Stars
It had been a long day, that was for sure. Taria Ravenswood was not having it, she was ready to go home, change into an oversized hoodie and fluffy pink pajama pants. Her off brand ugg boots softly clacked against the ground as she walked to her dingy little apartment. Not even being a lawyer gave her the financial stabilty she needed with having to pay off her student loans and lending money to her aunt. Not that she wasn’t on good terms with her, she didn’t mind doing it, especially with her aunt being completely bedridden and unable to work.
She sighed and looked up at the night sky, barely being able to see the stars due to the light pollution of Chicago. The wind snapped at her face, making her cheeks rosy. She missed rural Illinos sometimes, every time she thought about it though, the memories came flooding back to her, cheap cigarette smoke and shitty booze with the taste of blood. She shivered slightly at the memory and quickly shoved it to the back of her mind. Her dark brown hair with red brown highlights in it blew in her face, getting caught in her pink-red tinted lips. She grabed the ponytail holder off of her wrist and messily tied it up in a messy ponytail, not caring about those bitch-ass bumpies and leaving her curtain bangs tucked behind her ears- or what would stay behind her ears. The earphones in Taria’s ears played shitty country music and acoustic songs; she had gotten into this whole wild west phase after playing Red Dead Redemption II once. Her grey-blue eyes darted around her, it was never safe walking around at night in Chicago. She lived in a decent neighborhood, sure, but the true crime shows she remembered didn’t help that it was drunk driving and walking time.
Finally, she made it to her apartment building, she needed to pack for her aunt’s house. It was a little under a 2 hour's ride, considering the city traffic on lakeshore and the Dan-Ryan. Taria stepped into the small studio apartment, she didn’t have much to pack, just another pair of jeans and shirt for tomorrow and some pajamas. Miraculously, it all fit in one bag. She stuffed some personals in there too, like jewelry and a sketchbook and pencil. She stuffed a solar powered charger in there along with her earbuds and computer. Slowly, Taria left her shoes by her bag and changed into some comfy clothes. She sighs and plugs her phone in, setting an alarm for 8:30, before promptly scrolling on tik tok for a couple minutes, her page filled with RDR2 cheats, best horses, weapons and whatnot. Taria decides at around 10:30 that she should try and get to sleep.
That night she dreams of looking out of her window and becoming a star, millions of people admiring her, millions not being able to. She shines in a red hue; a supergiant sun. Her time is running out.