Naomi -

Spices of the dozens fill my nose as my mouth waters, and I shift anxiously in my chair for dinner to begin. My mother quietly holds our hands and thanks Mother Earth for the food, and I can hear my sister quietly shovelling food into her mouth in the background.

“What's on the menu tonight?” My brother says once the prayer finished, and I can hear the salivation in his voice as he talks.

“Everything but the kitchen sink, my loves.” My mother jokes, and then quietly hums to herself. Who knows what she was thinking. I shake my head to stop myself from peering into her, knowing that it was something I was specifically told not to do to people.

Bad Naomi.

I sigh and begin shovelling food into my mouth, the discontent replaced with pure joy.

A delicious stir fry with rice and all sorts of veggies. I practically die as soon as each forkful hits my mouth, and am too busy to breath or take a sip of water. This was true work. My passion.

“Slow down, you look like you’re in prison.” Carter jests, and I only roll my eyes in response, not bothering to try and speak.

~

I sigh happily and rub my belly with a content I couldn’t even explain. Food would be my always in life.

My mother makes us all hold hands again, and we discuss our days and dreams. It was a good way to help us be honest with one another and understand each other better. I’m sure my mother learned this at work. To help keep us from getting too bored, we also played monopoly. I was Maya’s sort of accountant, advising her what and what not to buy. Like she even listened to me.

Just as Maya finished up her dream out a strange unicorn with two horns who could cry liquid gold, I hear my mother notion for me to begin. I hadn’t even been able to begin processing Maya’s dream. If her dreams weren’t scary, they were really really odd.

“I didn’t really dream much tonight. There was a blue jays song, that kept whistling in double notes. I wrote the music down this morning to play later.” I say, and everyone tries to observe the meaning behind my dream. Note that they tried to avoid doing this with Maya.

“Maybe it's a sign about your mark, cause your mark is a double note?” Carter asks, and I swish my lips side to side in thought.

“Maybe, I guess that would make sense. A bluebird though? I think maybe it just means that I had really gotten along with he- with anyone I met at school.” I catch myself, not wanting to overthink Yuki and I’s relationship. We were just friends.

A thin silences rests atop the stormy ocean of feelings everyone felt just then. It was an odd thing, something so small that itched at all of us. The prospect of me kind of growing up.

~

My mother tucks me in gently, not cause I’m scared of anyone or anything under my bed or in my closet. I just love feeling extra safe. As I close my eyes I begin to feel an odd sensation. A wanting.

I shake it off, trying to get rid of the one thought ringing so loudly in my head.

I like her.

But what kind of like?

I fade off before my mind can answer that.