The sun sets tomorrow

      The long-awaited dawn came, filling the room with golden rays. Water droplets shimmered on the window, which looked like a crystal vase that had been broken by sloppy people. Lyra uncurled her eyelids with difficulty, all the while remembering her dream in which she felt truly happy. Tears started to come to her eyes, but she immediately brushed them away with her hand and climbed out from under the heavy blanket. It was quite cool in the house, after the night's thunderstorm, a light fog had descended on the streets. Peace and quiet reigned in the houses and apartments, the morning was so early that not even the birds were awake yet. The girl tried to walk as quietly as possible across the creaky floor, so as not to wake her sniffling friend. With careful steps she still managed to get to the bathroom to tidy up her hair and wash off her sleepy appearance with cool water. Gradually the morning freshness was leaving the town, replaced by a warm wind and the baking sun. The room was getting warmer, and even a little stuffy. Leaving the bathroom, Lyra hurriedly opened the old window to let in the fresh air that rushed into the foreign home. A pleasant floral smell filled the space, which meant the opening of the stall around the corner. People were slowly waking up, filling the city's alleys and squares with sounds. The brunette, for her part, didn't idle for long and decided to at least put the kettle on. From one small cupboard she pulled out an old copper piece with a wooden handle, filled with water, it immediately went on the stove. Lyra's little friend was still asleep in bed, despite the fact that his friend had made a lot of noise while she was getting the kettle out of the amount of dishes she had in the cupboard. It wasn't much, but it was as loud as the most sonorous horn. All disheveled and sprawled out on the bed, Lulu didn't even realize how cute and ridiculous he looked at the same time. While the girl was admiring this picture, she realized one important thing. Her brother wasn't home. No one was sleeping on the blue hard couch, the bathroom was empty, and there was no other place where her naughty brother could hide. The smile was wiped off the girl's face by this not-so-pleasant fact. She began to worry again about the naughty boy. But her worry subsided when she saw a small piece of paper on the table. Lyra hurriedly unfolded the note and read its contents. “I'll be later than usual, you don't have to wait for me. I left you some money. Ray.” Next to the note lay a few pounds, clearly no more than ten. The girl sighed heavily, realizing that her brother had gotten himself into some sort of sordid affair again, or had just gone out to have some fun, as he says - “It quenches my heartache.” But something doesn't seem to be hurting him that much. The day the children learned of Eliza and Marcus's death was a black and dark day for them.       It was morning, and Lyra was sleeping peacefully in her huge bed. The golden rays played on her face, making her wrinkle more and more, not wanting to leave the realm of dreams. The door to the room opened and banged against the wall with a deafening thud. Unstable stuffed toys and some heavy books fell from the shelf next to the entrance. The barbarian who'd dared to show up so early had done a lot of damage. The brunette opened her eyes fully and jumped off the bed in fear. But there was no cause for concern. It was only her brother, who clearly had no trouble scaring and thus waking up his sister. The little ruddy face began to blush red with anger. How dare he barge into her room?! Unheard of insolence! Lyra walked with firm and confident steps, almost right up to the tall guy. “Ray, no one called you, what makes you think you can come in here like this all of a sudden! You woke me up!” the anger of this little girl was not scary to the grown up guy, the only thing he was afraid of was his mother's anger. “What do you care about waking me up, by the way, it's already time for you to get up. So come on, hurry up and change your clothes and go to the first floor. “I don't want to and I won't!” “Then you can go in your teddy bear pajamas. I think everyone will really like them,” Ray smirked victoriously as his favorite sister blushed, but not out of anger, more out of embarrassment, she clearly wasn't used to being in such an awkward position. “That's it, get out of here! I'll handle this myself!” The girl pushed her brother out of the room and slammed the door shut. Somewhere in the house the plaster sprinkled, from such manipulations soon there would be nothing left of the manor at all. After a while Lyra came down to the living room, but she had deigned to change out of her nice pajamas and into a simple cut, but rather elegant pink dress, her silky hair was gathered with a black ribbon into a small ponytail. “And what did you call me for?” the brunette turned to her brother who was lolling around on the couch. He slowly shifted his gaze to her and assumed a sitting position. “Well, first of all, your