Prompt: Castle Ruins

 Thanks to Barbara “MysticMorning”for permission to use her elegant image, "Castle Ruins”!

Serena, wake up! Come on!

The distant call of her sister’s laughing voice startled her from sleep, as it did every morning. Serena tugged the worn sheet enough to loosen its tangles so she could roll over and look out the window. Some days she never got out of bed.

As long as she stayed right here, she could imagine Karya was running up the turret stairs to drag her down to breakfast with their parents. They were sipping tea and reading their morning reports in the dining hall, while Beska and Hardo hovered around, bringing dishes out from the kitchen, filling cups and glasses after every sip, and murmuring support over every muttered exclamation.

Lost in memory, Serena almost missed the noisy spout of a rising doloroth whale. The second spout was enough to drag her from her tangled bed, and she ran to the window, looking down the slender turret spire to the crystal blue water below. Two doloroths rested side by side in the shade of the observatory ruins. A male and female, judging by their size. Perhaps they carried news in their song. Serena ran down the winding stairs to greet them.

When she reached the mid-plaza, she tried to run past the balcony. She did. But although she resolutely did not look, a flash of yellow startled her, and she heard Karya’s scream as she fell all the way into the water far below, after the sickening thud as she hit the wall again and again, maybe trying to grab hold of something. Serena staggered and grabbed the balcony for support. She leaned over the open wall, retching despite her empty stomach. Looking down, she saw no yellow, of course. Only the sparkling blue of the sunlit sea. And the doloroths.

Why didn't you push out and dive into the water?

The endless question, never answered.

She lingered against the balcony. What use to continue down? No part of their song would be for her. She rested her forehead against the stone. She had no more tears left to cry. Her parents were long gone, after Karya’s fall, Beska and Hardi fussing around them. Serena’s grief and guilt imprisoned her in the castle, long decayed into ruin…

Dogs in House	Brindle, Houdini
Music	Beatles mix
Time writing	~30 minutes
April word count	1,276