The dream was beautiful.

Bright ribbons of colour strewn across a warm summer sky. Singing birds and open flowers thrived beneath a shining sun with an endless horizon of emerald grass. Until a pinprick of black pierced the scene and swelled into a gaping hole. All colour drained and in its place, she heard her name.

Disappointment and loss catapulted her awake. The sound of her name scratching at the night had the distinct irritation of a word repeated.

There, in the shadowed corner of her room, Ashley could make out parts of her sister’s face. Digging eyes pried her from her dream. While lips, incapable of whispers, continued to bark her name.

 “Ash! You awake?”

A fake slumber would not thwart Debora’s persistence. It was best to prevent another pillow or stuffed animal hurled at her bed, so she turned to her older sister. Two or three times a week, the nine-year-old would wake from her nightmares afraid, sad, or sometimes just lonely. So she needed her little sister.  

Blankets rustled, and the mattress squeaked as Debra made room for Ashley. There was no question the five-year-old would oblige. To fill the role of a life-sized teddy bear, Ashley was permitted to cross the uneven imaginary line that divided their shared room. Rumpled and dishevelled, she did not complain or refuse.  She just slipped into Debra’s bed. It was her duty after all as a good sister, she supposed, or at least that was what Debra said.   

The stink of her sister’s breath was hot on Ashley’s cheek as the bigger girl clung to her, but she was too tired to care. Soon Debra would be asleep. She would thrash, kick, and punch, but not before twisting around all the covers into a heap within her depraved embrace. There were no corners of sheet or piece of loose quilt to tug free to keep Ashley warm. Instead, the smaller girl did not move. It was too soon. Shivering and claiming her sliver of the mattress, she knew to wait for the unmistakable change in Debra’s breathing as a sign that she could return to the safety of her own bed.

By the time that happened, all fragments of sleep were gone. The pretty ribbons of colour had faded and her dream was lost to the night. Cold and uncomfortable, Ashley was awake and alone in the dark.

After all, what right did she have to sleep when Debra couldn’t?