The hundreds and thousands of windows illuminated the barren highway, dozens of little clocks chiming midnight. A bus sped past Xandra. Her bus.

She looked at her wristwatch, 12:30. She had just finished her shift that evening at the convenience store; her night shift at a 7-11 was starting soon. Xandra's face remained still, lips pressed into a thin line, half-lidded eyes drooping ever more.

I'd just have to walk there, she thought, taking a step away from the waiting shed. There was no wind, but it was unbearably cold. Summer started a week ago, though the nights seemed stuck still in winter.

Xandra tucked her collar closer to her neck. If only she had brought a scarf, or a jacket. Maybe she'd been too hopeful in the summer.

A cold wind brushed past her, clawing blonde hair away from her face. Xandra drew a rare gasp, of what seemed like the first time she had opened her mouth. The hairs on her arms and neck stood, and her fists curled around her shirt. How ridiculous. Was the world really that insistent?

Her teeth chattered, and she didn't realize she had stopped in front of a park. The red benches glimmered under the busy buildings' lights. Xandra checked her watch again, 12:44. Her boss worshiped punctuality to a concerning degree. She would be lucky if she was fired.

I'll just take a taxi.

In the reflection of the closed shop in front of her, a white taxi sped past. When Xandra turned around there was nothing left except the empty street.

How ridiculous.

Xandra wasn't laughing.

She found herself walking toward the red bench instead. She sat down with the stiffness she always wore, hand to her lap, back ramrod straight. The park wasn't anything fancy or pretty. There was a swing to her left, yellow paint flaking off its metal seats. To her right was a row of closed stalls, upside down tables decorating their counters.

Xandra's frown deepened. Losing one job is fine, her boss was insufferable anyway, and the pay couldn't cover even the fertilizer for her plants. Right, right. Her body was as still as it could be, but her face started to sour. Her hands curled into fists on top of her lap.

Yes, her boss treated his employees like dogs. Losing this job is fine, a blessing, even. But her lips were trembling now. Xandra thought of college, her rent, how hard engineering was. She remembered her parents; the call she had early this morning.

The memory was fuzzy to her now, but she could still recall bits and pieces of the phone call...Pack your bags...Go...Blossom Hill...Vacation...? Xandra held her forehead with a palm and closed her eyes. Something flitted across her mind's eye. She bowed her head to her knees.

She remembered someone with long, brown hair. A lush garden, a sad house...a boy...Wh...what am I...he was smiling...smiling..?

Xandra regained her breath, the sound of water running through her ears. She didn't want to close her eyes again, not yet. So she rested her neck on the park bench, staring at the starless sky framed by towering lights.

Water lightly spritzed on the top of her head.

Slowly, she stood up on shaky legs to see the fountain behind the bench. She sat on the rim of it, watching the dozens and hundreds of coins glimmering under the water.

With one hand, she pushed sweaty strands out of her face, looking at her reflection in the water. There was nothing much to it.

A harsh reminder of something flashed in her mind; she gripped the edge of the fountain. Xandra turned her attention on the copper coins that continued to glint beyond her reflection.

For a moment, she contemplated reaching through the water and stealing all the coins. If humanity could continue to be stupid and throw money wishing for a wish that'll never come true, why can't Xandra just take the money instead? Wishing is stupid.

And yet her hand reached for a coin in her pocket. Fountains can't grant people's wishes. Xandra held the coin over her reflection in the mirror, and for a moment, the glint of it blinded her, and specks of white light appeared in her vision. I'll just waste money if I do this.

The white lights danced all around, Xandra's tired eyes followed their dance around her hair, her body, the coin in her hand.

Oh, they're back.

One white light flitted across her vision, dancing in the waters of the fountain. Her reflection was gone, perhaps the fountain took it along with the coins beneath.

Xandra closed her eyes, the coin getting increasingly warm. Her head felt light, her gut twisted and contorted. There were no butterflies, simply white lights. And before she knew it, the coin between her fingers fell, a faraway plop echoed in her ears.

Before she could consider, before she could stop herself, the waters touched her skin, and the thoughts she'd been trying to drown resurfaced, echoed back by the waves and the cold air.