classes will start soon, and secondly, you haven't even had breakfast yet. So please, my lady, proceed to the dining hall.” Ray mimed a bow in front of her, the girl giggled and ran towards the opposite side of the living room. The boy hurried to head after her, but was stopped by an insistent knock on the door. The brunet hurriedly opened the stranger's door. On the threshold stood a not-young man in glasses, out of breath, with a pile of papers in his hands and a worried look. “What can I do for you?” began the conversation to an uncomprehending Ray. “Good afternoon, I have something to tell you, sir." “And who would you be?” the guy clearly didn't trust some old man who just showed up on the doorstep like that and didn't even deign to introduce himself. “I apologize for my terrible manners. I'm Howard Fulton, the lawyer your father and I used to work together.” “Your father and mother aren't home, so you wasted your time getting here. They're probably still in town.” “Mr. Ray, I was actually on my way to see you,” the man stammered, a shadow of concern on his face and a plea in his eyes to listen. “Come in,” the guy gave in after all, he stepped away from the door to let the arriving guest through. “Let's go into the living room,” Ray pointed in the direction and the confused man followed. Once inside the spacious room, the guy closed the door and motioned for his guest to take a seat. All this time a feeling of uneasiness had not left him. Of course, he could not understand what was going on, because it was not every day that some people came to him early in the morning. The man started the conversation first: “I understand that you are puzzled right now,” Howard sat down on the upholstered furniture and began to spread out his papers on the glass table. “Your father and I have worked together for a long time, and subsequently entered into a contract. Now I am obligated to fulfill all the terms,” the man pouted and began to speak more softly, Ray tensed even more. “You see, now you have to sign the papers, about receiving the inheritance, the whole point is that your father and mother were murdered this night. I'm very sorry.” After the words Fulton had spoken, the lad heard only the beating of his own heart and nothing more. Howard's attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. The boy let everything pass by his ears. “You... You must be making a very bad joke right now, aren't you?” Ray raised his startled eyes to the man. A drop of hope was still visible in them, but it was destroyed by a cold and short “no.” The brunet's hands shook, his body wouldn't listen, and it was as if his consciousness had left him. Nothing was in his head now, it was empty. Ray could not believe in the death of his parents, after all, not so long ago they spent time together, not so long ago yesterday they had lunch at the same table. And now they were dead. It all seemed like a terrible dream, but it wasn't like that at all. The guy was brought back to reality by the creak of the door. Lira was standing in the doorway, she was just waiting for her brother, and decided to check where he was stuck, but now she didn't understand anything even more than before. “Ray, who's that?” “Come here please,” the boy beckoned the girl to him. She slowly approached him, practically not taking her eyes off the stranger. She was concerned about her brother's condition, and only wanted to ask what had happened as her brother continued talking. Ray took her small hands and squeezed them tightly. “Listen to me carefully now, you see something very terrible has happened, mommy and daddy are not coming back...” The girl froze like a statue for a moment, her hands involuntarily clenched into fists, her pupils narrowed to the size of a speck, and her breathing already resembled a heartbreaking cry. “No. You're lying! You're lying about everything!” the girl tried to break free from her brother's clinging arms, but he only squeezed her small body in his embrace. “They couldn't have died! No!” Her blue eyes filled with bitter tears that rolled relentlessly down her ruddy cheeks. Her small fists beat her brother, wanting to take her anger out on him. She didn't believe it and never would. Lyra's screams echoed throughout the house, her voice beginning to get hoarser with each word, and she was losing strength with each blow. Her crying gradually changed to barely audible sobs, and her arms dropped down. Ray loosened his grip, the girl pushed him away with her palms and ran out of the room, in an unknown direction. “Lyra! Shit,” the boy only now realized he had completely forgotten about the lawyer. “I apologize Mr. Fulton, it's-” the man interrupted the brunet. “You shouldn't be apologizing right now. Losing your parents at such a young age, it's a great grief for a little girl, as it is for you, of course,” Ray remained silent. “I realize now is not the time, but we need to get the paperwork sorted out, you need to sign these papers and the entire inheritance, including ownership of the bank chain, will