The rainbow before the thunderstorm (Hayley)

There is always an easier path, or rather, a more convenient choice. People are just comfortable with the mundane – the static flow of a pragmatic life; the few who try to go against it are, eventually, broken by the flow or cast out. However, who wants to live a scripted life, where their own choices are already determined by someone else? She could never accept living under those terms. But, once again, she felt chained down and small as she opened her eyes.

A light blue sky with white clouds stretched above her. Her body moved without her control, and Hayley saw herself walking through the old bridge across the lake that led to her childhood house. As she crossed the gravel-made path that cut through the untamed garden of her house, Hayley watched her brother, sitting on the doorsteps, a bicycle turned upside-down in front of him.

– Where did you get it? – she heard her own voice ringing.

– Old Clarke gave to me – said her brother, putting down a spanner, and spinning the wheel. – He said if I fixed it, I could have it.

– It’s pretty. What is this? – Hayley pointed to an orange part between the metallic wires of the wheel.

– A reflector – he answered, raising himself, then turning the bike to the ground.

– Did you fix it?

– I think so. Wanna try?

Hayley nodded, eagerly. Her brother, then, offered his hand as a support and helped her climb the seat. But her feet couldn’t properly touch the ground and her brother adjusted the seat again. She tried, clumsily, to reach the pedal, but without proper balance, the bike turned to the side.

– It’s okay. – said her brother in a calm voice. – I’ll be holding it for you.

Hayley nodded, then tried again, until she successfully managed to ride the bike.

– Don’t let it go! – she warned her brother.

– I won’t.

But eventually, he did. Scary as it was, she was brimming with excitement to control the bike by herself. And soon, her hands stopped trembling, as she felt the summer wind blow on her face. It was like she had gained wings and could fly now. Her voice broke into laughter, while her brother clapped and rooted for her.

That small happiness quickly ended. Her mother came from inside their house, her hands carrying a basket full of clothes. For some reason, Hayley couldn’t look her in the eyes; her mother’s face was a black panel, and she only listened to her yapping voice:

– What are you doing? – she lashed. – Fooling around when we have to dry all these clothes!

Hayley flinched, feeling ever so small. – I was just playing with…

– Playing? – her mother, rasped. – What good can come out of it?! Silly girl, you won’t be a good housewife fooling around like that.

She wanted to protest. But her voice couldn’t come out.

– I can help you, mother – intervened her brother. – Don’t need to…

But their mother was quick to deny. – No, this is a girl’s chore. You sister needs to learn how to take care of the house. Now, come girl. Quickly.

Once again, Hayley felt her body moving without permission. I don’t want to be here. She handed the bike to her brother.

He pursed his lips, whispering: – Sorry.

Hayley nodded, silently, then headed to where her mother was hanging out the clothes. Don’t say anything.

– I got praised in school today – she heard herself saying. – Teacher told me I could present something on the science fair next month. But I would need to stay in the school a bit after class.

Her mother scoffed. – You don’t need to stay later at school, you need to come back home and do your chores. School won’t make you a better wife. Look at how you’re hanging the sheets! Is this how you plan on taking care of your kids? No good man will marry you like this.

Her mother sighed. – At least you’re pretty. Don’t waste that with your face buried in books. Go out and find a man who can sustain you!

Hayley felt her stomach stirring. She wanted desperately to get out of there. Run as far as she could, but her legs were trembling and she knew she couldn’t go further. She was trapped in that place, forced to live a life she didn’t want to. That was the worst thing for her: not being able to choose. But to those persons, she was nothing but a doll destined to serve or to live off of someone else. Suddenly, everything was black and she couldn’t breathe, she was suffocating.

She woke up, gasping desperately for air. Her back to the ceiling and her face pressed in the pillow. She hated sleeping in that position. Hayley sat on the bed as her heart calmed down and the reminiscent of the nightmare went away. It was just a dream, it wasn’t real. I'm not living there anymore. She opened the window in her room, letting a small breeze cool off her sweaty body. Her eyes were swollen and heavy, the same way they would get when she would take quick naps in the afternoon.

On her cellphone, the clock showed it was still early in the morning, she could try sleeping again, but the fear of having that same nightmare prevented her from doing that. The best thing she could do was let the shower wake up her mind. Soon after she got out from the bath, her cellphone screen popped with a message.

Alex: I know it’s pretty late, but I found this.

Alex sent you a video.

Hayley clicked on the link, it automatically opened YouTube on her cellphone. At first, because of the quality of the video she couldn’t understand what was going on. But then, three figures appeared in a deck with a ship behind their backs, dressed in pirate costumes, they started singing to the Wellerman song. She was still trying to figure out why Alex had sent her that when in the middle of the song, the three men started to tap dance in the rhythm.

She burst into laughter, falling in the bed, as she struggled to breathe again, but failing miserably. She watched the video three more times before replying to Alex.

Hayley: I’m laughing so hard right now! 😂 👌 PERFECT

It didn’t take long for her screen to flick again with Alex’s response.

Alex: Wow, are you awake? It’s kinda late.

Hayley: It’s kinda early, you mean. Yeah, I just woke up.

Alex: Sorry, did my message wake you up?

Alex: Btw, my schedule is all messed up, so normally I go to sleep around this time

She smiled upon seeing the girl’s concern, but couldn’t shake her own worry about Alex’s sleeping hours.

Hayley: It’s fine. I just woke up from a bad dream and your message made me laugh.

Hayley: And why are u going to sleep so late? Go get some rest!

Alex: I can’t. If I sleep now, I won’t wake up for college. And I already missed a few days, If I don’t show up today, I might fail this semester due to missing classes.

Hayley: Dammit girl, how many classes did u skip?

Alex: A few…

Hayley: o_O

Hayley: What made you pull an all-nighter?

Alex: I was playing Nier Replicant. I think I got too much into it tho.

Hayley: So much you forgot to sleep?

Alex: Yup. But it’s really good.

Hayley: Yeah? Tell me about it.

Alex: Are you sure? It’s kinda big of a story.

Hayley: You said it was good, so I wanted to hear.

Alex: Ok then. I’ll try not giving much spoilers, tho.

Alex started explaining the story to her. How it’s a prequel to another game and the story is about a young boy trying to take care of his sick little sister, and his friend, a floating magic book who might be able to cure her if they got the book’s memory back. By the end of Alex's explanation, Hayley was, in fact, wanting to know more.

Hayley: Then what happened?

Alex: I can’t tell you, otherwise, it will spoil things for you.

Hayley: Pretty please ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Alex is typing…

Alex: This is so hard, but I can’t. The story is one of the greatest aspects of the game, and I would never ruin that to anyone.

Hayley: Aww, 👉👈 Fair enough.

Alex: But I can let you play whenever you want.

Hayley: Okay! And what about the second game? You said it’s your favourite.

Alex: Automata? Yeah, it is. I’d recommend you playing it first, because it’s more modern and more polished, I’d say.

Hayley: Ok. Let’s do that.

Alex is typing…

Alex: Really?

Hayley bit her lips, she had such a terrible dream, and what would be a dreadful day, somehow got a little bit better with Alex. Even though gaming wasn’t her thing, she wanted to pamper the girl a bit. It also helped that the story was interesting. It was the first time a video game had drawn her attention like that.

Hayley: Yeah, I got a good recommendation and a good coach.

Alex: lol okay. When are you free?

Hayley: Probably on the weekend. Is it fine for you?

Alex: Sure. You can come to my house.

Hayley: Deal.

Alex: Deal.

Hayley locked the cellphone, still smiling to herself.