I wish...time would just stop.

*
*
*

The moon spilled milky white lights across Xandra's hunched back as she laid on the ground beside the fountain. One arm draped across it and dipped into the cold waters, like a dead, desperate hug. Blonde hair snaked around her, chin bruising at the cement.

For a moment, she stayed there, as still as the world allowed her so. She couldn't hear, she couldn't smell, nor could she see. She could only feel, and it was the coldest she's ever felt.

The moment of stillness stopped, allowing her to breathe. Between her fingers, still under the waters, the coin started to slip from her tight grasp, and she sighed.

Xandra willed her arm to prop her up, taking the arm submerged underwater out of the fountain. She didn't make a move to dry or shake the water off. Her head was still light, and everything didn't quite seem real. Xandra stayed sitting on the ground, as regal as could be: with legs tucked beneath and arms on her lap.

She didn't know why she still kept up with the act; she hasn't seen anyone since she woke up.

The thought propelled her to stand, albeit shakily. She needed to get to her job soon, if there's any still waiting for her at all.

She brushed wet blonde hair out of the way and slicked back the loose hairs that escaped from her ponytail. The park was the same as it had been when she slept: empty. She checked her watch. Xandra stopped, a curious look on her face.

1:00, not that far off from when she last checked it.

She could've sworn she slept for ages.

Shaking it off as a malfunction, she continued her way to her job.

Xandra looked up at the full moon that shone over the city, thousands of stars crowding around it. She couldn't quite remember seeing stars in the city. It was beautiful, though, and Xandra had always loved everything beautiful.

The stars looked misplaced when she noticed the thousands of other white bulbs, crowding in buildings and streets and billboards. It was almost as if it was fake, like someone photoshopped the sky into the city.

Xandra stumbled forward, attention snapping back to reality.

The ground, she noticed, had glass shards.

She stumbled back, avoiding the multitude of glass on the ground. It came from a convenience store to her right, only now her eyebrows only furrowed.

A man with a black ski mask had his hammer held over the window, but he wasn't moving, and Xandra was sure she could have heard such a commotion. The people behind him, too, were frozen in place, hands over their eyes and faces.

Xandra skittered the glass shards and approached the man. She held out a hand and touched the skin on his hands. Cold. Frigid. She tapped it with a nail and a hollow sound echoed within, just underneath his skin.

Her blue eyes widened, hands curling into fists. With a hammering heart, she gulped and approached the women behind the counter. Like with the robber, she tapped their skin and the hollowed sound echoed, sending a tickling feeling at the pits of her gut.

It didn't take Xandra long to run away from the store, and only now could she see the people, all frozen in their places. One man spilled his coffee while walking on the sidewalk, and the brown liquid was still suspended in mid air. Xandra ran faster. One woman was calming her baby to sleep, and the bundle of blankets did not move once.

She stopped at the shopping center. More people frozen in place. Xandra peeked at a passersby's watch, not one minute off from 1:00. Heart beating faster, her ragged breaths halted into a sharp gasp, realization tilting the corners of her lips upward. She covered her mouth, hurrying to the guard sitting on the mall bench.

From his pockets, she retrieved three huge circles of keys, labels taped to each one. Xandra pocketed all of it and approached the closed gates to the mall.

After what seemed like forever, she managed to find the keys to the mall gates.

With a sigh, Xandra threw the glass door open. The mall was dark, metal grates guarded shops of clothes and pastries and everything she couldn't afford. Xandra closed the glass door behind her and took the first steps into the dark.

Though the shadow covered her face, the smile that graced her features shone with the excitement of...something she couldn't put into words. Xandra already has a place in mind.

Even though she couldn't be sure if this was real or not, she didn't care at all.

Shuffling with the keys in her hands, Xandra located the key labeled 'VT.' The shop before her was dark, 'Vintage Clothes and Accessories' written in cursive at the very top. Through the metal grates, she could see the rows and rows of dresses, corsets, and fabric that waited for her. Xandra gulped, stopping the urge to squeal.

