(Part 10) Nona’s last dream

I can’t fall asleep, the scene of Nona pushing that little girl off of the cliff keeps replying in my head, her little scream a constant ring in my ears. I couldn’t do it, so Nona had to. She was mad at me, kept saying words I couldn’t make out. I get up from my bed and look at Nona sleeping peacefully. Next to her a bottle of sleeping pills. She was still sick, so when feeding her a nice, warm soup I slipped a pill or two in there. I know it is not the right thing to do but I wanted to see Ela again. At least that is what I kept telling myself, the person I really wanted to see was Dominik. I had this weird feeling in my stomach and my body ached for his touch, just like he wrapped his hand around my arm that day. I stand up, my feet bare on the cold floor. I put on an old dress and brush my hair. Leaving the house, I make sure one last time that Nona is sound asleep. With a candle, I make my way to the road and down to the inner city towards the orphanage. Once I am sure I found the same alleyway where Ela and I first met, I open the door and walk in. I am in what seems like a kitchen. As I am about to take my next step, a sound from the right startles me, and with a candle of her own a middle-aged woman steps into the room. “Ela?” she asks with a raspy, sleepy voice. “What are you doing here, you know the rules. Go back to your room right now!” she demands. “My apologies miss, I must have sleepwalked… it was a pretty bad dream. Could you please walk me to my room.” I say, hoping my plan works. She lets out a sigh and bobs her head to the hallway behind her, gesturing me to follow her. She leads me up the stairs and down another long hallway, she stops before a door on the right. I enter without questioning anything, and she watches me carefully as I close them behind me. I see Ela sleeping in one of the lower bunk beds. I slowly lay next to her. My body weight made the mattress shift and Ela’s eyes flutter open. “Elena?” she whispers. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” her questions still as quiet as a breath, “I posed as you.” I say cheekily, and that brings a smile to her sleepy face. We stayed like that for a while, lying down next to each other talking. As the other girls in the room started waking up, Ela hid me under the covers, and they went down for breakfast. I stayed in the room, waited for her to come back and so she did. She even brought some of her breakfast for me. After that, we sneaked out of the orphanage and Ela showed me around the town. She showed me the stand at the market they work at. Every week they change groups. This week it was Ela, two other girls, another boy and Dominik. He looks as handsome as ever. I hide behind another stand until Ela finds an excuse not to sell with them today. “Why are you constantly running off Elanour?” I hear Dominik say in a hurt voice. “Do we not matter to you anymore? Did you find someone better?” he speaks again. Instead of reassuring him, Ela talks back “I ask you for one day off and you make a whole drama out of it! What’s gotten into you?” her voice is the tone Nona used to yell at me when she could still talk. “No it hasn’t been just one day, that day at the market, you just ran away from me! Do you even know how worried I was?! I kept running after you for so long!” he says with tears in his eyes. “Oh god you are such a baby, why do you even care?” she exclaims. “Because I love you, Ela, I care for you but go, go if you wish.”