April: Perfection

1- Ricardo Montoya

Ricardo felt himself wake. All he saw was darkness, black that poured over his world like a spilled bottle of ink on an unsuspecting roll of parchment. For a moment, his heart stopped.
Then he realized that the instinct to open his eyes upon regaining consciousness was gone. The instinct to kick off the covers was gone. Despite the scare seconds earlier, he felt a strange peace washing over him. His anxiousness was gone, a messily built sand-castle joining the ocean in high tide-- never to be seen again. Carefully, he lifted his eyelids, blinking in the honey-gold sunlight that was streaming through the room.
His eyes felt heavy and crusty, in a way that reminded him of abandoned and rusted-over boats, covered thickly in barnacles and the sea's stains. They slowly perused the room, touching briefly on the rays of bright light that caught floating dust particles in the air. That was before he acknowledeged that his arm was wrapped around something warm.

Maybe it's Nic's dog? He likes to crawl into people's beds sometimes...

He turned around. His heart stopped.

There was another person asleep in the bed. Right next to him. 

He kicked the covers off, shoving the stray corner from where it was stuck in the hem of his pajama pants, and scrambled from the mattress. 

As Elsie rolled out of bed and over to the closet, she felt something escape her. A tune, sliding gently under her breath like honey as she whisked a labcoat from the hanger. The closed quarters' walls were usually very thin, but today she didn't mind. At the very least, she felt confident that her humming wouldn't wake her neighbor. Her keys jangled as she pushed open the door, floating into the anti-grav hallway and pushing off towards the botany lab.

2

[1] Cora sat up with a gasp, looking around wildly. Taking in her surroundings, she realised she was in some sort of field or meadow, a soft breeze blowing her hair off her face. As she got up, staggering, something was different. She felt at peace; the all too familiar bubble of constant worry didn't exist. Cora let out a whoop, laughing.

1 - Tessa


 Silence. It hung in the morning air, almost unnaturally. The stillness pervaded Tessa's room, and even the dust lay motionlessly, as if frozen in time. Sunlight streamed through the open window, touching every corner with a golden hue. A bird started to sing outside, and almost by chance, the fourth dimension seemed to thaw.

 A solemn breeze caressed her curtains, bringing with it the aroma of spring. In the bed in the centre of the room, Tessa stirred lightly, exhaling as her back arched in a napiform stretch. Below her, the clanging of pots finally brought her back to the waking world; her mother was preparing breakfast, occasionally humming a few notes under her breath. The sweet sound of her voice drifted through the floorboards. 

2 - Tessa

The girl in the bed sat up slowly, eyes blinking open. Her hands fumbled at the back of her head, working to tug out the scrunchie that secured her hair. A rich caramel tress fell over her chest, sitting delicately there. Tessa threw the scrunchie aside, letting out a satisfied 'huh' as it landed neatly in her make-up bag.

She looked across to the mirror. A perfectly tanned, contoured face stared back. Her cheekbones were less prominent - less skeletal, and her face had an etheral, angelic quality to it that seemed almost foreign to her. Even the dark shadows beneath her eyes were faded. Everything was going perfectly that morning already, and she thought things couldn't possibly get any better when there was a knock at the door.

"Tessa?"

She grinned, feet finding the floor. Lizzie.

3 - Tessa

"Starving," Tessa returned brightly, wrapping a dressing gown around her curved frame. She located her slippers tucked under the bed and stepped into them, rising to her feet. "Oh, they look amazing, Lizzie, thank you!"

4 - Tessa

Her expression brightened as she took the tray from her sister, placing it down temporarily on the side table as she clipped back her hair. "You're in an awfully good mood today. Has something happened? Is it a boy?" Her brain jumped to the first justification it reached, and as usual her imagination ran riot.

5 - Tessa

Tessa grinned, the tip of her tongue poking out between her teeth as she accepted the mug and cradled it between her hands. "Well, you could do with a bit of fun for a change. A boy would certainly sort that out. Or girl, you know, I don't judge." She blew gently over the tea, gaze fixed on her sister.

Moby
1

Everything was warm. Everything was bright and loud and busy, but cozy. Moby shifted in his seat, blinking and staring around like a newborn lamb exploring its world for the first time. Voices floated around him, the clinking of forks, knives, and glasses accentuated the occasional swells of laughter. Moby listened to this for a while in a sort of daze until he came to realize there was food in front of him on the table he was sitting at. Tons of it. More than he'd seen in his entire life. The smells hit him a moment later and they were nearly overwhelming. Sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, collard greens, turkey, ham.

Moby felt a hand on his shoulder that snapped him from his dream-like state. "Herman, honey, eat something please," a woman said gently. She had dark brown hair with a grey streak running the length of it and a warm, worried smile graced her features, deepening the wrinkles around her eyes. Something about her made him feel safe. He nodded, which seemed to appease her, as she turned back to talking with a man across the table. Moby suddenly felt himself grinning and he couldn't stop. He knew these people. He immediately turned to look over at the person sitting to his left. The person he hoped was sitting to his left. Moby's grin widened when he saw the familiar face.

"Viola, it's amazing!"