"I can't believe you were able to memorize all of the monsters of the Tower of Wishes! That's insane! Cleo, is this what you do with your life?" Ari asked over the phone after the trivia section of the Chelsea's interview was over with.
"No...?" Cleo answered.
"I know you probably spent I don't know...weeks trying to memorize exactly which monsters resided on each floor of that tower. I bet you even know how to defeat them all by heart!"
"I don't know it all that well..."
Ari laughed. "Anyways, see you at school tomorrow! Make sure you don't stay up too late reading!"
"I promise I won't!" Cleo smiled. "Bye, Ari."
"Bye-bye!" Ari said, hanging up.
Cleo set down her phone.
She walked over to her bookshelf. Her hand swiftly wiped away a layer of dust that had accumulated on the shelf. She picked up a picture frame. Softly, she blew the dust off the glass. It was a fairly old photo. Though it had been taken care of very well, the edges of the picture were beginning to crumble. Cleo looked at the picture. There was a beautiful woman with dark, obsidian-black hair just like hers. She had kind, brown eyes, and her smile was warm enough to melt the coldest of hearts. Standing next to her was a taller man with dark-brown hair, and red eyes. Between the two, there was a little girl, with obsidian-black hair like the woman and red eyes like the man. She was holding a book.
Cleo remembered that day better than any other. She had been seven years old. Her parents had taken her to the bookstore to buy the book that she had been begging them for, "A Song of Sorrow". Later, her parents had taken her to Ari's house for a playdate, but when it was time for Cleo's parents to pick her up, they never came. Hours later, policemen showed up at Ari's house, here to deliver the bad news. Cleo's parents had died in a terrible car accident on their way to pick her up. Cleo was in a state of shock. Only days later did she realize the true meaning of the situation. Her beloved parents were gone. Her mom was never going to read her a story again before bed, and her father could not longer pick her up and sit her on his shoulders again. Seven year old Cleo had cried for days, until her entire face was red. She had refused to read that book for so many years.
Eventually, Cleo read the book. The last book her parents had bought her. She read "A Song of Sorrow" many times, and she never stopped. Whenever she missed her parents, she read the book again. She read the whole book so many times, she could practically recite the whole story from memory. And still, she kept reading. The faster she could read, the more times she read it. Soon, she was reading the entire book once through each night.
Cleo set the picture frame back on the shelf. She picked up her book, and she sat down to read.
***
Cleo was on her way to school. The sky was blue, with not a cloud in sight. She was a few streets away from her school, when, as she was crossing a street, a truck came speeding towards her. Cleo was almost all the way across the street. She hurried over to the other side, but the truck swerved to continue going in her direction. The driver was drunk. Cleo finally made it to the other side of the street. She let out a sigh of relief. But it seemed that the world was intent on her dying that day. The truck swerved onto the sidewalk, two wheels driving on the pavement, two wheels still on the street. Cleo tried to avoid the truck, but the drunk driver spun her wheel as he laughed unsteadily. Suddenly, Cleo remembered how her parents had died, and she froze. Was this how her loving family was torn apart so many years ago? She could just die. Then she would be with her family again. That was a nice idea. But Ari...Cleo thought of her best friend, who had helped her through the hardest part of her life. How would she feel if she lost her best friend?
Cleo blinked. The truck was getting closer. Cleo ran. She ran with all her might. She was almost at the gate of her school. Just one more step-
The truck slammed into her. Cleo felt empty for a second, before the pain hit her. The truck kept on driving down the sidewalk, eventually swerving back onto the street. Cleo heard the truck driver cackling, as if her were laughing at her. She blinked. Her eyelids felt heavy. If she were to just sleep for a little bit. Just a little...
"Cleo! Cleo! Cleo, look at me!"
It was Ari. Ari was here. Everything was going to be fine. Cleo closed her eyes, letting herself fall into the endless darkness.