Ruby Topher

Ruby Topher

Ruby drove down the road in silence, the golden light of the sun was just beginning to rise; radiating against her brown skin. The sounds of birds chirping and the sweet scent of morning dew crawled through her window and hugged her tightly. She loved times like this, times where she could just relax and be in her own head. Planning out the day ahead with a sense of calm that would soon dissipate. Turning the wheel slightly Ruby pulled into the driveway of a yellow house. The sound of her golden bracelets clinking together adding a soft melody to the makeshift symphony she was so accustomed to. Bringing the car to a stop and putting it in park she looked down and admired the contrast of her pink and gray nails against the black faux-leather of the gearshift. Turning the car off and locking the doors, Ruby made her way into the house placing her keys into a wooden bowl on the right side of the entryway.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath in and held it for a few short seconds, enjoying the last couple minutes of silence. Moving into the kitchen she turned off the stove light and flicked on the overhead light. All at once the yellow walls of the kitchen were saturated in light. Moving toward the sink she sighed when she noticed that one of her kids had left the dish water sitting over night. Looking down into the water she was able to admire her own reflection for a minute. The green hue of her eyes and the slight sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks. The lipstick that matched the red of her nails. Drifting her attention slightly upwards she chuckled at the loose strand of hair that had fallen over her left eye. Brushing it back into place she traced the length of her braided ponytail before finally draining the water from the sink. It was around five o'clock in the morning now and Malachai would be waking up soon so she had to start making breakfast. Eggs and bacon. Something simple just to get the day going.

Turning on the radio in the kitchen she hummed along to the jazz music that flowed throughout the house. Letting her mind wander to days of the past. Days when she wasn't cooking but instead sitting in the kitchen watching the love of her life prance about the as if he was in some kind of musical. A couple tears slid down her freckled cheeks and splashed onto her hands snapping her out of the memories. With a few blinks she cleared her eyes and plated the breakfast just as her son came down the steps. Placing the food down on both ends of the table she sat down and prepared for the morning conversation that she always had with her son. They had decided that since they couldn't see each other during the day they would enjoy the silent mornings together.

"What's on the agenda for today?" Ruby says before taking a bite of egg, enjoying the silkiness of the yolk that slid across her tongue. "Do you have workshop today?". Looking up Ruby noticed that Malachai was picking at his food and didn't seem to be paying attention. Silently she stood up and walked to the fridge and pulled out two mint containers and placed one in front of her son before returning back to her seat with the other. Popping the lid open as loudly as possible Ruby watched as Malachai immediately came back to his senses at the familiar sound. Grabbed his own container and opened it up, happy to see that his favorite spoon still remained inside. Silence settled into the room as mother and son enjoyed their Mint chocolate chip ice cream. A couple more minutes went by this way before either one dared to speak up.

"Was it that obvious?" Malachai spoke first, his voice low just barely above a whisper. He took another bite of the frozen treat and looked up to see his mother just waiting patiently for him to continue. In hindsight that was a pretty stupid question to begin with he thought. "It's just… there is this person at school…Saryn. I really wanna be their friend but I just don't know how to approach them. Yesterday i literally tried to walk up and talk to them and ended up tripping on my shoelace instead. Luckily they didn't see but still…why is it so hard to say hi?"

Ruby sat back and enjoyed her ice cream as her son recounted the events of the day before. Apparently, Saryn was a new student at school that had caught her boy's interest but he was failing to approach them at all. She wished that they hadn't made the "Void" rule because all she wanted to do was tease her son about what could possibly and most likely was a crush. However, she couldn't because just like the void she wasn't allowed to comment it was equivalent to writing in a journal. The journal wasn't going to suddenly start giving you advice on your daily problems. Once she noticed that Malachai had ended his rant of frustration she took one last bite of her ice cream before closing the lid and collecting both containers.

"Feel better?" She asked returning to her small breakfast that had grown just a tad bit cold during the wait. Luckily it still had enough warmth to eat cause she refused to eat cold eggs they just get rubbery and taste plain once they get cold. Looking to her son all she got was a slight nod of affirmation and she closed her eyes for a second taking in all the information. She didn't like to see her baby boy looking so down but she also knew she couldn't just force him to spill everything out in the open. "Okay well, since you are feeling better you might wanna start getting ready for school before I throw this gentle parenting stuff out the window!"

Malachai finished up his food quickly and rinsed off his plate before darting back up the stairs with a quick "Love you!" as he went. Standing up Ruby quickly cleaned the little bit of dishes that had accumulated while enjoying the new jazz song that had started playing over the radio. Once that was done she turned the radio up just enough to where it would reach upstairs and went to get in the shower, passing Malachai as he made his way out the house and towards the bus stop. Closing the bathroom door behind her she looked at herself in the mirror and once again admired the person that stared back at her. Lifting a hand she brushed up against her cheek and slowly her invisible mask fell and the tears followed suit.