Cassie leaned back at the top of her bunk bed, listening to the gentle breathing of the other girls in the room. As the tears rolled down Cassie's cheeks, she held her hands up in the shape of a heart towards the moon, smiling at the thought that somewhere, he was doing the same thing.


“Cassie” someone whispered, “Cassie”

“Yes Quinn?” Cassie answered, trying to hide the sadness in her voice and quickly putting her hands down.

“I can’t get to sleep”

“Climb into my bunk, I’ll tell you a story”


“Okay,”

…
There once was a girl named Cassandra Rose, who had a wonderful family, with a loving mother and father, and three older brothers. Her mother was beautiful, with brown layered hair and green eyes, and her father had a dark complexion, black hair, and blue eyes. Her three older brothers, Shawn, Nick, and Jesse, all had brown hair and blue eyes; she had black hair and green eyes.

Shawn, Nick, and Jesse were the best of friends, always hanging out with the others every moment, each only one year apart, Shawn being 15, Nick 16, and Jesse 17. Cassandra was just a year younger than them. She hung out with them every moment she could. All of the kids were best friends. They didn’t need anyone else, because they were content with themselves.

One day, Shawn and Nick went with their parents to a movie, leaving Jesse and Cassandra at home because neither of them were feeling up to an outing that evening. After an evening of fun with her brother, Cassandra went to bed, not knowing that she was closing her eyes on her perfect world, forever.

When she woke up, her brother was sitting in her armchair in the corner of her room, with tears running down his cheeks. “They’re gone” he said.

She felt her entire core go cold, but didn’t know exactly what he meant. “Who’s gone Jesse?”

“Mom and dad, and Shawn and Nick…They were in a horrible accident last night, before they ever even made it to the movies. No one survived.”

“No” she said sitting upright, suddenly wide awake, Jesse that simply can’t be. Mom and dad are downstairs right now helping each other make breakfast, and Shawn and Nick are still in bed.

“I wish that was true Cassie”

…
“Wait, you said Cassie that time, why?”

“No reason dear, now hush…listen to the rest of the story”

…

“Cassandra jumped out of bed and ran all over the house, “Nick! Shawn! Mom! Dad!” She called, but to no avail.

They weren’t there.

She ran back into her room with tears in her eyes, and flung herself onto her brother’s lap, crying into his shoulder she asked, “Jesse, what does this mean for us?”

“I’ll be old enough to sustain a family in a year, but until then…I need to send you somewhere” he said.

Cassandra looked at him in shock, “You would send your own sister away?”

“Cassie, it's not because I want to, it's just…something that needs to be done”


…

Cassie looked down at Quinn, not surprised to find her asleep, she stroke Quinn's forehead, and continued on with her story, even though she knew no one was listening.

…

“A week later she was packed and they were driving to the Orphanage, the only place he could think to go since all of their distant relatives lived out of the country. It was just getting dark when they pulled into the Orphanage.

He turned to her and said with tears in his eyes, “Cassie, look at me, this is not forever. I will be back. The moment I turn eighteen I will find you.


She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and flung her arms around his neck, and whispered, “I trust you Jesse, and I love you.”

“I love you to Cassandra, and every night I want to tell you that. Every night Cassie, look up at the moon, and put your hands like this,” he said putting his hands in the shape of a heart.

They sat their in the parking lot in silence, staring at the moon with the fingers in the shape of hearts, losing all sense of time.

Eventually he stopped, and he grabbed her bags, and walked into the room, with her bags in one hand, and holding hers with the other. They walked in with tears rolling down they’re faces, and as he hugged her goodbye one last time, he whispered in her ear, “I’ll find you, the moon reflects off brightens, it will reflect off your face. I love you”

And with that, he drove off into the night, leaving her to wait, and pray that their time apart would go by quickly

…

“The end” she said to herself, knowing that that wasn’t really the end of the story, knowing that he was out there somewhere, knowing that he was looking.

She had been moved from a few different orphanages, but she knew that he would come eventually. As she stared up at the moon, listening to Quinn's gentle breathing, she knows that he was coming, and he might just be on his way.