pass to you,” the man laid out some papers in front of the boy. Ray quickly read the documents and signed everywhere. “Is that all?” “There's one more thing. If you need my help, you can feel free to come to me. Your father was a fine man, I think he raised an equally honorable son.” “Thank you, goodbye,” Ray walked him to the door and the man left the house. When a person loses someone close to him, he usually seeks solace. Someone finds it in alcohol, someone in the support of close people, but Ray found solace in games. He often played with his father in various card games, even sometimes visited such establishments, and now, when he has a huge amount of money at his disposal... He can literally live there. At that moment, grief overwhelmed his mind and only in such fun he found solace, but happiness was short-lived. In the end, he lost all the money, the estate and even his father's legacy. Since then, quite a lot of time has passed, the pain has subsided, but the desire remains. His relationship with his sister has gotten worse. And now they had to live a life that no one would ever want. The girl crumpled the unfortunate note and threw it into the extinguished stove. At least it would be useful later. Without thinking long, Lyra began to count the money that her brother had left her, hoping that magically there would be a larger sum. But alas, it was still the same seven pounds on the table. The refrigerator was empty, and only a huge pot of cabbage soup rested there. She needed to go grocery shopping and get something she could make at least the semblance of a decent breakfast out of. Lyra put on a slightly worn cape with visible patches, putting the precious coins in her pocket, she left the house. The street was already bustling with life. Although the neighborhood was quite quiet, there were many people. Apparently, they were in a hurry to go to work. The girl saw a couple of nice ladies, who were already walking with rather capacious and full bags. Beautiful life is not forbidden, and from the morning to go and buy all sorts of trinkets, especially no one can not forbid. Especially if you have time and money for it. Lyra didn't like to go out, because she was always met with looks of contempt and disgust. None of the rich people here pitied the poor, especially when they went out in public. The whispers behind their backs, the muffled laughter-it never escaped the brunette's notice. And she would have loved to say what she thought, but she didn't want to get into a fight and the police. The only thing that was lucky for the girl was that even though they didn't live well, they lived in a place not too far away from all the stores and stores. And just a few meters away there was a wooden sign with a colorful drawing and neatly written name. She hurried to get away and quickly ran in, jingling the bell that hung at the entrance. Usually there was an obese, mustachioed man behind the counter, who always measured everything exactly by grams and always took the exact amount, even when the customer lacked a few pounds, he would not give in, and he was not going to give the products for nothing. This time there was a nice girl in the store, a little older than Lyra at first glance, but just as petite. She immediately turned her gaze to the customer and said the familiar phrase “Welcome” in a thin voice. She looked quite decent and even rich, and it was obvious that her clothes were new. Her blond hair was braided into a tight ponytail, and only a slightly dirty, stained with flour, spoiled the picture. In this store the girl always bought fresh bread, cereals and butter. Of course, “always” was a vague notion, but when Ray was gracious enough to leave her money, she came here without hesitation. The whole room smelled of freshly baked bread, a rather pleasant odor penetrated the girl's nose, which made her hunger grow even more, and her stomach rumbled treacherously. The brunette hurriedly turned away from the girl to hide her cheeks that were flushed with a slight feeling of shame. Lyra stood near the bags of cereal for a long time, choosing which one to take and how much. Seven pounds was a small sum, and she had to use it wisely. Lyra knew for a fact that bread was worth three pounds and butter four. She always dreaded days like this when she didn't have enough for anything. In her hands she was already holding a packet of butter and a loaf of bread. The girl was visibly upset as she put the butter briquette back into the small refrigerator. She approached the counter with a request: “Hello, I need some grits, some of the cheapest kind, please,” Lyra was always a little embarrassed to say such words. “Oh, and some bread too,” she carefully placed it next to the scales on the table. Everything that was going on in the shop now was being watched closely by the shopkeeper.       