Alpha Xander: His Contracted Luna

***ELIZABETH BROWN***

The taste of the moonshine. The dancing in the starlight. The two sisters were blissful on the lawn. Their parents would have sent them in to not catch a cold. To get warm under their princess blankets. They were lawless and free.

Julian, 15, and a lover of nature. She sat on the grass when her feet hurt. She didn’t do the roundabouts anymore; spinning on one foot. The earth looks wavy and takes you into a whirl. Catherine, 12 loved nobody more than her sister. She was always eager to leave school to have fun with her sister. Julian always took her to the grocery store on weekends. She’s got all the licorice she wanted.

A dog hit the ran across the lawn from the neighbors

“Catherine, the sprinklers got turned on,” Julian had the widest smile on her face.

“This will make up for rain,” Catherine dragged her sister by the hand.

They rolled on the ground. The water dripped onto their faces and wet their clothes. They didn’t care. This was one of those night. Their parents were away. Just like last night, and the night before.

“Your hair is pretty when it’s wet,” Julian pinned her elbow next to her sis and rested her chin on her palm. She admired her sister’s sleek hair. “And the most of all… the effect when it tends to dry,” she pulled a lock of her sister’s hair.

“The sprinkler stopped,” Catherine sat up with her arms folded on her chest.

Julian shifted to her side and squeezed the water out of her hair, “Well… we still have tomorrow night.”

“Yeah I know,” Catherine rubbed her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Julian let her sister’s hair drop and rubbed her hand against her back. “Why the sad face?”

“It’s been days Julian,” Catherine looked at her sister and took her hand. “When are they coming back?”

Julian’s eyes dropped. She looked back at her sister and smiled, “Soon Catherine. Soon baby sister.”

“You said they went on a trip… I don’t think so,” Catherine got up and ran to sit by the steps of the porch. “I think you are lying,” Catherine nagged.

Julian had no words for her sister. She kept the fantasy for 72 hours straight. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Catherine the truth. Catherine was a few years younger and wouldn’t be able to handle the grief. Their parents died a few days ago in a car crash.

Right down their street block. It was in the middle of the night. Julian picked up her phone when a neighbor rang. Catherine was fast asleep on the upper bank. They had their tummy filled with tater tots for dinner. She crept out the door without waking Catherine up.

Julian ran outside the door. She saw the smoke burning from the car down the block. She fell to her knees. She crawled to the street crying. She clasped her palms over her mouth. Hot tears rained down on her cheeks.

Their young female neighbor came to her side. She gently raised her from the ground. Julian fell back down. That night, Julian was taken to the station to file a death report. All this happened while Catherine was in her dreams.

They had missed school the next few days. They had no other relatives. They were in a small town with not many people who cared for one another. Her neighbor, Susan always came by bringing food. She provided the basic things for them.

The young lady would have taken custody of the two under-aged kids. She was just a substitute teacher at a local high school. Right where Julian enrolled. Catherine attended a middle school not far from home. Julian always took the bus with Susan.

Susan had problems of her own. She was behind her mortgage likewise the essential bills. With the little she had she shared with the girls. Her dog ran away one night. It got run over the next morning. She covered for the girls when the social services came by unannounced with their big suits and big suitcases.

Catherine went inside that night of the moonshine. Julian was short of words to her little sister. Speechless even. They slept without having dinner that night. For some reason, they hadn’t heard from Susan since noonday. She dropped a basket of fruits, juices, and cookies at their door.

The next morning, the police showed up at Susan’s house. The girls peeped out their room window and were scared. Julian overheard one policeman mention she died of suicide. Julian was heartbroken. She was petrified. She was literally the last person in their lives.

***FIVE YEARS LATER***

Julian was pulling shifts at a convenience store to help with her college fees. She was sponsored in her freshman year by a philanthropist. In her sophomore year, Elli’s parents put her through school. She insisted she wanted to be independent and fend for herself. She always thought asking for help was more of a burden to someone.

Catherine was adopted by a suburban family on the East Coast. Julian always ended up with different families throughout high school. When she turned eighteen she had started working her way through the hardships of life. She visited Catherine in New York; on Easter and Winter breaks. Those were the times she was free and able to book an economy flight.

In her GEDs, she had very good test scores but didn’t see college as a good fit for her. She managed a thrift store for an elderly woman, Mrs. Wilbur, after high school. A regular client of Mrs. Wilbur was keen on Julian going to college and not about to waste away her final four years of academia.

Mrs. Wilbur took the first few months studying Julian’s will and character. She finally decided to sponsor the young girl’s first year in college. Julian felt indebted to the old lady. She tried saving up to pay back but the old lady often refused and warned Julian not to ever take a kind offer for granted. At the end of her first year, Mrs. Wilbur passed away due to lung cancer. Julian’s emotions were shattered.

The Browns, Catherine’s parents were kind of heart and were open to Julian. Catherine was always intent on telling Julian what her high-school perks were like. Julian thought of Catherine as a misfit when they were younger. Catherine was ADHD, she feared she would have a tough time in high school. It turned out quite different for Catherine. She was pretty and popular.

The Browns were glad to get Catherine through her first year in college when Julian was a junior. A sudden tragedy struck on campus when a laboratory caught fire. Catherine was in the building when it happened. She suffered intense burns. She died before getting treatment in the hospital.

Julian was at the point of taking her own life. She was tired of it all; people dying in her life. She stood on top of a bridge ready to make a jump. A beautiful woman with silky grey hair appeared next to her.

“It is quite sad isn’t it?” the woman looked down.

“You are not going to talk me out of it?” Julian’s legs were shaking.

“Why would I?” The woman cocked her head. “It is your fate.”

“Well I guess my fate sucks,” Julian inhaled deeply. Which much thought. She remembered the night of the moonshine. She leaped back down to the concrete of the highway. “You should have just left me alone to die,” Julian palmed her sad face.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“Like I said… it is your fate,” the lady rested her arms on the horizontal bar on the bridge. She turned to give Julian a smile, “I am Mayfair.”

“I am Jul-Catherine, came to be Elizabeth,” Julian smiled back.

Mayfair raised her brows and folded her arms around her, “Nice to meet you JulCatherine.”

Julian laughed, “No it’s… never mind.’

She walked up to the Mayfair to give her a hug, “Thank you for showing up when you did. I could have actually jumped,” Julian unconsciously sniffed the beautiful woman’s crochet sweater.

“You like the smell?” Mayfair slowly pulled back.

“Yes. It is familiar,” Julian palmed her neck. “It smells like home.”

“Yes it does,” Mayfair nodded.

Julian stared observantly at Mayfair. She looked so much like her mother. She just had crystal clear eyes, but her mother’s eyes were blue like the sky of summer. She had the exact same sweater as her mother on the night of her death. She handpicked it for her mother that night. Julian knew this too well because she had crocheted that sweater all through that week for her mom.

It was sky blue on the left arm. The right arm was deep oceanic blue. The chest was the two colors intertwined with white, the same as the back of the sweater, which had a little writing.

She went behind Mayfair. The lady stood still with an eerie smile on her face not altered.

Catherine and Julian love you.

It was just like yesterday. Julian was shaken with fear and happiness in one feeling. Her heart was beating fast. Tears rolled down Julian’s eyes.

“What is happening?”

“Relax my darling. I am here now.”

“Mom?”

Mayfair reached for an embrace, and Julian took off to her heels. She didn’t look back once. She had thought she was seeing things.

As she progressed in life. She took on a new name. Started a new college program. She lived for her sister. Catherine. A beautiful sight. Sleek long black hair and a smile that warms the heart for days.