The sun sets tomorrow

      A light wind walked through the dusty streets, climbing into the narrowest crevices. In the sky, small fluffy clouds sometimes blocked out the light of the warm sun. Many people were having a wonderful time on such a bright day. The small family that sat near the pond in the park was no exception. The leaves of the trees were rustling, the birds were singing some song unknown to people, and the glare on the water was frolicking like little kids. Very young parents were enjoying pleasant conversations, sometimes exchanging compliments and affection for each other, and children were playing in the distance. A boy, quite tall and already an adult, was spending time with his little sister, playing a simple ball game. The blue-eyed girl kept trying to catch the ball, but because of her small stature she could not reach the ball that was always flying by. Once again she failed. Her blue eyes were wet, her small hands were clenched into adorable fists, and her face was red with anger. She looked cute rather than intimidating, which caused her brother to laugh involuntarily. “You should have seen your face, Lyra!” the boy continued to chuckle. “Ray, you might as well have given in to your sister a couple times,” the blonde-haired girl decided to intervene in this ‘fight’. “Honey, come here,” she beckoned the little girl to her, and the girl immediately threw herself into her arms. “I don't think you should take it so seriously, mom.” “Don't be mad at him, Eliza. It's not like he did it on purpose,” the head of the household entered the conversation, his low voice making everyone take notice. “That's right, Dad's got a point,” Ray immediately babbled as soon as he heard his father standing up for him. “So be it, but this time, make sure your sister wins!” the blonde threatened sternly. The boy only smiled guiltily. The little girl climbed out of her mother's strong and most secure embrace. This time the brunet only slightly pushed the ball towards the girl so that she could catch it, and here was success! She was able to not only catch it, but even kick it back. To her it was the sweetest victory in the world, sweeter than cream cake and milk chocolate. “I've won! Now, Rei, you will grant all my wishes!” the brunette was clearly getting cocky, one victory and she was already an all-powerful queen. “Wait a minute, there was no such agreement!” immediately began to resent Ray. “I don't know nothing, you're taking me home on your shoulders,” continued the little sister insisted. “You little viper! So be it, but this is the first and last time.” The girl immediately nodded her head in agreement. The brunet picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. Even though he was against it, he was pleased by his sister's laughter. He loved it when she laughed and there were sparks of happiness in her eyes. It was truly a happy day.       A rumble, a lightning strike. Lyra jumped up from the bed, covered in cold sweat. Her eyes raced across the space, searching for something to hold on to, to realize where she was. Her heart was beating like crazy, she was greedily gulping air as if she had just run a whole mile without stopping. It was a dream, just a dream. The girl couldn't realize until now that she was in reality. This dream has been a constant presence to her for as long as she can remember since that moment, only this memory stuck in her mind. A shiver ran down her arms, she stood up on woozy legs and barely made it to the small kitchen. She didn't want to wake her friend, so she tried to sit down at the creaky table as quietly as possible. The brunette couldn't take it anymore and began to cry quietly, all the while replaying in her head those happy, but painfully heartbreaking scenes. She buried her face in her small palms, trying to muffle her sobs. She was still in pain and each night that pain didn't subside, but grew worse. “Lyra?” Lulu woke up though, hearing that his friend was now crying. He sleepily parted his heavy eyelids and crawled off the bed. The girl wiped her red eyes to see something at least through the shroud of tears. “I'm sorry, Lulu. I didn't mean to wake you up.” “Did you have that dream again?” the boy asked worriedly. The brunette only nodded, tears spilling from her blue eyes again. The boy didn't like it when his friend cried, his little heart was torn to pieces from the pain, he realized that there was nothing he could do, so every time he just hugged her tightly. And that was enough for Lyra to calm down. It was getting light outside, but dawn hadn't deigned to show itself yet, so there was still time to sleep. She didn't want to sleep now, but realizing that the day would be full of worries, it would be worth it to get a good night's sleep. So the girl sent the boy back to bed and tried to sleep. This whole story started a long time ago, about five years ago. Lyra and Ray's parents were constantly at work. The whole thing was that the father was the heir to a large chain of banks. At that time, people from all over the country kept their savings there. This network was all over the country and at that moment he had a big responsibility on his shoulders, which he shared with his wife - Eliza. Then they continued the business together and things were going well. Shortly after their marriage Eliza gave birth to a child, it was a boy with the brightest eyes in the world. His parents had a heart for him and did everything to make the boy grow up kind, merciful, generous and honest, but something went wrong, because already grown up Ray had none of these qualities. When he turned ten years old, his parents gave the lad a baby sister, then she was born. At that time, the little boy tearfully asked for a bicycle, but got a sister, which was a shame for him. Time passed, the children grew up. Ray was a wonderful son and an equally wonderful brother. He always looked after his sister when his parents needed to leave urgently on business. He was the most diligent student, knew many languages. In short, he was an angel. But Lyra didn't want to give up her place as a favorite when her parents praised their son for his achievements in something. It seemed to the girl that mom and dad loved him more, though it was not true at all. She tried to show herself in every possible way: in her five years she tried to learn the highest sciences, to cook dinner, to do everything to make her parents praise her not for the fact that she finished all the porridge, but for something substantial. But in the end, she was not enough for more than a couple of minutes of study with textbooks, and she could cook at most a sand dolly. But she was still praised for her efforts. Such a serene life did not last long, after Lira's seventh birthday, the family had to move somewhere far away. Robbery, debauchery, theft and murder were rampant in the cities. Marcus and Eliza didn't want their children to see all this horror. That day they decided to move to one of the provincial towns. The head of the family bought a luxurious estate, which had six or more rooms, there would be enough room for everyone. Next to the estate was a small clearing with a veranda, where Lyra often arranged tea parties for her plush toys. The building itself was old and majestic, the house was made in the Riga Art Nouveau style. In general - there was something to look at and envy. Time passed, the family settled in the new place, and it seemed that everything was fine, the danger had passed, but it was only an appearance. In fact, this place was no different from the others. After the move, the work again absorbed the parents, they stayed long in the city to sort out a lot of documents and bulletins. And on one of those evenings, they had the worst luck.       