Brittany, Age 2:
The world was so big and she was learning to walk. Messy, half grown curls in her face, brilliant blue eyes and chubby rosy cheeks—curiously exploring. Her mom was off somewhere, as she does. She wasn't a mean mom, just a neglectful one. The baby grabbed the couch—somehow managing to crawl up and scale the back rest. Determined mind that she was, she managed taking two wobbly steps before falling face first towards the concrete floor. They currently lived somewhere deep in the city wedged between the many federal housing apartments, hence the concrete. Little Brittany's eyes widened as she saw the floor coming straight to her face. Chubby hands stretched out to break her fall just as a gentle tug on her onesie caught her in mid-air. Suddenly she's sat straight on the floor, facing a glowing baby with olive skin and big brown eyes. Brittany didn't know words yet but I'm her nonsensical babble she asked the baby how she was so sparkly. The other baby smiled a dimpled smile and disappeared.
Brittany, Age 5:
Brittany at age 5 had managed to learn to walk, run, and twirl. She was currently twirling and humming with her eyes closed between the playground equipment when the sound of a car peeling made her open her eyes. Blonde lashes blinked and the next moment she was on the floor next to the tree with the smoking car now attached to it. She was pretty sure she had been standing in that same spot before the car came, maybe Brittany had finally learned how to fly. She didn't think about it too much because she caught a glimpse of a dimpled girl with brown eyes sitting on a branch of the smoking tree swinging her legs back and forth. Brittany waved at the little girl and the girl smiled even wider and waved back before disappearing with a shimmer. Brittany blinked once, but the girl wasn't there anymore, that seemed to happen a lot when Brittany blinked. She decided to name her Santana. She didn't know why because she'd never heard that name before and the girl must have already had a name, but in her mind it sounded beautiful.
Brittany, Age 7:
The next time Brittany saw Santana was when she was 7 years old walking to school. Her mom's boyfriend was supposed to take her but he was passed out on the couch and he smelled like mommy's adult drinks again. It was Brittany's first day and she didn't wanna miss it so she walked and walked and walked. For hours she walked but could never find her school. Brittany decided to turn back when she realized she wasn't sure which way she came, oblivious to the unmarked van that had been following her for blocks. Just as she decided to keep walking the way she was already going, a glimmer of long, dark hair flashed around a corner and into an alley. Something about it looked familiar so naturally Brittany followed and turned into the alley with a barely audible gasp. Santana waved her behind a trash can, she hadn't seen Santana in years but she knew exactly what she looked like on that smoking tree day. It was the same dimpled girl but slightly older now. Instead of a dimpled smile she met a dimpled frown, furrowed eyes, and a hand waving frantically so she would hurry. Brittany skipped over to that outstretched hand and took it. The next thing she knew she was back in her own room, empty from the lack of warmth from Santana's hand. The girl had disappeared again. Brittany felt sad.