Status: Mind flowing, words processing.
Feather Ink
Perfectly Gray
“Anya.”
She lifted her head slightly at the sound of her name, but remained paralyzed to her resting place by her dreams.
“Anya!”
She opened her eyes a little more, trying to rip herself from sleep.
“ANYA!”
She bolted awake, hitting her spine on the back of her chair.
Fuck she thought to herself.
She glanced around at her surroundings. She’d fallen asleep at her desk again. Her neck and shoulders ached from being in such an uncomfortable position all night. She rubbed her eyes and attempted to stand up. At first she felt a little light headed and had to grab the back of her seat to steady herself. However, her vision soon defogged and she walked over to the window near her bed to open the shades. She spread the curtains and rolled up the blinds to reveal a perfectly gray morning with lots of rain pitter-pattering against the glass window pane. She yawned and sighed for a moment, letting herself drift into her thoughts, trying to remember her dream…
“ANYA!!” Her mother’s shrill voice rang throughout her brain, giving her a small lightning storm of a headache.
Anya left her room and headed downstairs to find out the reason for her being summoned.
When she reached the kitchen her mother was wiping the mouth of her baby sister, Clover, as she had just finished trying to feed her some strained peas. Clover’s mouth, covered in green goo, was red from the ungentle scrape of their mother’s handy work with an old crusty dish towel.
“Good God, there you are! I’ve been yelling your name for 10 minutes at least!”
Anya glanced at the clock on the wall above the refrigerator. It was just striking a quarter past. She rolled her eyes.
“Then why didn't you just come upstairs and get me?” Anya asked patiently. Her mother gave her a stern look.
“Do you not see this incredible mess I’m dealing with?!” She accused, plopping Clover back down into her high chair.
Anya walked over to Clover and picked her up, stroking the soft short baby hair on her head.
“She hates strained peas, Mom. You have to mix them with other baby foods to get her to eat them.” Anya continued with her patient tone. Anya had always been patient. With her mother, with Clover, with everyone.
She didn't even care that she was suddenly stained in green goo from Clovers onesie from picking her up. The important thing was to reassure Clover.
“And you can’t use normal dishtowels to wipe her mouth, her skin is sensitive.”
“Well, what am I supposed to use then? Silk sheets?!” Her mother directed, narrowing her eyes while trying to scrub the baby food off her pant suit.
Anya rolled her eyes and ignored her, walking over to the sink and grabbing a soft tissue and wetting it slightly with cold water to relax the skin irritation around Clover’s face.
“Look, I’m already late and now I’ve got to change my clothes. You’re going to have to take Clover to day care before school. I’ll be home late tonight, don’t wait up.” And with that, not even a Goodbye or Have a good day her mom stormed upstairs to her room to exchange the baby food covered clothes for starch clean ones.
Anya watched her mother hop up the stairs and sighed before turning back to Clover and wiping the rest of the baby food off her face. Clover looked at her with her big blue baby eyes, made a small baby noise of contentment and reached out with her tiny hand to touch Anya’s face.
“It’s okay, babygirl. She loves you, she just doesn't know how to take care of you anymore.” Anya said to Clover reassuringly. Clover, only about a year old if that, looked at Anya with a dim smile on her face, completely unaware of what was going on. Anya kissed Clover’s cheek and said,
“How about a nice warm bath? I can miss 1st period.”
Clover giggled and grabbed Anya’s ear with her tiny soft baby fingers. Anya smiled and leaned Clover against her shoulder before walking her upstairs to the hallway bathroom.
~~~
Anya showed up to school at around 9:30, slightly disheveled, wearing a pair of slipper moccasins, patterned tights, shorts and a long charcoal tunic sweatshirt that went down to the middle of her tiny thighs. She stumbled past the other students passing through to other classes, and finally made her way to her Physics class.
She sat down at the back of the class and removed her notebook and textbook from her worn out army green rucksack backpack and placed them on the table in front of her. She then grabbed a hairband from around her wrist and put her hair up into a messy bun, unaffected by the normal teenage desire to make school some kind of big event in which one was required to look immaculate for.
