Chapter VII: Moonlit Waters

Jaci scrubbed at the dirty plate, trying to clean it to the best of her abilities.

“What do you have against that plate? What’d it do to make you hate it so much?” her grandfather teased, adding another plate to pile. She stopped cleaning and glared at him.

“What?” he asked.

She nodded at the plate and then at the one she was cleaning.

He smiled, getting it. “Oh, you’re upset because you have to clean another plate?”

She nodded, going back to cleaning. He laughed a little before turning back to the table. Placing the now clean plate in the other side of the sink, she grabbed another one from the pile and began washing it. Eventually, all of them were clean and she began to load them into the dishwasher.

She finished and made her way out of the house, grabbing her stuff on the way. She jogged up the hill, her legs were sore from kneeling the whole day to pull weeds. She spread the blanket out like she had many times before but instead of opening her notebook, she sat and stared at the night sky. Maybe it was time she stopped keeping everything in her head or on paper. Maybe it was time to talk to someone who she could trust. She turned and looked down the hill at the cozy house, lit from the inside, shining out to the darkness beyond. She turned back to face the moon which seemed to be waiting for her to make up her mind.

She stood up, looked once more at the house below her before grabbing her notebook, pen, and flashlight, and dashing down the hill to the valley. She knew where she wanted to go. Where she needed to go. She ran along the bottom of the valley, kicking up little pebbles as she went. She smiled as she ran, not having to worry about keeping up with Thomas.

She stopped on the edge of the woods before taking a step inside. The soft bed of branches, twigs, and leaves seemed to creak and groan beneath her and with every step, several sticks would snap. She quickened her pace as she couldn’t see much in the darkness and wanted to get through this part as quickly as possible.

For a second, the voice in the back of her head yelled at her for not bringing someone who knew the way.

The only person that I know knows this place exists is Thomas and it’s too late anyways. She told it.

She wanted it to shut up, to go away and leave her alone but for some reason, she kept hearing it.

You’re lost.

You’re going to be here till sun rise.

Shut up. She told it, continuing.

You are lost. The voice said it so blatantly, almost as if it was proud of the fact she was lost.

She rolled her eyes at herself and continued to put one foot in front of the other. Just as she was about to admit she was lost, she stepped out onto the rock ledge overlooking the water below.

Sitting down on the edge, she folded her hands in her lap and looked down into the water. It was a good twenty or so feet and, in the reflection of the water, she could see the bright yellow moon shining along with its many friends. The stars looked like diamonds in the sky and the moon was a big fiery ball of gold.

She smiled and laid back against the stone, closing her eyes. She could hear the crickets chirping, she could hear an owl hooting somewhere in the distance, and, if she listened hard enough, she could hear the rushing of the creek downstream.

She sat up suddenly, remembering why she had come here. She opened her notebook and turned on the flashlight. Unfortunately, as bright as the moon was that night, she couldn't see clearly to write.

Holding the flashlight in her mouth, she began to write.

Maybe GiGi is right. I do need someone to talk to. But that’s kind of the thing. I can’t talk. I can’t express myself the way I used to be able to. I can only write down my thoughts for people that can’t understand my sign language. For those that can understand my sign language, my words have no feelings. They’re just signs that mean things. Things that are empty without meaning, without emotions.

Maybe that’s why I’m like this. I’m just a wh thing with no meaning, no emotions. But I know I do have emotions. Okay,every illistreation or whatnot breaks down somewhere so just bear with me I know I need to talk to someone but who? Who am i supposed to talk to? Who am I supposed to trust with everything inside my head? I know if I tell MMeMa it’ll somehow get back to dad and then I’ll have to deal with more therapy and everything that comes with it. I don’t want that. I can’t tell Drew because he's not here and I am not writing all of that out over text messages. Thomas is here but he can’t understand sign language. But he is a good listener.

Jaci stopped writing for a moment and looked out over the water. The moon's reflection waved back and forth in the rippling water.

But he’s a good listener.

Jaci stopped for a moment and stood up, stretching. Bending down, she picked her stuff up and turned to walk back the way he came. Before she left, she turned around again and looked at the moon, hanging in the sky like it always dah, faithful to the minute.

Goodnight. She thought. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Whenever I gaze up at the moon, I feel like I'm on a time machine. I am back to that precious pinpoint of time, standing on the foreboding - yet beautiful - Sea of Tranquility. I could see our shining blue planet Earth poised in the darkness of space. - Buzz Aldrin