//Opening file [Nightlight]
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-Static-
....
Zandra sits on the edge of the bed, facing away from the camera. Music plays in the background from somewhere. She's shivering like she'd just been doused in ice water. Between shaking fingers, she holds a cigara, her favorite brand. The tip is burning bright red. Ash falls onto the messy sheets beside her. She seems not to notice.
"When I was a kid," she says slowly, careful not to let her voice shake with the rest of her, "I didn't ask fer much. Some kids, ya know, want the world. Ask ma' n' da fer everythin'. I just... didn'. Didn' want nobody ta make me meals. Didn' want nobody ta give me gifts on lifeday neither."
Zandra is still facing away from the camera. She takes a long shaking drag of her cigara, clutches at the leather sleeves of the jacket she always wears.
"When I was... I think eight? Da' woke me up in the middle of the night. It was lifeday. I remember bein' angry with him. I knew we could afford nice things. I mean, my family wasn't poor or nothin'. I just... I guess, didn' wanna be a bother? Didn' wanna have nice things wasted on me."
She coughs. She coughs for a while. And she shakes. She keeps shaking. She brushes something under the bed sheet quickly. Out of sight. Out of mind. It's in her bloodstream now.
"Da' looked so... happy though. Like... like he really wanted me to have it. I tried not to look angry. I opened that box. I remember the packaging like it was yesterday. Brown paper, but it had a nice blue ribbon tied around it. Looked stupid together now that I think about it, but at the time, there was not a prettier thing in the Galaxy. I didn't wanna ruin the box. I seriously thought the box itself was my gift."
She laughs, flicking ash off her cigara.
"Yeah. I'd never really gotten a gift before. Not really. I didn't know what to do with it. Da' had to show me. But when I opened it... Da' got me my first huntin' knife. Pretty thing. I cut my own hand on it. I remember how much it hurt. Still got the scar. I think that might be the first time I really felt..."
The shivering stops, but only for a moment. She sighs, looks up at something, puts the cigara to her lips. She shakes again. Her voice is almost inaudible.
"I forgot his name today. I dunno if it means I'm gettin' over it, or if the drugs are just makin' me forget. Sorry, Cal. I'm real sorry."
She turns around, big round bloodshot eyes search the camera. She reaches out, and the screen goes dark

//End
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