“Above the Skyline”

A Short Story

By: Alysa Hatcher

 

“Goodnight mom, I love you” Misty Exclaims as you can hear her mother repeating the sentence, adding in,

“Don't you stay up late again, you've been late for school two days now!”

“Okay!” She barks back slamming and locking her door. She leans against it, reflecting on her thoughts for a split second. “It’s spring break, not that she would remember” She murmured to herself.

Quicky she walks to the heaping hamper of clothing laying on her floor carefully picking up all the spilled clothes. Turning around to see the surprise of her friend Kianna. “Kianna! How did you get in so quickly?” Misty asked

“Well that doesn't really matter now does it? I thought you said I could come and go as I please?”

“ Of Course you are always welcome!” Misty assures her

“Misty! Get to bed right now! Dont make me tell you again.” Her mother yells

“Goodnight Mom!” Misty Yelled with a teeth grinding attitude.

“That’s it!” Her mother yells as she is jiggling the door knob, and pulling on the door with an overwhelming strength. “Bang, Bang, Boom.” The door swings open.

“Mom! No, please mom!  No!” Misty Pleaded as she looked around for her friend but she was yet to be found. She disappeared like smoke into a thick winter air.

Coming back to reality, misty was soon struck by her mother. A red marking was left on her face as a result of the strike her mother placed on her.

“Do not ever, ever get an attitude with me ever again, young lady!” Her mother warns as she storms out of the room to return to her TV and Cigarette.

“Who is that?” Kianna asks questionably.

“Where did you go? Who? There is no one here!” Misty Assures her.

“It’s my mom, she’s not in her right mind. She didn't mean it. It’s the…” She states before being cut off with abrupt silence.

Seven minutes passes before Kianna snaps back to her.

“You know, sometimes my mom hits me, too. She and my father sometimes forget that hitting is not allowed. Well, anyway, I don't blame them. I blame the Alcohol. It wii get better I promise.” Kianna tried to comfort her.“Don’t you see it? The snow?”  Kianna quicky changes the subject. Then it begins to come into realization that her friend is only being an immature jokester, her parents don't do that, she was lying, her parents were on the hill. IN the rich community, they don’t have the reason to do that. Misty began to reply to her “Come on Kia. What do you mean? Its not even snowing..” Misty Stated.

“But it will I promise, kinda in the same manor that one day you will be free from this abuse, your mother will be cut from her addictions.” Kia said as she places her hand on Mistys shoulder. “One day we will go some where, that there is no gravity.”

 

“Speak of this to no one, not even your mother, she gets upset when you talk to me, but I can keep coming if she doesn't know I come, understand me?” Kianna shouts.

“Well, okay.” Misty mumbled under her shaking breath. With one simple flash of light outside the window Kianna was gone. What had been a neglectful emotional night was over, and now the real world began again.

As the night grew weary, the winter wind brought down a horrible breath taking, body shaking, winter storm. “The snow, she was right.” Misty whispered as she rolled over in bed to face the window leading outside. Her mother is still intoxicated, waiting at the door for her to wake and heard every word Misty Murmured.

“Misty stop this nonsense right now, whatever you have been up to will come to an end right now. You are almost 17 years old, its time to act your own age. Your to the point in your life that you should understand that this is life, this is what you get.”

Her mom is now very weary of the way her daughter thought.

“Mom! You wouldn't understand these people that I see, they are all real.” Soon after those words escaped her mouth like a river of volcanic lava, a cold chill streamed into her body. “Mom!” She tries to scream for help, but her words were now held back by the great pain striking her throat like a thousand daggers pinching her flesh.

“Oh look, you've lost your voice. Maybe if you didn't stay up all night speaking to those friends of yours you wouldn't have this problem.” Her mother chuckles and walks away tripping over her own feet spilling the glass of vodka she held in her hand curising all the way to her broken seat in the kitchen. Soon Misty’s mind filled with the voice of Kianna “Speak of this to no one, not even your mother, understand!” This simple phrase plays in her head on rewind for what seems like an eternity.

“I spoke of that, and now I can't speak at all. Its snowing, just as she told me it would. Who is this person?” Mistys mind fills with the thoughts of why, and how could this happen to her. Later in the evening Misty begins to look through old photographs of her family members, I believe she misses them with a certain curiosity, even though she had never met some of them. As hours of slick photographs go through her hands she comes upon one photo. Could it be? No. No. No. I will not fall into my own lies. This must be deja vu. As she examines the photograph. Uncovering a whole shoe box full of photographs of her friend, Kianna.

As night falls upon her the outside was still lit up by the illusion of the white snow on the ground, from upon the hill side view of her bedroom window, the figure of her friend appears. Before she knew it Kianna was standing in her bedroom floor, her snow boots quickly soak the carpet around her. “I saw you today. Kianna I saw you. We have pictures..” Misty was cut off by Kianna. “That is impossible, I was on the mountain eating with my parents at the Cafe`” Kianna assures her. “Come on, I will show you” Misty says as she draggs Kianna to the front room of her home. They carefully walk past her mother passed out at the kitchen table from the intoxication. Once they reach the living space Misty kneels down to the huge pile of photographs laying in the floor in an unordered array she picked up one from the middle of the pile. “See, I told you!” Misty yells.

“Hush, your mother will hear you! Listen Misty, I didn't want it to come down to this..”  Kianna whispers. “ Oh she won't wake anyways, shes far to tired, its been a long couple of days for her. What is it?” Misty says with adrenaline now running through her veins taking the place of her bloodstream,

“I must now leave for good, no more late night talks, for you have found my true identity. It was nice being a child again and finally meeting.” She pauses. “You can come if you want. Nevermind.” She pauss even longer  “You are very loved Misty, from all of us just over the horizon above the skyline.” Kianna says. Misty tried to murmur words “But you're from washington?” it is too late for Kianna to hear as her image slowly morphed into the picture that Misty held in her right hand.

As she catches her body into the photograph, Misty dropped to her knees, “Please let me

go. Please, ill do anything, save me please” as these words fall off of her lips the picture darted onto the hardwood floor, it making a sound, much like breaking glass. As the photograph rests on the ground,  Misty’s body falls to the ground quickly as her soul rises like a hot air balloon, up higher, and higher,  she reaches up above, over  the horizon into the skyline.