• It was a warm morning, Lydia awoke to the birds chirping and the blue sky sneaking through the cracks in her shack of a home. She rolled out of her shabby bed and tugged on her old converse. Lydia grabbed her torn coat and slipped it over her bony shoulders. As she shut the screen door and hopped down the splintered steps, Lydia noticed the stray cat that lived under her porch. It meowed a greeting to her and she scratched it in between the ears, "Good mornin' Puddle." Lydia walked down the dusty drive and onto the town's main road. Peering into the windows on the tiny shops on the side of the street, Lydia wished she could afford some of the incredible trinkets inside. Tiny indigo candles, wind-up soldiers, a case of sea monkeys, and small chocolates in blue foil, nothing she could ever buy.

    As she dreamed of someday owning these things, she remembered her younger sister, Robin, was still at home. Lydia jogged home and opened the door with a loud creak. There sat Robin, eating a bowl of cereal, "I was wondering where you went" she said. "Well, I was going on a stroll, but then I remembered you!" Lydia giggled. Lydia was more of a mother than a sister to Robin, their parents had died when Lydia was 16 and Robin was 3. Now, Lydia was 18 making Robin 5. They lived alone in this shack, with no one but their cat Puddle. And they were happy.

    "So I was thinking," Lydia began, "maybe we'll go to the river today, pack a picnic or something?" Robin slurped at her cereal, "Okay, I'll pack a lunch" Lydia got a basket and together, her and Robin packed, humming while they did. After getting ready, Lydia and Robin walked down the main road. The cut through the forest and down a hill. There was the river, blue and shining clear. It was the most beautiful thing in town. Lydia laid out a blanket and Robin changed into her bathing suit. Lydia laughed as Robin cannon balled off a dead tree. As Robin swam, Lydia began to doze off in the warm blanket of the sun.

    Lydia awoke to a shrill scream. It was Robin, she had gotten swept away by a heavy current and was clinging to a root that jutted out of the side of the river. "Hold on!" shouted Lydia. She scrambled to the place just above Robin. "Grab my hand!" screamed Lydia. "I can't, I can't!" Robin screamed back. She was losing her strength. In an instant, Robin let go and was swept away, taken by the deep blue river. Lydia screamed Robin's name, weeping her deep blue tears, sitting by the deep blue flowers. What used to be most beautiful, was now most ugly and what used to be known, was gone.

    Fin.