Her long sleeves reached past her wrists to her fingers, so she pushed them up to her elbow revealing her identical birth marks of two infinity symbols. She had been the owner of these birthmarks since she could remember. People asked her about them every now and then, but she always replied with the simple shrug. Some people found them disgusting or ugly, to which she replied with two middle fingers. And others had enough tact not to ask at all. They were strange birth marks, unlike any other birth marks she’d ever seen in her life. They were more of a dark reddish purple color rather then the usual pink or brown. This made them stand out, and thus, made Anya stand out.
However, she had never really given much thought to what they could mean.
The final bell rang and students ushered into the classroom taking their seats. Anya took no notice of anyone and kept her eyes in a dull expression, focused on the board. She ignored whoever had decided to sit next to her, just as they ignored her, and remained unfazed by any human interaction.
Anya had always been independent, and she had a few close friends that she shared her life with to an extent, but never had she gotten in touch enough with anyone to actually show them who she really was. Part of this might have been because she wasn't entirely sure who she was.
Anya was just an average girl. She had burgundy hair, light blue eyes, olive but pale skin, weighed about 100 pounds and stood at about 5 feet 6 inches. She smoked cigarettes, played piano without being taught, painted pictures that were never seen and was an avid notebook filler, book reader, and film watcher. On the weekends she spent her free time staying up all night writing, going for runs at 5 a.m., sleeping till noon and then getting up at around 1 in the afternoon to shower and have a cigarette. She spent a lot of her time at her local library, inside of it, searching for new things to read about, and outside of it, sharing Camel Wides with the locals. She had her license, but no car. She rode the bus, walked, longboarded and biked places. All her life she had never been given serious boundaries about the dangers of the world. She lived with her mom, and her little sister. She never knew her Dad and never questioned it. She took care of herself. She took care of Clover. Occasionally she went to parties, she smoked weed, she drank alcohol, she did drugs, she’d had sex, she’d dated guys, she’d dated girls, she’d had a one night stand or two, she maintained her grades, and she planned on going to college. She was, in her own big blue eyes, average.
The trouble was, Anya would soon come to learn she was anything but average.
She lifted her head slightly at the sound of her name, but remained paralyzed to her resting place by her dreams.
“Anya!”
She opened her eyes a little more, trying to rip herself from sleep.
“ANYA!”
She bolted awake, hitting her spine on the back of her chair.
Fuck she thought to herself.
She glanced around at her surroundings. She’d fallen asleep at her desk again. Her neck and shoulders ached from being in such an uncomfortable position all night. She rubbed her eyes and attempted to stand up. At first she felt a little light headed and had to grab the back of her seat to steady herself. However, her vision soon defogged and she walked over to the window near her bed to open the shades. She spread the curtains and rolled up the blinds to reveal a perfectly gray morning with lots of rain pitter-pattering against the glass window pane. She yawned and sighed for a moment, letting herself drift into her thoughts, trying to remember her dream…
“ANYA!!” Her mother’s shrill voice rang throughout her brain, giving her a small lightning storm of a headache.
Anya left her room and headed downstairs to find out the reason for her being summoned.
When she reached the kitchen her mother was wiping the mouth of her baby sister, Clover, as she had just finished trying to feed her some strained peas. Clover’s mouth, covered in green goo, was red from the ungentle scrape of their mother’s handy work with an old crusty dish towel.
“Good God, there you are! I’ve been yelling your name for 10 minutes at least!”
Anya glanced at the clock on the wall above the refrigerator. It was just striking a quarter past. She rolled her eyes.
“Then why didn't you just come upstairs and get me?” Anya asked patiently. Her mother gave her a stern look.
“Do you not see this incredible mess I’m dealing with?!” She accused, plopping Clover back down into her high chair.
Anya walked over to Clover and picked her up, stroking the soft short baby hair on her head.
“She hates strained peas, Mom. You have to mix them with other baby foods to get her to eat them.” Anya continued with her patient tone. Anya had always been patient. With her mother, with Clover, with everyone.
She didn't even care that she was suddenly stained in green goo from Clovers onesie from picking her up. The important thing was to reassure Clover.
