All The Light We Cannot See

Memories

   As Ruby sped down an abandoned, dusty road, she thought. She remembered...

   A year and a half ago, crouching in her aunt's tiny backyard, Ruby sat alone under the fading sun and the rising moon, crying. She cried for her mom, for her dad, for her grandparents, she cried for the life she left behind, and for the way things were before.

   The wind rustled the leaves of the oak beside the dumpster, and Ruby watched in a daze as the leaves reached toward her chain-linked fence, bobbing in the wind.

   Her eyes quickly snapped into focus though, when a dark shadow crept from behind the tall tree. Two. Three. Four. Five large, burly men with torn shirts and rotting teeth watched Ruby as she cried.

   The largest one, who Ruby assumed was their leader, led them all slowly toward the Morgan's swaying fence. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, exposing several scars which covered his face, along with four piercings on his left eyebrow, and two diamond earrings.

   His ripped up shirt revealed two large tattoos on his bicep: a skull and a girl, with various decorations surrounding each one. Every member looked similar to the first, with shredded shirts, long hair, and piercings and tattoos of all sorts.

   They grinned evilly as they inched toward Ruby, the largest one easily knocking down the unstable fence with a strong fist as the rest of his group followed suit behind him.

   Ruby, peering through trembling fingers, inched toward the door as her breathing became more spastic, her heart palpitating violently in her ribcage like a crazed animal.

   As the group came within arms reach of Ruby, one of the men in the back grabbed Ruby roughly by the arm, leaned in close to her ear and whispered wickedly, "Why were you crying, sweetheart?" She screamed as loud as she possibly could, and with all her might, she yanked her arm away and bolted, sobbing and terrified, into her crumbling home.

The group outside laughed heartily, the stench of beer and cigarettes still following Ruby into the house. She peeked out the window as the one who grabbed her arm smiled and mouthed, "I'll be back for you." She slapped the curtain shut, and looked past her shoulder to her stinging forearm. A hand-shaped bruise was printed neatly into her dirty, Irish-pale skin.