Twenty Five.

Lara

The old record player, which is placed carefully on a stack of even older books, plays soft melodies in the background. Stevie Nicks croons about the ocean tides, and I can't help but move my body along with the beat.

My uncle Bodaway bought it for me on one of his business trips.

It's old, barely able to keep together, but it’s a treasure.

Today is June 20th, it’s the first day of summer, and the darkness is still looming outside the semi-drawn window, slivers of light peeking through.

The sky was pitch black, except for a couple of stars splattered against the heavens. The shadows dance among the room, playing hide and seek with the glow of the bedside lamp.

Kol was outside on a phone call, every now and again I could hear him yell.

Whoever he was talking to must be his family...when people agitate him, he just would threaten them before hanging up.

He’d never put up with it.

I push the drawer close with my hip and pull the shirt over my shoulders, securing the buttons