4.


The two older Darling sister's wake the next morning to find mud prints along the white carpet of their room. The footprints lead right to Ava's bed. She's sound asleep with muddy feet hanging over the edge of the bed. Sophie looks at Kate.

"Should we tell aunt Chris?" she asks, as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

"Not yet," Kate says. "We need to find out what she's up to."

Kate checks the hallway to see if aunt Chris has woken yet, her door is still shut and there are no signs of her downstairs. Quickly, Kate takes action and has Sophie help her clean up the mud along the carpet and they attempt to clean Ava's feet without waking her. Sophie tucks her sister in, and the two girls head downstairs for some breakfast.

"We should make aunt Chris breakfast," Sophie beams.

Kate gives her a disgruntled look, although she does feel better today than yesterday, she's not sure if making breakfast with her younger sister is the best idea.She knows her little sister loves doing things for others, but Sophie is not good in the kitchen. Kate recalls the time Sophie insisted she could make mom dinner in bed while she was sick. She tried to help dad and attempted making mom a sandwich, but peanut butter and pickles didn't exactly sit well with mom's already upset stomach.

Before they even get downstairs the sound of Derek's truck comes rolling up the driveway.

"Oh, Derek's here again," Sophie says wiggling her brows.

Kate laughs, as she hears aunt Chris's door open. They scramble back into the bedroom and shut the door. Both girls run to the window and wait. Aunt Chris walks outside in an old ratty bathrobe to greet Derek. From above the girls watch as he steps out of the truck with bagels from Walter's - which is just as amazing as the ice cream shop. They meet somewhere in the middle and they watch as their aunt gives Derek a smooch on the lips.

"Ewww," Sophie giggles.

Kate covers her eyes and the two break out into laughter over their latest discovery.

In a shocking turn of events it looks as if aunt Chris and Derek are much more than friends. Sophie and Kate look between the two as they sit down and eat their delicious bagels. When Ava comes down she looks sleepier than normal. Sophie and Kate raise their brows at their sister. They both want her to tell them where she was last night, but that will have to wait.

After breakfast they all go and play outside. Kate and Sophie race to see who can swing the highest. While her older sisters race, Ava walks along the edge of the woods and seems to be talking to herself. Kate watches her sister carefully.

Day quickly turns into night and Derek leaves once again. Sophie and Kate make a plan to stay awake to see where their sister goes. They try everything to stay awake as Ava sleeps soundly in her bed. The girls grow tired waiting and eventually just before midnight fall asleep. Ava wakes with a smirk, the whole time she'd been lying there waiting for them to fall asleep. She throws her blankets off, still fully clothed from that day and hops out the window, hoping they don't realize she's gone.

Back in the woods she's pulled in again to an amazing world full of wonder and mystery. The moment she enters the wind swirls around her and she giggles. It tickles her and swirls off towards the opening near the falls. It's beautiful tonight with clear skies and white twinkling stars above. The wind lifts her a little, hurrying her to the entrance. Ava stands staring at the immaculate waterfall cascading down the side of rock formation. To Ava the waterfall always looks as if it didn't belong. It still looks strange, even standing so close and taking in all it's beauty.

The wind swirls around her again, causing some dead leaves on the ground to lift and swirl around her. It pushes her towards the opening. Ava steps inside and the moment her eyes adjust she's in awe. Crystal's line up along the walls of the cave, causing the rocks to have cerulean colored tint to them. Ava twirls to get a better view and stops when the full moon glows just outside the cave entrance. It's bigger than she's ever seen before. She squints just enough to see the magic dancing along the surface. It looks like sparkling glitter dancing through the night sky. It jumps from star to star, planet to planet.

Ava wishes that her sisters could be here to see this beautiful magic that has taken over these woods. The wind whispers, "Shhh." Ava's eyes tear up. "Why can't they know?" the wind whispers, "Shhh." salty tears fall. "Please tell me why?" "The magic, it lives in you Ava," it whispers. "Only in you."

Confused by the winds' words, Ava decides it's time to go back and get some sleep. She's sad and unsure of what the wind means by this. Her heart breaks for the fact that they will never know what it feels like to have magic dance along their skin, or tug them into beautiful places like this cave.

Ava slowly strolls back towards aunt Chris's house. Tears falling from her eyes as she climbs up and back into the room, muddy feet and all. She collapses into bed and silently cries. There had to be a way for Ava to fix this, to show her sisters the beauty of magic, but how? Too tired to think Ava closes her eyes and dreams of a place of magic, one where her sisters join her and they are all happy as can be.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top