They say the eyes are the window to the soul…do you believe them?

——

“WE ARE NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO FIX IT!!”

“Yes, we will.”

“HOW??”

I was close to tears. “We can’t lose someone else.” I grabbed my brother’s hand. “Jesse, I don’t know how much longer I can keep fighting it. I don’t know when tomorrow won’t be there.” I felt a warm, salty tear fall onto my hand. “Kat, don’t say that. We just have to find the cure.” Kathryne sniffed loudly. “I’m trying! I’m trying and trying and going to work everyday and working so hard, but I can’t fix it…and it’s killing me. Quite literally.” Jesse kissed my cheek. “Well, I know my genius little sister can solve any problem. I believe in you, Kathryne.” He hugged me briefly, then disappeared. He just de-materialized.

Ever since he started dating Elise, his fiancée, he’d been able to vanish in and out of thin air. Or thick air. Any type of air. I, however, could not. You see, I haven’t met the “love of my life” yet, so I don’t have a Sixth Sense. I walked into the kitchen, grabbing the leftover brownies from the fridge. I cut one as my tears moistened the rest. I cried as I ate, talking to myself. “How can I fix it? How do I ensure the entire world gets this cure, and that nobody else dies?” I clenched my eyes shut, tears rolling down my face. “Let’s see, if I take the plasmatic form of tritamium…” I chewed absentmindedly.

My face lights up. “THAT’S IT! I’m such a numbskull! Why didn’t I think of that before?” I glanced at the clock on my wall, shoving the rest of the brownie in my mouth. “I’ve got to present this to the ISAPC,” I laughed, mouth full. I smiled wide, running upstairs with a skip in my step. I hurriedly change clothes and jumped in the van. I turned on the radio, pulled out of my driveway, on the way to the ISAPC meeting.

———————————————

I smashed the door open. “I FIGURED IT OUT! I figured out the cure we’ve been needing!” All eyes turned to me. Oh man, I felt very small. Director Slyfox glared at me. “Kathryne, you’re not authorized to be here. We’re in the middle of a classified meeting. GET OUT.”

“NO,” I yelled, slamming my hands down on the table.

Someone gasped. “Director Slyfox, I know what the cure is now! If I could just-“ He cut me off. “KATHRYNE! That’s enough. Get out of my meeting. Go find someone else to piss off.” I frowned angrily. “Fine. I’ll go.” I turned on my heel, when suddenly, someone said, “Wait! Director, I believe her. Let her talk. She could help us save the world.” I turned around, confused. That’s when I saw him. Derek.

All of a sudden, his eyes…they shifted. I could see him, babysitting his little siblings. I saw him helping his elderly neighbors pot their plants, putting them into the soft soil. I saw chocolate, too. His eyes, they were like chocolate. Smooth, brown, and gorgeous. I smiled, blushing slightly. “As I was saying, Director…”

2/09/22