Quote:
With each passing year, you accumulate more stuff. Your new holiday gifts have been put out, but now is the perfect time to make some extra space and purge your old belongings. Donation centers are bustling but there’s never a bad time to give to the needy. Going through your belongings, you may find any number of things. Something you thought was lost? Or just a bad case of nostalgia? Now is a good time to reflect on what is important to you—and maybe actually find some things you can part with.
Hayley wasn't actually one to worry too much about...stuff. She had a decent amount of it, sure, accumulated over fourteen years of living with loving parents who happily gave her small things hwen they could -- an absolutely absurd collection of My Little Pony stuff, her softball gear, so very very many clothes -- but it was all just stuff. Stuff that brightened up her room and made her happy, but stuff nonetheless.
And after the holidays was a good time, she figured, for clearing things out and considering what she really needed. Especially since she might not be living in this room for much longer.
If things went her way, she'd be corrupting soon, and then there wouldn't be any need for a room full of Hayley Masters's stuff, because Hayley Masters wouldn't exist. Best to start cutting now, so when she was ready she could pack a bag or two of her most important things and take that with her when she left.
So she started by sorting through her clothes, humming as she pulled items off hangars and testesd them. Anything too small or unworn for longer than eight months went in a pile, to go to donation. Her parents would like that, she was sure; they always approved of little civil service projects.
Once she had a decent sized pile, she moved on to the next thing.
Books.
Her collection wasn't as big as some of her siblings', especially not the untocuhed library sitting in Cait's room, but she still had a few. Few enough that it was hard to even think of parting with any, the more she thought of it. Every single one had its own set of memories attached, its own reason for Hayley to talk herself out of giving it up. This wasn't like clothes, or shoes, where something could be too small or too old or just not quite right. These were books.
Her fingers brushed over the spine of Alanna: The First Adventure, and a tiny sigh escaped her lips, a wave of nostalgia rushing over her. This had been a series she'd started reading with Cait -- her sister loved Tamora Pierce, and as soon as she'd felt Hayley was old enough, she'd taken to reading them aloud to her. Under any other circumstances Hayley might've found being read aloud to annoying, or silly, but Cait always somehow managed to make it fun.
That was....not long before she disappeared. It was also one of Hayley's favorite memories, curling up with her big sister to hear her read tales of lady knights and magic and court intrigue. Some of it had gone over her head, at first, but she picked up more and more every reread, and...
And. Fine. Those weren't going anywhere. Except in her bag when she got ready to go. Because some things, a girl just...couldn't let go of. Even if she didn't remember why she needed them after she corrupted, she couldn't imagine giving them up.
She'd just have to learn to love them all over again.
[508 words]