And every time Lyra counted her money and put something back, she frowned. The girl slowly walked over to the bags of cereal and poured her the best and tastiest they had in the store, on her way back she grabbed a piece of butter as well. The girl realized that all this stuff was expensive and she just couldn't afford it. “I'm sorry, that's not what I asked for...” the brunette objected worriedly and timidly. “I know, I'm sorry, I was watching you while you were choosing,” she finally spoke and smiled slightly guiltily. “You looked so worried as you looked at the price tag and counted your money over and over again, I just can't have you and your family going hungry. So, take it all for nothing,” the blonde put all the groceries into a bag and held it out to the extremely surprised girl. “But I can't accept this...” Lyra had never encountered people's kindness, only her family allowed her to feel that warmth, but when her parents were gone and her own brother treated her like a stranger, she gradually forgot that feeling. “It's okay, please take it, you can consider it my gift,” the saleswoman insisted, the girl realizing that she probably wouldn't even take everything she had. “Thank you so much!” the brunette even bowed to this beautiful lady, after all this might be the last time they would meet. For such a generous gift she could seriously pay and lose this, though not very lucrative, but still a job. Lyra thanked the girl a few more times and was about to leave with the full bag when a familiar voice called out to her. “Wait, here, have some more,” the blonde girl slipped a liter bottle of milk into the paper bag. “Porridge on milk tastes better than on water, and don't even argue with me.” “Thank you, thank you so much!” the girl was about ready to cry with happiness. She left the store and hurried home, and of course she didn't see this cute girl put some big bills in the cash register anymore. When she got home, with a smile on her face and sparkling eyes, Lyra started to wake up her friend who was still dozing on the bed. “Lulu, come on, get up! You won't believe what happened,” the girl was eager to share her joy and make a delicious breakfast as soon as possible. “Lyra? What happened?” the boy stretched sleepily, still not quite sure what was going on. “Can you believe it, I went to the little store on the next street over. Ray left very little money and I barely had enough for anything, and there instead of that menacing man, there was a girl and she gave me everything I needed, for free! I'm so glad, we'll be able to have a proper breakfast for once,” the girl kept going, her happiness was unbelievable. She very quickly arranged all the food on the table. “Here, look. There's cereal, milk, butter and bread. Now I'll make porridge, and you go wash up.” “Wow, that's lucky for us!” though the boy lived in a house, not on the street, and did not eat scraps, but it was the first time he had seen such an ‘abundance’ of food, and he kept looking at the glass bottle. Lulu went to the bathroom to get a glass of milk. Lyra, on the other hand, hurriedly took out a small pot and began to cook porridge. Usually the whole thing was slimy, bland, and sometimes even rubbery. It could be eaten, of course, but without great pleasure. This was how breakfast usually went in this house, but this morning was one of the best mornings of the last week. The kid had already run out of the bathroom and sat down at the table, waiting for his flavorful portion, but the cooking had to be stopped at the last stage. There was a knock at the door and the girl hurriedly opened it. There was absolutely no guess as to who it could be. If it were her brother, he would unceremoniously just burst into the house, at least he has every right to do so, and he is not obliged to enter with a knock. And the two were not expecting anyone else. After turning the door lock a couple times, a girl appeared on the doorstep. She was the same age as Lyra. But she looked slightly better: she was small in stature, her long, silky, coral-colored hair was held back by a headband with a bow in a shade of pearl powder. A sweet face with faintly visible freckles smiled the purest and most sincere smile, and green eyes sparkled with sparks of happiness. “Lyra!” the girl rushed to hug the brunette, to which the latter responded with an answering and strong hug. “Mai, what are you doing here? Didn't you and your parents leave for the summer? I thought you said we wouldn't see each other until the autumn.” “We got back a little early, I'm so glad I got to see you!” “That's right, you're just in time, come on in,” Lyra stepped away from the door to let her friend pass ahead. “We were going to have breakfast, would you like to join us?” “Thanks for the offer, but I had breakfast at home...” before she could finish the sentence, another hug lover swooped down on her. As soon as Lulu saw Mai, he immediately forgot about the long-awaited breakfast and ran to hug another good friend: “You've finally arrived!” “Hello Lulu. How are you doing, come on tell me,” the girl hugged him back and leaned over slightly to listen to the boy. “Everything is fine!” the boy's smile had not come off since this morning, and now it would not come off until