Trials of the Heart
Chapter 8 - Pure Innocence: River
River snuggled down under her covers as Ruth kissed her goodnight. She looked up at the older girl and smiled. Ruth smiled back and gently ran a hand over her dark hair caringly before she stood up and left the room flicking the light off behind her as she left.
She waited for a few minutes before she pushed the covers off and slipping back out of her bed pulling on her little pink fluffy dressing gown. She padded across to her bedroom window her think fluffy rug tickling between her toes slightly as she stepped on it with her bare feet.
When she reached the window she whipped the curtains open and rested her elbows on the window sill looking up at the sky wistfully. She scanned the depths with her sparkling blue eyes and picked out the star.
Jay had always told her that star belonged to her. It was her special star. He had told her as a small child if she ever was worried she could ask the star to make everything better.
Jay lay down on the rug he had tossed on the thick grass of the back garden, he slipped his hands behind his head and stared up at the sky. River lay down next to him imitating his every move in her usual way.
"See the stars?" Jay asked
"They are pretty!" River smiled in a childish voice
"See that one?" Jay pointed at a distinctive star directly above them "The big shiny one?"
"Yes!" River beamed pointing too copying her big brother enthusiastically.
"That's your star." He said
"My star?" River asked her big blue eyes turning to stare into his deep brown ones.
"Oh yes." He nodded "When you arrived I stood out here with you, thinking about everything and I looked up. That star caught my eye."
"So it's a special star?" River asked tipping her head
"Yes. If you wish on it then you never know, what you wish for might come true!" Jay smiled
She looked up at the star. Hoping Jay was right. He usually was. He was a brilliant big brother normally even though since her Nan had gotten ill he had been very distanced from the family and rather nasty. River had decided he was sad.
She was sad too. She missed her Nan a lot. She loved Ruth but Ruth wasn't her Nan. Her Nan was very poorly but she was sleeping so she could get better. She definitely needed the star to make everything better.
It was twinkling brightly and River smiled slightly as the moonlight lit up the garden and Millie's cage in an eerie way casting shadows across the garden, it was so peaceful.
"I wish everything would get better." She started in a whisper "Please little star. Please make Nan get better."
She stared at the star intently tipping her head slightly.
"Please make Ruth smile again she deserves to smile." She pleaded "Please stop Ellie feeling sad I don't like it when she's sad." She added "Please make Jay start being nice again, I don't like it when he's nasty to us, I know its because he's so sad about Nan but I don't like it." She continued "And Please make Leila come home I miss her." She finished blurting out her thoughts and sighing sadly.
She paused hoping for some sign it had worked but there was nothing in particular that happened apart from the warm tingling feeling in her tummy. She breathed deeply and stepped back eyes still fixed on the star.
"Goodnight Little star." She said innocently pulling her curtains shut again and slipping back into her bed.