emotions.
It wasn't how I saw us meeting up again, and I had always known that we would. There are some people who you are just destined to have in your life. They may move in and out of it, but fundamentally they are always a part of you and who you are. Ashley and I were soulmates, our lives were meant to be intertwined together. I knew that no matter the hurt, pain and anger between us we would find a way back to each other. I just never thought it would be like this.
I had pictured the moment we would come face to face again so many times, and never had it gone like this. In my head she came back to me healthy, happy and ready to mend all that had gone wrong. In my fantasy she came back to me as the person she was before everything happened. In all my dreams she came back to me as my Ashley, not the decimated version of herself that she had become.
I watched them walk inside the house and then turned to face the man I had been deliberately ignoring as he stood motionlessly behind her. He pushed his shaggy blonde hair back from his face and took a hesitant step towards me. I held my ground, even though the sight of him filled me with so much anger, sorrow, guilt, regret and even a tinge of happiness that I thought I would lose my mind.
He looked decades older than he had the last time I'd seen him. His once hansom face was lined with sadness and worry and some uncertainty. I was glad to see it, he should feel all that and more standing face to face with me after so long. He should feel disgusted with himself after bringing her back to me so broken. Let face it, it was easier to blame him for her state then to acknowledge the part I had to play. I had gotten good at smothering my guilt over Ashley.
"Hello Spencer, you look well." He said nervously shoving his fidgeting hands deep into the pockets of his ripped jeans, making the chains hanging from his belt clang nosily together. Ever the rock star that one. From his spiked, purposely messy peroxide blonde hair, to his scuffed leather boots, Raife Davies screamed rock star.
I scoffed and folded my arms over my chest as I glared angrily at him, "Which is more than I can say for your daughter Raife." I shook my head and asked, "When I last spoke to you, you told me she was getting better! What the hell happened to her?"
I frowned at the way my voice cracked with emotion, I wanted to be the strong one here. I wanted to stand strong against the crushing emotions threatening to render me incapacitated. I wanted to be the one with the stony exterior, the one who showed nothing. I didn't want any of them to see just how much this was tearing me up inside. God was it tearing me up inside!
Raife Davies hung his head as shame coloured his tanned cheeks. He shuffled his feet a little on the gravel, much like his daughter had done, and cleared his throat. He glanced up in the direction that my father had taken his daughter, staring at that house as if it was going to give him all the answers and sighed, "I didn't do that to her Spencer."
I shook my head in disbelief and snapped angrily, "Well then who did Raife?"
He locked his ice blue eyes on mine and said in a soft, sad voice, "You did."
