The sky between us

The sky between us

The lingering scent of her enveloping perfume lingered like mist over
her senses. She could still smell it, she still held on to it. Anna
breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. Through the blackness of her
lids she conjured up a clear image in her minds eye of the glowing
face, beaming brown eyes and perfectly straight, black, long hair
flowing over her neck and shoulders like water, or silk.
Again, Anna's stomach melted at the thought of her smile, her naturally
big smile. It was always the same moment that her stomach melted and
felt as if it was running down her legs, transforming them to a jelly
like state as it ran excitedly over her skin. Pinpoints of heat like
small fires ignited over her face and all the way down her spine, Anna
had waited so long and she wanted to remember that day forever. She
wanted to recapture every feeling she felt and live it one hundred
times over, even the moment she spilled tears, those joyous
tears.
After a silent and thoughtful pause, she opened her eyes and sat up,
staring at the square window in front of her. It was only open slightly
and yet the chilly breeze from outside spread over her well enough so
that she shivered. Meanwhile, outside but in perfect view, swirls of
grey mixed like paint over a fresh canvas, awaiting the brush to
transform them to a brighter picture, a new day. Amongst the still and
anticipation, tiny stars twinkled delicately and peacefully over the
sleeping world.
Had she herself, affected Lea in this way?
Doubtful.
Yet, how could something so powerful that Anna felt from within be only
one way?
Obsessed fan, perhaps?
Anna sighed at the thought; she would never meet her, nor speak with
her again and not by choice.
Anna stared aimlessly at the sky, her eyes darting from one star to
another, trying to see through the confusion of grey?
Then it hit her as if something had clicked and unturned in her mind
that had wanted to for months since they had met. She would see her
again, maybe not in person. She would talk to her again, maybe not in
person and she would touch her again, maybe not in person but she could
do this through, the sky.
She thought; 'the sky, it's the same sky everywhere; it isn't a
different sky from one country to another. Another colour it may be at
times, but it's still the same.'
Anna wondered further, where was Lea at the moment? What was she doing
and thinking? Saying?
She clicked her tongue as she sat on the bed staring at her toes
amongst the soft, unmade sheets.
Bahamas, Lea was in the Bahamas this week filming a music video for her
new album, her third. So that meant, at this moment she was probably
dancing on a beach or swimming in the sea or shooting around on a moped
and laughing, Anna smiled at the thought.
Again, her attention turned toward the sky, it was still the same as
before, no lighter, no darker.
Anna could always feel the bond between Lea and herself, was always
there. It was always there in the sky, the sky was part of the same
blanket that lay upon Anna as it did Lea. Wherever Lea was, Anna only
had to look to the sky to find out, it would never betray them.
It seemed at its most magnificent this night. Was it a special day for
the sky perhaps? Anna's new trail of thought lasted a few moments
before she grabbed the new CD off the rack, stopping the train in
mid-journey. Anna stared at the cover, it was dark red and in the
middle of it stood Lea, her long hair was curled and flowing back in
the wind, her head was leaning backwards and at an angle, her eyes
seemed closed. She wore a gold top and looked stunningly elegant. That
was who she was, everything about her screamed elegance and smoothness,
nothing was ever a bumpy ride, it was always fun, it was always
mysterious and charming, whether it be a slick music video, or an
interview. Lea never gave too much away, she was always seen wearing
dark shades or covering half her face up with her hair?
A feeling blasted through Anna's bones with a bolt that made her jump
on her bed in a twitch-like manner. She felt cold now and without
thinking, got up off the bed to close the window, a star twinkled in
the sky brightly, Anna hadn't noticed it before, it was
beautiful.
The only sound Anna could hear now that the sound of the breeze had
been eradicated, was the ticking clock, which drew her attention, it
was 2am exactly, which made it 9pm at night in the Bahamas.

If there was one thing Lea Haughton knew how to do, it was sing. Notes
flew together so naturally it could have been produced from within the
finest flute. Her heart was a fluttering orchestra of instruments,
playing at the same time.
She sang all the way to the airport in the taxi and all the way from
check-in to outside in the blowing wind.
The airport wasn't much more than a runway and small building, and the
planes that landed and took off from there weren't much more than
ten-seater rust buckets.
She folded her arms and danced lightly on her toes, there was a chill
in the air.
"We'll be on board soon," her best friend, Tammy smiled at her,
noticing she was feeling cold.
Lea smiled back at her. She didn't say anything, Tammy knew why. "Don't
worry about the flight! Its fifty minutes, that's all"
"I know, I just don't like flying" she smiled. There was a pause and
Lea clicked her tongue. "What's the time?"
"Eight-fifty"
"Lea, Tammy! Come on, time to get on!" Shouted a middle aged man by the
name of Barry, who had organised this trip to film the music
video.
Hand in hand, Lea and Tammy boarded the flight.
Once inside, Lea looked around as she sat in the small green seat.
There was barely any width in the plane and the length couldn't have
been more than 10 metres, she could see the cockpit.
Everyone had boarded and sat talking, quietly, there were nine in
total, including herself and the pilot, an overweight man dressed in a
navy blue suit, he wore dark shades and smiled at Lea upon noticing
her.
"Miss Haughton" he said with a toothy grin and took his hat off to
her.
Lea smiled at him in her usual polite and friendly manner.
"What's that?" Asked Tammy, pointing to Leas hands.
"What?"
"In your hand, that book"
"Oh! A friend gave it to me last month, to write songs and things down
in, I thought it was really sweet"
"It's a beautiful book," said Tammy in awe, observing the frills and
colours. There was glitter on the front, which sparkled. Lea observed
it and touched the surface of the book, she suddenly felt much calmer
about the flight.
The plane turned around slowly and Lea and the other passengers felt
the usually rumble and anticipation that usually occurs before a
take-off and soon enough, they had lifted off the ground.

A distinct red colour had flooded across Anna's bedroom; the rising sun
had conquered the dark sky of a few hours before.
Its rays touched lightly and peacefully on Anna's awaking face. Her
eyelid's flickered slightly and opened to greet the new day.
In a tired and confused state she reached for the remote control and
flicked the television on to hear the news, as she did every morning
and turned to face away from the television, snug in her duvets
protection.
The words from the television didn't make sense as they flew around the
room with little point, Anna wasn't listening. Slowly, however, as Anna
felt more and more awake as the minutes passed, they made more sense,
until she could just about interpret their meanings.

"Our top news story, singer turned actress Lea Haughton, aged
twenty-two, has been killed in a Bahamian plane crash early this
morning?"

Anna could only hear the beat of her heart in her throat; it was in her
head and pounding on her ears.
Her breath became an unbearable noise and she couldn't hear the
newsreader anymore. She lay in bed, understanding what she had heard
but not believing it. If she moved, it may come true, so she lay, not
believing and not moving.

In the long grass lay a white metal frame. It was burnt and torn open,
surrounded by its own broken wood and glass, burned suitcases and
wires, twisted metal and jagged cables. Men hosed the smoking ashy,
unrecognisable craft down.
Amongst the grass some twenty metres away, next to a vacant ejected
seat, lay a book, a pretty book, slightly scuffed at the edges, but in
good condition.
The inside note read:

To Liya,
My dream in life was to touch you and see you for once, not on the
television or on paper but in reality, I'm so glad I now have.
Every time I look to the sky, we are connected; it is always the same
sky smiling down on us both.
I know that it will always protect us and will never fail us.
Thank you for being you.

Anna
X

Above the smoking wreckage, the first light of day was beginning to
creep through the mist, with an apologetic tone and scarred by deep
regret, reeking with the stench of failure.