Laying on my back in the grass I can feel the breeze sweep over me softly tickling my skin. It's been a long hot summer and it's nice to be taking a break from helping to raise my 6 siblings. It feels like the only time to myself anymore is when I sneak out and enjoy the cooler night air.
My best friend Marianne is being lulled to sleep by the soft sounds of the night life of the park. She looks exhausted yet she had still insisted she come out tonight, stating she needed to get away from the house. I too feel like I've been run into the ground chasing young children, making sure they have been fed, that they have clean clothes, and clean in general. Today the three younger sisters were past energetic, they were like taking care of three little demons. It took all I had to not want to beat the demon out of them. This is not what I saw my 16 year of life being, but someone had to do it.
Even though I love my parents they are definitely not parental figures but adult kids who often think of themselves before their children. Even so I have a much stronger connection to my Father but my mom and I are like oil and water. It's as if she knows this and does everything to tear me down because of it. I often catch myself dreaming of being away from her, and finally live my own life instead of the one they created.
Marianne touches my arm and I'm brought back from my inner thoughts. She is smiling at me, and then points to the sky. A streak of light dances across the the sky and I close my eyes to make my wish on the shooting star.
So what did you wish for? I playfully tease her knowing she won't tell me. She says it's bad luck to tell your wish and that she already has enough bad luck she doesn't need to create any. I can't argue with that logic because I often feel I'm walking that same thin line and that tipping it will cause me to fall.
I hear her sigh as we both notice the sliver of light on the horizon as the sun starts to break through the night sky. I guess we should get going. Marianne looks at me and shakes her head yes reluctantly.
We gather up the jean quilt I had made from worn out clothes I had gathered from friends and family and being my first try it didn't look too bad. Folding it I could feel the dampness from the ground left on the blanket, it caused a shiver go down my spine. My 98 lb body tends to become cold when I'm not moving around especially when water is added to the mix. I hurry up and put my sweater back on, I had been using it just a few minutes earlier as my pillow.
Marianne flashes her devious smile at me and I can tell she is up to something. I quickly remind her that her mom will be up soon and she frowns and tells me I'm no fun. She starts walking towards the end of the park and turns to me. "Thank you Monique, you always have my back even when I don't have my own.
To see us now you would have thought we had always been best friends, like two peas in a pod. Yet it hadn't been that way at all. She had been interested in my friend Jonathan and thought I was in her way. Marianne had even called me out stating she wanted to fight me. At the time I couldn't even fathom why anyone would want to hurt me let alone straight up want to fight me. Some how we managed to skip the fight and became best friends instead. She never did though get my friend Jonathan to date her, yet she was ok with that.
Marianne stops when she notices I'm no longer beside her. I had again become lost in my thoughts and my steps had shortened without me noticing. Subconsciously I guess I was dreading going back to my reality and Marianne could see this. She walked back to me and put her arm around me.
"Monique we can come out again tonight if we need to, but you are right we need to get home before anyone wakes up."
I look at her and smile. "Thank you Mari I don't know what I'd do without you and this break we have a few times a week."
"I feel the same, " she then grabs my hand and pulls me on down the road. Both of us start laughing just happy with the few minutes left of freedom.