Grunting with a metal gate over her shoulder, she pushed the gate up. With a metal rod, Xandra hooked the gate all the way into the top. Exhaling, she wiped the sweat off her brows; she was not a petite girl, but brute strength has never been her best suit.

But alas, her turmoil dissipated as she browsed the selection of dresses and gowns. The empty cashier was an even better sight.

Xandra flitted through displays and the storage. There were corsets of different sizes and colors, cloth of different volumes and textures. There were even jewelries and fancy hair accessories her hands had never touched once. Many beautiful choices surround itself around her, but her mind has already been made on one.

Xandra caressed the silky smooth lavender gown that fit almost too perfectly. A black ribbon corset with a thin diamond pattern was wrapped around her waist. The dress had volume, and it swayed when she spun. She twisted around to see the purple ribbon on the back of the dress. Xandra couldn't have wished for more.

Turning toward the door, she spun one last time and left the shop.

Outside, the street was empty, the moon still shining high above the town.

Xandra bit her lip in thought, the sun hadn't come up yet. The thought was short lived when she saw the tiny house in the distance; bushes and potted flowers decorated the pathway she walked on.

Right up ahead was her house, warm brick walls and a small rickety porch. Flowers decorated each windowsill of the florist's family's house. The girl in a gown rushed toward it, the moon glistening her blonde hair a shade whiter.

She opened the door, the kitchen welcoming her with a sense of comfort she's never realized. The brown couch cushions were organized neat and orderly on a couch to her left. The little dolls and house plants were just as she had placed it.

For a moment, the girl was stunned, and the heaviness that had always been at her heart only grew more restless. Her legs struggled to keep her up, and she collapsed on the living room carpet. There was something nibbling on the back of her mind, something she knew had been there for so long.

She wanted to cry, to shout, but there was nothing in her face that could help her understand the turmoil in her chest.

She stayed there, lavender dress slumped to the ground, face a permanent contortion of shock.

***

Xandra looked out at the window and the moon that shone bright. She didn't know how long she had been staring at it, and neither did she know how long the night had been. For all she knew, she's been staring at the moon for thousands of years.

Finally deciding to get up from her position, she dusted her dress and sauntered to the lone cabinet at the end of the hallway. It was there that her parents kept all the gardening tools.

She took out a watering can. She remembered weeding out the flowers that morning, so there was not much work left for her in the evening.

Through the back door window, blue flowers and green leaves snaked across and around. Xandra stepped out of the back door and into the yard filled with all kinds of flowers and trees and blossoms.

She recalled her parents boasting about their ancestors that used to own a huge portion of Blossom Hill, and how they filled it with yards and yards of flowers. Sometimes Xandra would giggle at the thought, and daydream about it at night.

Although she knew better now.

Sauntering to the first flowers, she made her way through the yard. Though she didn't quite remember their garden having this much land.

But before she could ponder it over, bright blue blossoms caught her attention. She crouched before them and caressed the tiny blue petals that almost shone with the moon's silvery gaze.

"Forget me not."

Her voice was soft and the wind that brushed past her carried its mellow tune through the leaves.

The ache spread further.

But this time, her eyes started to water. The delicate petals in her careful grip fell through her fingers into the pebbly dirt.

Xandra gasped, a familiar scent of something she couldn't quite remember wafting her senses.

She shot up, water sloshing in the can. Another breeze passed by from behind her, blowing her hair slightly to her face. Another waft of the scent she couldn't quite remember yet couldn't forget.

Hair stood on her arms. There was someone behind her.

It made no noise when it snuck up behind her, but this time it hummed. A boy's voice. Sweet and playful.

The beautifully familiar scent was now overriding Xandra's senses, and she felt the silent giggles beside her ear.

She turned her head to find a boy around her age, silvery white hair, and a smile that crinkled the corners of his closed eyes.

"Your heart wishes for something, I hear it." He opened amber eyes that shone gold when the silver moonlight hit it.

"Maybe it's me?"

***

Hey guys, this is my first time writing directly on Wattpad without a clear first draft in place, so let me know what you guys think in the comments! And don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter as well.