evening. “I'm very glad of that. By the way, since you're getting ready for breakfast, it's about time I stopped by,” all the while the girl held up a paper bag. “I brought something delicious,” Mai slid the bag to Lyra. The brunette immediately pulled out a few red apples that rolled all over the table. Though they weren't many, they were quite large and looked very sweet. “Thank you very much, but you shouldn't have wasted them on us,” the girl was slightly embarrassed by such a guest: every time Mai visited them, she brought something edible and more often than not delicious. “Come on, it's my pleasure,” the girl smiled sweetly, she knew about the money problems and the whole situation, so she always tried to help her friend as much as she could. Mai was by no means a rich girl. She was an ordinary girl, from an ordinary family, her parents always worked hard to keep afloat. Her father was a laborer, and her mother ran a cute little store with hats that she sewed herself. She wasn't Lyra's only friend a long time ago, unlike now, but she was the real deal. Many people didn't understand their friendship. People were used to seeing all connections as a benefit, and okay if her family had a tidy sum in the bank, so it was quite different. But many people did not take into account the fact that Lyra's family was never callous and mercantile, compared to other families, they were just angels, and when they found out about their friendship, no one objected. For Eliza and Marcus the main thing was the happiness of their daughter, not how much this happiness costs. In general, their friendship began in a very strange way. A little girl, no more than seven or eight years old, was walking down the dusty and busy street. Usually children of that age are not left alone, but there was no one around her. She was walking with firm and confident steps towards the fruit shop. The thing was, her mother had told her to go and buy some red apples for the pie. Yes, that was where it all started. The green-eyed girl had only a few coins in her hands, she had a couple of stores to go through and she would have been a happy owner of the scarlet fruit, but the road was blocked by several boys, obviously older than her. It was immediately obvious from them that they were extremely unfriendly. Of course, little Mai was overcome with fear, but she tried to pass through this living wall, but no one was going to let her go. “Excuse me, but I need to pass, could you please give way?” she slightly stammered in a trembling voice. “Of course we'll let you through, young lady, but on the condition that you give us your money,” behind the back of the boy who spoke, two others giggled, clearly at the manner of speech that was out of character for their friend. “But I can't, mommy told me to buy apples with it.” “Look, little one, we don't care what or who told you. Give us the money here!” the fellow changed at once; instead of a gallant gentleman, though a fake one, a ruffian was revealed before her. He pushed the girl quite hard, from which she could not keep on her feet and fell. All of May's money scattered at once and lay somewhere near her, the boys began to collect pounds, but one of them was distracted by a small pebble that flew right into his back. The boy turned around and saw an equally small but angry girl. “What do you want?” the bully didn't see the threat in the brunette, so he didn't really tense up. “Leave her alone!” the boy only grinned at the menacing girl's loud statement, and thought he had nothing to fear. “Lyra! Well where did you run off to, if you get lost mom and dad won't leave a wet spot from me!” the tall young man ran up to his sister. “Barely kept up with you,” catching his breath, the boy finally decided to listen to his sister. “Ray, those bullies took the girl's money!” Lyra ran up to Mai, who was ready to cry already. The brunette gave her a hand and helped her stand up. “So that's how it is,” Ray's voice changed to a colder one and his gaze gained steel. Now the bullies were tensing up for real, because no one wanted to get kicked by some grown guy. And the passersby didn't care what was going on, so no one would stand up for them. “And aren't you ashamed to take money from a little girl?” that tone made all three of them ready to fall under the ground, so one of them immediately babbled. “Shame! Very shameful, we'll give it all back to her right away, don't worry!” the leader of their gang clearly made it clear to his subordinates that they needed to give all the moments back to the girl. They immediately took their hands out of their pockets and gave Mai back everything they had taken away. “We won't do it again, honest!” “The next time I see or know you're hurting anyone, I'll rip your hands off, understand?” Ray continued to portray himself as a menacing father who was ready to administer severe punishment at any misstep by his child. “Yeah, we get it!” the bullies hurriedly retreated from the scene of the ‘robbery’ to avoid getting what they deserved. “Thanks for helping