There were few things that Sally hated more than sleeping. The fun of the day would come to an end and the horrors of the night would begin. Riley would always fall asleep before her, and she would be left alone with her fears. Her dreams were never happy. Why couldn’t the day last forever? Everything was dark and still and silent at night. But the mornings were full of talking and music and happiness.
Fear seeped through Sally as she slipped out of bed that night and made her way down the stairs. There was no noise to distract her from her own unpleasant thoughts and memories. Luckily for her, Lisa’s old room was pretty nearby. Sally hoped she could remember the way. This house was so big. She sometimes got lost in it. In the daytime the house was full of wonder and mystery. But in the dark it was an uncanny and eerie place to be. After what felt like forever, she reached the room she had been looking for.
It looked exactly like Lisa had left it. It was neat and tidy without a speck of dust in sight. The bed was made, and Sally felt a little bad for messing it up. Some of her fear melted away as she climbed under the soft covers. The blankets were warm, and they smelled like Lisa. Sally closed her eyes and sobbed into the pillow. Why had Lisa gone away?
When would she be back? Lisa hadn’t been back for quite some time now. What if something bad had happened to her? What if she never came back? No, Sally couldn’t let herself think about such awful things. It would just lead to more nightmares. Lisa wouldn’t leave them all alone. She would come back from wherever she was, just like she had come back from work all those times. Sally relaxed a little bit, and her eyes closed at that happy thought. Sally would be strong for Lisa and for Riley. It was just so much easier to be strong during the daytime.
Sally kept herself awake by crying. She didn’t dare relax until sunlight filled the room once more. Instantly, her heart felt lighter. Riley was probably wondering where she had gone. She got to her feet and headed down the hall to look for her sister. She met an unusually excited Riley at the bottom of the stairs. Riley’s eyes were glittering as if she had just found out some wonderful secret. There was a large black book under her right arm. She grabbed Sally’s hand and eagerly led her outside into the garden. Sally frowned at her sister who was chatting happily. Yesterday she had seemed so depressed. Why the sudden change?
Now she was excitedly gesturing to something that lay in the middle of the garden. Squinting at it, Sally realized that it was a tiny sandbox. Ah, now she understood her sister’s excitement. She wanted to see Sally form the sand again. She could do that. But what Sally really wanted to do was explain why she did it. Why the lady had wanted her to do it. Frustration tainted Sally’s joy
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There were so many things that Riley needed to know. There were also probably things that Sally needed to know that Riley couldn’t explain to her. Perhaps it was just stress and poor sleep that made Sally feel this way, but despair came crashing down on her. She felt like crying again. Riley placed her hand on Sally’s shoulder as she slumped to the ground. Sally looked up at her sister. She couldn’t even explain her pain and frustration to her. Riley said something in a gentle tone and handed Sally the book. Sally opened it with some hesitation. Didn’t Riley know she couldn’t read very well in English?
Sally opened the book to find nothing but blank pages staring up at her. Riley handed her a box of crayons with a look of triumph on her face. Ah, drawing. She could use pictures to explain things. Why hadn’t Sally thought of that? It was the perfect plan. Or was it? Well, it was at least worth a shot. What should she do first? Should she form the sand? Yes, she would start with that. Then she would try to explain what she was doing. After looking around for a moment, Sally’s eyes landed on a small shovel that was lying nearby. That would be her reference. She gestured for Riley to bring it to her. Riley did so.
Sally focused on the shape of the shovel. She thought about how it felt. Her hand reached out and the sand began to rustle. It flowed and moved as Sally wanted it to. She could do this. She closed her eyes. Her mind clung to the shape of the shovel as the sand began to take it on. Riley let out a soft gasp of wonder. The sound was a distraction. The shape wavered in Sally’s mind. She couldn’t hold onto it much longer. Pain began to bubble up in her mind from the strain. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t quite do it. She could shape the sand, but she couldn’t change it. Maybe the lady had lied to her. Maybe it really was impossible for her to create new forms. No matter how hard she worked and no matter how deeply she studied the world around her, she always failed. The shape faded. Sally opened her eyes and lifted up the book. What was it that she wanted to explain? She needed to explain how special they were. She needed Riley to understand that she could do that too. Then she could explain that they were half Forma.
How could she explain that with a simple image? She couldn’t. So, Sally set the book down and took her sister’s hand. Riley gave her a confused frown. Sally held Riley’s hand above the sand. She let go and pointed to the shovel. She pointed to her eyes, to the sand and the shovel. Riley’s frown grew deeper. Focus. Then, to Sally’s delight and to Riley’s horror, the sand began to rise. It swirled around the girls and took on a thousand different shapes. Sally had never seen anything like this before. Riley stared at her hands with a look of panic in her eyes. There was a loud snapping sound. Sally squinted into the sandbox. There sat a shovel. A new shovel. It was a perfect copy of the one Sally had been studying.