Juana climbed into bed feeling very sad. Tears welled up in her eyes. Could any good news come about her mom? She was as good as dead. But if she wanted to hear her voice, she always did hear it. She only had to close her eyes and imagine her still alive and around, calling her to come help in the kitchen. As soon as she opened her eyes, her voice was gone.She felt terrible for getting her father emotional. He was trying to be happy and she had just come to spoil his mood. It was almost dinnertime when her granny returned with groceries and rice and chicken and a lot of sweet potatoes. She began to prepare dinner and it only made Juana's mood worse because it felt like she was trying to replace mom. She tried not to show it too much that she was mad at both of them for not talking about mom anymore. She heard and perceived the sound and smell of her cooking from her room, and refused to come out even when her granny came knocking to say 'Dinner is ready, darling' She felt like shout
"Juana! Juana!" She heard someone call her name and she opened her eyes, expecting to find herself in the empty, deserted, scary room but she had been dreaming, a very scary dream."Juana are you okay?" She wiped her eyes with her left thumb. The table clock read 6:30am."Sorry I woke you up from your sound sleep this early, darling". It was Baron, and he was sitting on her bed, holding her right hand. No, Baron wasn't her boyfriend, he was her biological father-Baron Leon- he had been sitting on the bed for ten minutes, watching her eyelids shut tightly in deep sleep and waiting for an opportunity to talk to her, and so when she had turned roughly around on her bed, he'd tapped her and called out her name." Are you okay?" Baron asked again and Juana nodded, sitting up simultaneously."I'm okay dad""I saw your lights on, and found your door open, so I came in to check if you were up writing or just lying awake in bed. But when I found you deeply asleep, I guessed th
Juana? Let's talk about her. She's twelve, tall, pretty, intelligent and smart, asthmatic, lonely and a genius. Juana was one of a kind, a smart, emotional person and an only child. She had eyebrows and eyelashes that had been shaped from infancy and a very clear skin; she was adorable.Juana Leon is her full name. She had been asthmatic since childhood and as a result, inhalers have had to be a constant presence in her life. Doctors actually told her parents to let her know about her condition while she was still a kid because according to them, coping with asthma would be easier for her as she grew up. "She'll be able to cope quite well on her own, especially when you're not available" they told her parents and they were right; Juana has learnt to cope with it quite well on her own. Being an only child, she grew up to develop interests in pets especially dogs and rabbits but that didn't stop her from feeling like having siblings to call her own, especially a younger siste
I was lonelyUntil you cameA friend you were trulyWe played handball and some other gamesMy joy knew no boundsSeeing you jumping at me, making barking soundsIn the mall,On the lawnAt bedtime when everything is quiet and stillAnd in the street, on the floor, on the road, on the hillI fed you with foodYou fed me with companyOur friendship was very smoothAnd I could not see between us any sufferingYou were my personal belongingYou made my nights and morningsOne morning came and you leftYou said goodbye but it hurtI knew it won't be fine anymore and I did fretBut it seemed that was my lotYou are my friendBut you brought me painIt was not something you did intentionally sendAnd up till now, I still caress the spot on my bed you did layI love you CampbellI miss you, my best friendAnd although you did bring me pain,You never
Tick! The clock ticked! The table clock on Juana's chest drawer, and immediately her alarm watch rang too.Juana thought it was her birthday already, but it was still so dark and she had barely kept her eyes awake. She stopped the alarm, it was just 10pm, tomorrow was her birthday."Oh no" she mumbled under her breath. "I thought I overcame this night without any dream already" she stretched her arms and got up to brush her teeth. Ever since her mom travelled, she hasn't had much time to talk to Juana on phone and so they rarely chatted.Juana became dull after her departure and lost some part of her appetite. She hasn't taken dinner that night and her mouth needed real washing that evening.After cleaning her teeth, Juana sat at her desk and opened her big diary-it was a present from her granny for her eleventh birthday. It was a very big fine book. She began to write: "Hi dear diary, tomorrow is my birthday..." She had so much to tell her diary but the words weren't
Still in her pink pajamas, Juana hopped down her tall bed and made for the door. She wanted to see why her dad hadn't come knocking on her door that morning to say happy birthday. "Or could I have missed his knock?" Juana asked herself. "No I was awake most of the night" she said to herself again. Everywhere except the floor and the wall in her room was pink.Her pajamas, teddy bears, bedspread, blankets&duvet, bathrobe, pillow, hangers, wardrobe, laptop, phone, toothbrush, hair gel, and about eighty five percent of her clothes. Even the paintings on the wall were all in pink frames. She looked around her room and smiled to herself. "I'm thirteen now but I won't ever stop loving pink". As soon as she stepped out of her room, the pink world vanished. Everywhere was milk-coloured.The hallway was as quiet as a graveyard. Her parents'room door was slightly open. She peeped in and saw that the lights were off.'Where's Dad?" She wondered. She walked farther in a
Her package arrived from granny's delivery guy an hour later but she didn't look through it. It was a little pink box beautifully wrapped in pink. "I'll open it later" she said after waving the guy goodbye. She danced and danced while waiting for her mom to return. Her granny called back an hour later to ask about the state of things and Juana told her everything and thanked her for the present. Her dad has still not talked to her, and her mom was not responding to her email. After dancing, she went through her phone expecting happy birthday wishes from her former friends, Ivy and Alicia but there wasn't any message from them. She began to wonder "how did we get here? We used to be really close. We were like sisters. What happened to us?" She looked outside her window again. The sun was shining mildly and its rays decorated the curtains and danced around on her bed when she opened the windows. Now Juana was tempted to go to her friends' house. The house stood on the other side of th
Thirty five minutes later, Baron was back to fetch his daughter and as they both walked to his car, the woman who was the cosmetologist that attended to Juana shouted "Happy birthday gorgeous, hope you have a nice day!" Juana waved without saying a word. Her stomach growled but she didn't tell her dad. She even refused to sit in the passenger seat beside him. "Had a nice time?" Baron said. There was sweat on his brow but he didn't care to wipe it."I need a big breakfast!" She retorted. "Right" then he turned towards the road that led to Jasmine Foods, her friends' mother's big restaurant. She checked her laptop again for mom's email but she hadn't replied. She hadn't even read the one she sent. She slapped the lid back on the keyboard violently."Daddy, I'm gonna ask two questions now and if you don't answer me this time, I'll get down this car while you're still driving, okay?""Okay" he said staring at the steering wheel before him."Good. First, why did you bring me here?" To