Though you’re miles and miles away I see you every day

    Renee looked at the clock; it was 11:24 PM and it explained why she was so tired. But no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t sleep. It’s been like this for days at all sorts of hours. Sighing, she rolled over onto her back and grabbed her phone which way laying on the nightstand next to her bed. No new messages greeted her. She groaned, of course there would be no new messages, she was most likely asleep right now, even with the 3 hour time difference she wouldn’t be up for another 4 hours at the latest. Putting, her phone down she rolled over onto her side again and closed her eyes hoping to be granted the wonderful bless of falling asleep. Renee could feel herself grin when the image of her, of Anna, popped into her head. It had been so long since they had seen each other, and yet she was always the cause of her insomnia. Every time she closed her eyes she just imagined Anna, with that confident smirk and her long brown hair. Even when she was miles and miles away she somehow always managed to fill Renee’s head with her and her alone.

    She remember when they first met. It was the first day of Senior year. Renee was new to the city and of course the school. When she walked in, she was immediately overwhelmed with all the people and how big it was. She had looked down at her map that was given to her but it all seemed like a bunch of gibberish nonsense. Frustrated she had walked over to a group of teens that were standing there talking about their summers. A little shy she just stood there waiting for them to realise she was there. They didn’t at first, in fact it took several moments before one them looked over at her. As soon as the girl laid her eyes on Renee she gave her a grin that immediately captured her heart. When the girl spoke her husky voice sent shivers down Renee's spine.

    “Hey, can I help you?” She had asked, which Renee noticed that she said ‘I’ over ‘we’.

    Blushing she spoke up, “ Um, I’m new here and I was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of room” she paused briefly to look at the paper in her hands, “ room 203.” She finished with a shy smile at the girl.

    “Room 203 huh? Well it’s my lucky day, that’s my first class as well. Come on, i’ll escort you.” She replied with the same grin as before.

    “That would be wonderful thank you, and your lucky day?” Renee asked

    “Yeah, its not everyday I get to escort a beautiful lady such as yourself.” Was her reply, “My name is Anna by the way.” Anna added while holding her arm out in a way that reminded Renee of a prince at a ballroom party.

    Renee could feel her whole face go red at the gesture, but looped her arm with Anna’s. “My name is Renee, its nice to make your acquaintance.

    After that the two of them hit it off, become best of friends and lovers over the years. Renee smiled at the memory of when they met and was broken out of her thoughts when her phone beeped. She rolled over to look at it again, giving the biggest grin when she saw that Anna had texted her.

    “Babe, you still awake? I can’t sleep without your comforting body in my arms.”

    Renee smiled at how sweet and kind of cheesy she was, before replying, “Yeah I'm still awake baby, can’t sleep either. Haven’t been able to keep you out of my mind”

    The reply was quick, “whatcha thinking about then? Good things I hope xD “

    “Always good things with you, and just about how we met and stuff”

    “Oh so when I wooed you off your feet the first day ;D “

    “Lol whatever you say baby”

    The conversation went on like that for a few hours before Anna had commented that she was about to pass out and they said their goodnights. Renee put her phone down and laid back down, finally feeling like she was able to go to sleep. One last image flashed through her head just before she was asleep and it was of her and Anna on her doorstep, having their first kiss. Renee fell asleep with a smile on her face.

    My box of ghosts bids me goodnight; clockwork spirits have the last word.

    ‘I hate it, I absolutely hate it! Its just sitting there mocking me, laughing at all of my failure. The past that it holds just ridicules every move i’ve made since those days. The good days. Back when life was easy, simple.’ It sat across from where I sat against my bed, at the bottom of my closet. Normally it would be hidden deep in my closet but by some divine right, I pulled it out. And now I remember why I locked it away all those years ago. The memories still haunt me to this day, they pull at my heart. I don’t know whether to be angry, to burn the remains and try and move on. Or to cry my heart out, wishing to go back and change every decision I made. Maybe things would be different if I did something different. I’ll never know though, I made my decision, and now I’m paying for it. I glared at the box again, nothing about it had changed in the 2 hours I had been staring at it. It never physically changed, beyond more than a box filled with old things. But somehow it it seemed more than that. This box held more than just a few pictures and letters and the likes, but also seemed filled with ghosts of my past.

    Frustrated, I through the nearest object, which happened to be my phone, over at the offending object. I sent another grunt in its general direction and stood up on unsteady legs, which had long fallen asleep. I slammed the closet doors shut and flopped myself onto my bed and shut my eyes. Once again, my box of ghosts had bidden me a goodnight. 

    This is the first day of my life

    She could tell this was it, this was the beginning. The first day of her life. As she pushed open the door to her future she could feel the eyes of the occupants staring her down. They were taking in everything about her that they could deduce from looks alone. She was sure they took in her slightly baggy tee-shirt and jeans, her cut short brown hair and the thin wired framed glasses sitting perched on her nose.

    As they stared at her she took the chance to look around the office. It wasn't to overly large, big enough for four desks and a door leading to a back room. The desks looked decently sized, each one taking about a quarter of the room and the four of them together are all staggered. After taking in the room she turned her attention to the people sitting behind the desks. The first desk on the left hand side was empty. The two men in uniform on the right hand side apparently decided she wasn't worth the time and turned back to their paperwork on the desks. The last man, at the second desk on the left side was still watching her as she looked around. Deciding that he was her best bet to talk to she strolled up to his desk.

    He watched her for a moment before speaking, “My name is Sergeant Linley, how may I help you today?”

    Shocked at his gruff voice and harsh tone she looked down at her hands, thinking that maybe it wasn't the best idea to go through with this. With the force of a habit she cracked her fingers, the pops, slight pain and then the lack of stiffness in them fixed her resolve. Deciding to go through with her original goal she spoke up, “Hello, I'm here to join the Army.”

    The Sergeant continued to look at her, before giving a slight barely noticeable grin. That's when she knew that this was it. This was going to be the first day of her life.