Juniper
It was already transforming into night. The stars shimmered in the distance like ghostly eyes in the black velvet sky. She quickened up her pace. Juniper never trusted her town at night after the incident… The first, heavy raindrops had started to fall. Her legs began to speed up like an aeroplane beginning to fly off. The rain was relentless. Rain was a steady downpour of tears, crashing to earth and spreading darkness and damp. Her speed was remarkable, she did not care if her legs were burning, and her lungs were closing. She just wanted to get home even if her dad screamed at her again… Her voluminous afro bounced as she took deep, heavy breaths.
Her things were already packed, she didn't know where she was going just that she was getting away from them… She was near and Juniper already felt her hair going grey. She stood before the house. The modern, semi-detached house was in a quiet, serene cul-de-sac and shielded from the road by a line of pine trees. Juniper gently opened the door, expecting to be bellowed at. But what she saw was
expected. Her father lay there on the couch, sprawling his legs everywhere. In his hands, he clutched a bottle of tequila and in the other, some unidentified pills. Juniper sighed, rolling her eyes and kissing her teeth. She grabbed a blanket and threw it over her useless father.
"Pass the teq-teq-tequila", he slurred, burping between his words. Juniper strode out of the room, muttering under her breath, and then turned briskly, with a stiff back and her head held high in the air.
Her father's eyes drifted around aimlessly, and he opened his mouth as if he was about to speak- but closed it again. The delight shone from her eyes like beams from a torch as she rushed upstairs, knowing this was her last time here. She clenched her fist and punched the air. All of that faded as she passed Jaden's room. Juniper remembered the last time she had saw him, the wide beam that spread across his face. That was the last smile she got from him..