me,” Mai was already sniffing her little nose, shaking the dust off her pink skirt. “Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself?” the boy immediately changed his angry tone, to a softer one. He was lucky his sister had seen the outrage. “Yeah, I'm fine...” “I should have given them a good beating!” Lyra was already in a victory stance, as if she was the one who taught the boys a lesson. “Lyra! Who taught you that! You can't solve everything with your fists,” the girl looked at her brother in surprise. “Ray, so you did teach me that...” the boy was immediately embarrassed as he heard a quiet laugh from the rescued girl's side. “You just don't tell your mom about this,” the brunet looked away, already imagining what would happen to him if his mother found out. “Honey, what's your name, anyway?” Ray quickly came to his senses and decided to find out the little girl's name. “My name is Mai,” the boy smiled sweetly at her. “Nice to meet you, I'm Ray and this is my sister Lyra.” “I can introduce myself!” Lyra turned away from her brother and defiantly puffed up her cheeks. “Thank you again for saving me,” the girl continued to thank them wordlessly. “Come on, helping others is a must. Where are you going by the way? Let us walk you out.” Mai thanked the two once more. Now all three of them were already walking with a bag full of apples. After kindly walking Mai home, they parted ways. Since then, Lyra had seen her somewhat shy, sometimes awkward friend often. As a result, their friendship became very strong. It was getting dark outside. Mai spent the whole day at Lira's house. They talked about everything in the world, often laughing, sometimes even fooling around. Such moments the girl appreciated most of all. Though not always successful, she tried to spend more time with her friend, even after the death of her parents, she immediately ran to Mai to find comfort somewhere. Lyra wished she could spend more time as a simple girl, without all the adult problems. She wanted to go out more with her friends instead of wondering what she and Lulu would eat tomorrow. She wanted more warmth and laughter in her life. But now was not the time to allow such thoughts into her head. The boy had already dozed off a bit, and the girls were quietly finishing their brewed tea. “Thank you so much for the tea, and for the day in general. It's getting late, mom and dad will be worried if I don't come home soon,” Mai finished her already cooled drink in a flash and started to get ready. “Thank you for coming. We haven't had such a good time in a long time,” Mai hugged Lyra tightly in farewell. The door slammed shut. The girl left and Lyra started to clear the table, but it wasn't long before there was a man standing in the doorway again. It was Ray, who had come home early for the first time in months. Lyra was visibly puzzled, for the note he had left clearly stated that her brother wouldn't be back until late at night. “Why are you back so early?” the girl was distracted from washing the dishes and decided to question her brother. “Can't I already come to my own house whenever I want? It just so happened, business was over, so I came back,” his tone was softer this time, but still the tension in their conversation could be felt a mile away. Lyra remained silent and didn't comment on that answer, instead she decided to talk calmly, for once without scandals and scolding. Lulu was already asleep, so there was no need for that. The girl finished with her chores in the kitchen and sat down on the couch next to her brother. “I went grocery shopping today and...” the brunette didn't have time to finish her sentence before Rei interrupted her. “And let me guess, you didn't buy anything? Just don't get all scandalized right now,” the guy's face grimaced at his own thoughts and wrong guesses. He had already thought that his sister would start reproaching him, which he was very much mistaken about. “No, I wanted to tell you about how today, when I was severely short on groceries, a kind girl gave it to me for nothing. Didn't even take the money you left me. Also, Mai came by and we had a good time. She just left, if you had come early you would have seen her,” the boy remained silent and didn't comment on his sister's story. She decided to do something she had been putting off for a long time. “Ray, why are you being so mean to me? It's not easy for us right now as it is, things were good after all, why now...” he interrupted Lyra unceremoniously again. “Exactly, it's not easy. I'm really tired and I'm going to sleep,” with those words, her brother clearly signaled for Lyra to vacate the area and go to bed as well. The girl never got the chance to just have a heart-to-heart talk with her brother, though she really wished she could. After all, after that tragedy, they had never been able to properly talk to each other. Tomorrow early in the morning he would leave again and most likely would not even leave a note, and Lyra, as always, will worry about him, and wonder where her brother Ray disappeared.