There was a noise; someone had broken a window. The cracking of glass was heard under someone's onslaught. The sleepy Eliza was almost asleep in that pile of waste paper, but she heard that someone had dared to break in. She immediately started to rouse her husband, who had laid down for a few minutes of rest. “Marcus,” she said in a near whisper. “Marcus get up!” the blonde pushed him hard in the side, expecting some sort of reaction. “What is it?” the man looked up at her sleepily. “There's someone here, and I'm not sure if they came just to have tea with us!” Eliza was clearly trying to hide her excitement behind jokes - it was always her defensive reaction when she didn't know what to do or was scared. Marcus was wary, he very rarely saw his wife in such a state, but when it happened - it was worth thinking about her safety. “It's alright, I think you just heard it. I'll go see what's going on, you stay here,” the man literally ordered, gesturing for the girl to stop as she was about to come with him. The room was quiet, no extraneous noises reaching Marcus. He was about to go back into the study and calm Eliza down when he suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass and scraping near the locked door. He was immediately thrown into a fever. His wife's life was on the line now, and he couldn't let anyone else's blood be spilled. The man moved away from the door as quietly as possible, and as soon as his footsteps were muffled enough, he broke from his seat and literally ran into the study. The door swung open and banged its handle against the wall, the blonde jumping at the loud sound. Marcus flew into the room and locked the door with lightning speed. “Eliza, you were right. There really is someone in the bank, pack up now and leave through the back door!” the man was covered in cold sweat, his hands were shaking and his pupils had narrowed to the size of a speck of dust. “Are you out of your mind? I'm not leaving you here alone. You just have to call the police, and they'll come right over…” “Honey listen, there's no time to talk right now. You know how it is, people just get killed on the spot, right now your life comes first for me. Damn it!” Marcus couldn't stop pacing from side to side, each time looking back at the unsturdy wooden door with the most unreliable lock. “I thought at least you'd be safe here, but once again everything is going to hell. We have children at home now and I just don't know what will happen to them if you and I don't take action!” the man was on panic mode, his every word echoing in Eliza's head. Marcus was not so much afraid for his life as for his wife's life, he didn't want to lose her. The girl, for her part, did not want to leave her husband alone like this, alone with people for whom human life was mere words that had no weight. Heavy and loud footsteps were getting closer and closer, she had to decide what to do urgently. She stood in a daze and couldn't just move from her spot. “Eliza! You can't panic now, please go away,” the man shook the poor girl by the shoulders, her face was as pale as a corpse's and fear was read in her eyes. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, but she did not make a sound. Despite her fragile nature, she pulled herself together. With a slight movement of her hand, she brushed away her tears and made it clear that it was time to leave. Marcus slowly opened the door, making sure no one was behind it. They moved carefully toward the back door, but one careless movement ruined all plans. Through the translucent window the robbers saw a woman's silhouette and immediately one of them kicked the lock on the door, they obviously didn't expect to see anyone else here. The two were fully clothed in dark clothing with masks on their faces and a stockpile of cold and firearms. They decided to pull it off quietly, but that idea failed. “What the hell!!! You said no one was supposed to be here!” “I know what I said!” A gunshot rang out. A small bullet lodged somewhere in Eliza's chest, immediately a bloody stain began to spread on her white clothes. Her eyes blurred, her whole body felt numb and alien. The girl could not move anything, all she felt was a searing, unbearable pain, growing with every convulsive breath she took. The blonde felt herself fall to the cold floor as strong hands shook her by the shoulders. Through the veil in front of her eyes, she saw her husband's tears and felt those little droplets fall down her cheeks. Through the unpleasant squeaking in her ears she heard voices, all of them almost blended into one. “Eliza! Can you hear me!!! Hold on, I'm going to get a doctor now, you're going to be okay!” a hoarse male voice tried to rouse the life in her, thrusting more and more with each word. “What have you done, why did you kill her? We only wanted the money!” “What was I supposed to do! They would have called the police!” “Damn idiot!” A pool of blood appeared under the girl's body, her strength slowly leaving her, her pulse slowed and her breathing almost stopped. More shots rang out, bullets piercing Marcus' body. Dark blood dripped from the corner of his lips, his skin turned cold in an instant, and his eyes were filled with mute apology and regret that he couldn't save the lady of his heart. He collapsed beside the girl, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She had no more than two minutes to live, with such an injury all she could do was place her shaking thin hand on the cheek of her lover, who at the last moment of her existence managed to press her still slightly warm palm with his. “I love you...” Eliza only managed to smile at the corner of her lips before the life finally left her body. A declaration of eternal inseparable love were Marcus' last words, his eyes became glassy in an instant and his chest stopped heaving. They died on the same day, as in the most tragic of love stories. The noise of the whistle deafened the men, people heard gunshots and rushed to call the police. The killers will not go unpunished, at least not this time, they will face a long stint in prison where they will rot and remember all that they have done.