June 26, 2009~

The dark blue night sky is speckled with stars as red, white and blue lights decorate the orphanage campus. The sound of laughter and voices echoes throughout the peaceful valley, soaring over the mountains, trees, and river. Picnic tables are scattered across the prairie field, and the orphan girls dance among them, giggling and falling over into the yellow blades. It is the Fourth of July.

"Hey, Mable!" Lily calls, standing on a picnic table. "Who am I?" She begins dancing and jumping around and throwing her hair over and whipping it around. Lily begins an air guitar solo and starts kicking the air as she jams out with special sound effects.

Mable chuckles and sighs. "Um, a rockstar?"

"Yep," Lily says, bobbing her head to an imaginary beat. "Your turn."

"Do I have to stand on the table?" Mable asks, her voice shaking.

"Nah," Lily replies. "You can stay on the ground...you little land-creature you."

"Hey," Violet chimes. "You're a land-creature too."

"No I ain't!" Lily shouts. "I'm a sky-creature. Born to be wild, baby!"

"Nessie can be a water-creature," Mable jokes. "Like the Loch Ness monster."

"Ha ha, yeah," I say sarcastically. "And you're a land-creature 'cause you're just like a little mouse."

Mable frowns and Lily bursts out laughing. "HA! Good one, Ness!"
"Yeah, har-har," Mable chides.

"Aw, Mabe, I was just kiddin'," I say.

She grins. "I know. So was I."

"Lilian!" Sister Francine thunders. "Get off those picnic tables! You're going to get hurt!!"

Lily quickly leaps off and into the grass, landing with a thud.

"Looks like you're a land-creature now, too," Violet murmurs.

"Sky-creatures have legs, ya know. Like birds." Lily shrugs. "They can't just fly their whole lives. Then they'd get too tired. So of course we go on land with you land-ers sometimes." She grins cheekily. "That's 'cause sky-creatures are special."

"So are water-creatures," I add. "They can breathe underwater, like mermaids."

"Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming," Lily says, dancing off under the trees.

"Get ready, guys!" a girl exclaims. "The fireworks are coming on now! C'mon!!" She leads us off and we follow her through the woods, finally ending up in a green meadow pearl with moonlight. Most of the girls are there, all looking up at the sky anxiously.

"Who sets them off?" a little girl asks, pointing at the first gold explosion.

"The older boys at St. Joe's," a sixteen year old girl says knowingly.

"Ohmigod! Jimmy's probably setting them off over there! And OMG, Brad too!" one of the older girls shouts. They all start laughing at some stupid inside joke they probably had with the St. Joe's boys.

The youngest girls look up at the explosions of colors splattering across the sky while girls my age lie in the cool grass and close their eyes. The teenage girls all push each other around and hug each other and shout, "OMG do you remember when Tiffany threw the cake for Sister Gloria at Justin? Ohmigod, that was hysyerical!" "Ohimgod, yeah! Is Sister Gloria even alive anymore?" "How many years ago was that?" "Like in seventh grade." "Aw man, I wasn't here for that! I came in ninth grade."

The older girls are all best friends. Lily says it's only because all of them have been together since they were babies here, but I think they're all too lonely and need each other as their families...especially since they have none.

Like me, I think to myself. I could tell myself that Bella is still out there all I want, but judging Edward's expressions, she most likely isn't coming back for me.

I look over at Lily lying in the grass beside me. Lily and Violet and Mable are my only family now. Or, at least, for now.

Then, I woke up.