“And you can’t use normal dishtowels to wipe her mouth, her skin is sensitive.”
“Well, what am I supposed to use then? Silk sheets?!” Her mother directed, narrowing her eyes while trying to scrub the baby food off her pant suit.
Anya rolled her eyes and ignored her, walking over to the sink and grabbing a soft tissue and wetting it slightly with cold water to relax the skin irritation around Clover’s face.
“Look, I’m already late and now I’ve got to change my clothes. You’re going to have to take Clover to day care before school. I’ll be home late tonight, don’t wait up.” And with that, not even a Goodbye or Have a good day her mom stormed upstairs to her room to exchange the baby food covered clothes for starch clean ones.
Anya watched her mother hop up the stairs and sighed before turning back to Clover and wiping the rest of the baby food off her face. Clover looked at her with her big blue baby eyes, made a small baby noise of contentment and reached out with her tiny hand to touch Anya’s face.
“It’s okay, babygirl. She loves you, she just doesn't know how to take care of you anymore.” Anya said to Clover reassuringly. Clover, only about a year old if that, looked at Anya with a dim smile on her face, completely unaware of what was going on. Anya kissed Clover’s cheek and said,
“How about a nice warm bath? I can miss 1st period.”
Clover giggled and grabbed Anya’s ear with her tiny soft baby fingers. Anya smiled and leaned Clover against her shoulder before walking her upstairs to the hallway bathroom.
~~~
Anya showed up to school at around 9:30, slightly disheveled, wearing a pair of slipper moccasins, patterned tights, shorts and a long charcoal tunic sweatshirt that went down to the middle of her tiny thighs. She stumbled past the other students passing through to other classes, and finally made her way to her Physics class.
She sat down at the back of the class and removed her notebook and textbook from her worn out army green rucksack backpack and placed them on the table in front of her. She then grabbed a hairband from around her wrist and put her hair up into a messy bun, unaffected by the normal teenage desire to make school some kind of big event in which one was required to look immaculate for.
Her long sleeves reached past her wrists to her fingers, so she pushed them up to her elbow revealing her identical birth marks of two infinity symbols. She had been the owner of these birthmarks since she could remember. People asked her about them every now and then, but she always replied with the simple shrug. Some people found them disgusting or ugly, to which she replied with two middle fingers. And others had enough tact not to ask at all. They were strange birth marks, unlike any other birth marks she’d ever seen in her life. They were more of a dark reddish purple color rather then the usual pink or brown. This made them stand out, and thus, made Anya stand out.
However, she had never really given much thought to what they could mean.
The final bell rang and students ushered into the classroom taking their seats. Anya took no notice of anyone and kept her eyes in a dull expression, focused on the board. She ignored whoever had decided to sit next to her, just as they ignored her, and remained unfazed by any human interaction.
Anya had always been independent, and she had a few close friends that she shared her life with to an extent, but never had she gotten in touch enough with anyone to actually show them who she really was. Part of this might have been because she wasn't entirely sure who she was.
Anya was just an average girl. She had burgundy hair, light blue eyes, olive but pale skin, weighed about 100 pounds and stood at about 5 feet 6 inches. She smoked cigarettes, played piano without being taught, painted pictures that were never seen and was an avid notebook filler, book reader, and film watcher. On the weekends she spent her free time staying up all night writing, going for runs at 5 a.m., sleeping till noon and then getting up at around 1 in the afternoon to shower and have a cigarette. She spent a lot of her time at her local library, inside of it, searching for new things to read about, and outside of it, sharing Camel Wides with the locals. She had her license, but no car. She rode the bus, walked, longboarded and biked places. All her life she had never been given serious boundaries about the dangers of the world. She lived with her mom, and her little sister. She never knew her Dad and never questioned it. She took care of herself. She took care of Clover. Occasionally she went to parties, she smoked weed, she drank alcohol, she did drugs, she’d had sex, she’d dated guys, she’d dated girls, she’d had a one night stand or two, she maintained her grades, and she planned on going to college. She was, in her own big blue eyes, average.
The trouble was, Anya would soon come to learn she was anything but average.
♠ ♠ ♠
In The Beginning.