She was supposed to have a future. She was supposed to have a choice. She was supposed to be able to enjoy her life to the fullest she could. She was supposed to be able to live life the way she wanted to live. She was supposed to be free like the birds she saw soaring up high in the heavens.

But she didn’t have that option anymore. She had to be rational now. She had to listen to her father now. She wasn’t free anymore. She should’ve enjoyed her freedom. She shouldn’t have poked her nose in places where it didn’t belong. She shouldn’t have let her brothers investigate. She shouldn’t have helped them. Maybe then, she would still have her freedom.

Her mother’s garden was a place of solace in the hours of the night, the sparkling canvas of stars shining down on her with the crescent moon slowly vanishing with every moment, soon to tear the night of whatever decent light it had. The blades of grass were so carefully mowed and tended to, and rocks made perfectly shaped areas for vibrant, bright flowers to thrive. Her mother always treated the blossoms with such care. Leira was starting to think it was one of the few things that provided her mother any peace.

She sighed, burying her face in her hands. She could still hear Khalil and their father arguing inside—once again, about the questionable morals in their family’s history and business. Khalil didn’t seem to understand that this was their history.

History couldn’t be erased, no matter how badly you wanted it to be.

The arguing would never stop, that, she was sure of. Khalil and their father were both too stubborn to admit defeat, unless they weren’t given a choice.

She sighed, lowering her head into her hands and trying not to break down into tears. She needed to get ahold of herself, but how?

She could drop her friends, but they would find that suspicious. She could drop out of college, but that was being paid for by her father so he would be mad. She could do this, or that, or maybe even that, but she wouldn’t do any of it because she was a weak-willed coward who didn’t know the best option to make life more bearable. With a heavy sigh, she slumped back against the bench, a few trees in the corners of their yard reaching out across her view of the sky, preventing her view of the stars.

She heard the faint sound of an owl hooting and her eyes snapped over to the creature perched in one of the trees, it’s yellow, wide, and intelligent eyes boring into hers as it ruffled its feathers. Seh froze. She had rarely seen owls. The creatures tended to stay away from towns. And people in general. It was a gorgeous creature, she had to admit. It’s feathers were. Soft brown with specks of beige and darker brown along its window, a lighter brown underbellyy and sharply, yellow talons digging into her branch it was perched on.

The owl tilted its head quizzically, curiosity in its eyes.

She sighed. “So you’re why people say I have owlish eyes,” Leira grumbled.

The owl hooted back indignantly.

“Are you even that smart? You have a small head, so you can’t be that smart.”

The owl make a scoffing motion, appearing insulted.

“I’m smarter than you. Much smarter than you,” she couldn’t stop talking, her eyes landing on the owl’s wings. Then it hit her. “But you have freedom, don’t you?” She realized and softened her tone, clenching her fists. The owl hooted again, a bit more like a chirping sound as it spread its elegant wings and spared her one last glance; then it took off into the night.

Leira exhaled shakily, standing up. She didn’t want to be here anymore. She didn’t want to be reminded of what she couldn’t have.