Into a Pink Sky

"Jen? Jen, wake up!" Mum is screaming, but I don't want to get up. I just want to lay here. Suddenly, Mum's voice is getting soft, almost so quiet I can't hear her. "Jen, baby, get up… please," she sounds so sad. Is she crying? Well, if it's so important to her, I will just get up, I guess. Did I fall asleep on the floor yesterday? I seriously can't remember. That's weird, like really weird. Shouldn't my back be hurting like hell after sleeping on the ground? Maybe I had fallen out of bed? Wait, what time is it? When is my bus coming? And when does school start again? Is it even a school day? Probably, Mum wouldn't care if I slept in during the weekend. I grab my phone, look at the time, 2:16 am. That can't be right, right? I look out of the window. The sky is still dark blue, but why does Mum want me to be awake and why is everything in me telling me I need to get to school? I open my closet and the only thing hanging there is a pink dress. I look down my body, I'm literally wearing the exact same dress right now, but still I need to change, right? I am taking the dress and want to leave my room, to enter the bathroom, but my doorknob won't turn. How much time has passed? Again, I look at my phone. Still 2:16 am. By now, I'm sure my phone is broken. I sniffle on the dress. Good enough, I think, nothing some body spray can't do. I rush to my vanity, grab the first bottle I see. "Vanilla Dream," Mum got me this one for Christmas. I spray it all over me. Now I seriously have to go, but the door still won't open. I can't risk being late though. I have to try getting out through the window, and this way out is actually working. As fast as my legs will let me, I run down the street. My face slowly catches the sky while running. A pink colour is coming through the dark blue. My favourite colour. What a weird coincidence.

The bus is already there. "Stop! Please wait for me," I scream from the top of my lungs, fearing the driver won't hear me, since I'm still so far away. "Stop, stop, stop." This time it is a whisper; the bus's wheels are moving, and I stop running. Disappointed, I sit down in the middle of the road I was running down. What am I going to do now? I need to be punctual. I take a little rock which lies next to me on the street and throw it as wide, as I possibly can. It bounces down the road and stops directly in front of the bus stop. Is that a sign? Just as I want to get up again, I look down at myself— I forgot to put on shoes. How embarrassing, seriously, this whole day feels like I'm still half asleep. What is just going on? I look under my feet; the white sock turned greyish, but at least my feet aren't hurting. I start to run again; theoretically, the next bus could arrive every second. I sprint down the entire road without stopping, and when I did it Mr. Mills sat there next to the bus stop sign. "Mr. Mills?" I kneel down to him and pet him; directly, he begins to purr. What is my cat doing here? I take him on my lap, and together we wait and wait and wait, till finally a bus passes. This one wasn't dark blue like the other bus; it is pink, as beautiful as the pink coming up at the sky. The door opens, and I get in while carrying Mr. Mills on my arm. The bus driver smiles at me, an Asian old man who kind of looks familiar to me. "Excuse me, sir, what time is it?" He looks at his watch, then back to me. "It's 2:16 am, Jen, kiddo." How does he— "Hello, my Russian blue," his hands are reaching out for Mr. Mills. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask him. He starts laughing. "Oh, Jen, of course you do, and Mr. Mills does too, right, little Russian blue?" As an answer, Mr. Mills purrs again. Confused, I sit down. The whole bus is empty. I look deep in Mr. Mills' eyes. When Mum adopted me, I was seven, almost ten years ago. She brought me to Michigan. She was allowed to adopt me, because she had no partner, and soon she would be too old to get children herself, and I had no one to watch after me after Grandpa died. It was only me and the Russian blue, how Grandpa would call—Grandpa was the only one who called Mr. Mills by his race. "Sir? Are you Vietnamese by any chance?" My mouth lets out the words before I could probably overthink them. He laughs again. "Yes, by any chance I am." But that can't be! Grandpa is dead! He probably just thought it was funny to lie about knowing me and Mr. Mills. But how did he know Mr. Mills' name? Calm down Jen, he probably heard you say it, I tell myself, trying to think about something else. I look out the window, by now, the whole sky almost turned completely pink. My body feels light as a feather, and—"Sir? Why are we stopping at my place?" He stops the engine and turns to me. "Jen, you need to say goodbye. You can't change it anyway." He lets out a breath. "Don't fight it. I know it feels scary, but it was your decision, so stop struggling. Let go. Let your Mum grieve. Don't stay in this state when the doctor can't rescue you anyway." He opens the door, and I jump out of the bus, slamming the front door open. Mum is crying, still telling me to wake up. I follow her voice. "Mum?" She kneels over something, somebody—it's me. I lie on the floor. I did that. I kneel down as well. My chest is still rising, though it's only very, very slow. Mum is touching my forehead. I can't go back in time, my time is over, it's over because of me. Why haven't I asked for help? I feel so bad but I can't change it—not anymore and now I have to leave mum. "Baby, help is on its way; Wake up, please," she begs my almost lifeless body. Tears run down my face. Is it even my face anymore? What am I? Am I still human? All I know is I don't want Mum to be sad. But how can I leave her in this position? I feel so selfish. Wait! Mr. Mills, does that mean Mr. Mills is…gone as well? Hopefully, his body is not lying in the garden. Hopefully, he died somewhere Mum won't find him. "Mum, I'm here," I mumble under tears, knowing she can't hear me anyway. I can't watch her struggle like this anymore, so I do something more selfish than dying. I leave her alone with it. Me on the floor, wearing the same dress, the same socks I am wearing right now. But she is strong and she will get through it. Wherever I end up being after this bus ride, I will watch after her. I kiss her cheek, wipe away her tears, and leave, this time through my door, back to the old man who seems to be my Grandpa and Mr. Mills. By now the whole sky is pink and not soft pink anymore, a hot pink, like the sky is glowing and the little pink bus directly drives into the sky. "Sir?" I ask again. "It's 2:17 am," he answered like he knew what I was going to ask. He was right though, and the time wasn't frozen anymore. If time moves on, Mum can as well, and so can I.