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The sunlight fell in lazy strips of light over the garden paths. The flowers danced in the wind.
Amaretti ran down the path, Angel Food barely could hold onto her little fingers. Their bare feet skimmed the grass as the hems of their dresses brushed against the dirt.
“Wait!” Angel Food called, “You’re going too fast!”
Amaretti threw herself into a patch of peonies, “Maybe you’re just too slow!”
Angel Food flopped lazily into the grass, Amaretti’s grip on her hand unwavering, “Can you sing that song for me, Angel Food Cookie? That one you always sing when you’re concentrating."
Angel Food asked, “Are you sure?”
Amaretti smiled at her, “Is that even a question!”
Angel Food looked at her, Amaretti’s gap-toothed grin. The excitement and anticipation in her eyes. She couldn’t say no to that.
Angel Food took a deep breath as she sat up, her hands brushing the grass. A soft clear melody filled the space in the garden that felt like it was only them.
Amaretti propped herself onto her elbow, she watched as a stray pedal fell on her cheek. Amaretti reached out and brushed it off.
Angel Food stopped, “What? Do you want me to stop?”
Amaretti tugged at her hand, “Come on, let's go.”
Angel Food sighed, “But we just sat down again!”
Amaretti grinned, “Just keep singing. I like that song.”
Angel Food obliged as Amaretti took her hand and pulled her close, “What are you doing, Amaretti Cookie?”
Amaretti smiled, “Just practicing…”
Angel Food sighed and started to hum, letting Amaretti guide her steps. Soon enough, Amaretti had started to sing the harmony, a mess of half-formed words and giggles. It filled the air around them, surrounding them like a bubble. Here, together, they didn’t have to worry, they could just be.
Amaretti twirled her once, almost stumbling back, she caught her before Angel Food could fall into the bed of flowers. Angel Food blinked, “Careful, Amaretti Cookie!”
Amaretti replied, “I can catch you! Don’t worry!”
Angel Food hesitated, then let herself be pulled into Amaretti’s orbit. She twirled around her like she was nothing more than a planet in her system. For a moment, they spun in the patch of wildflowers together, unthinking, letting the soft rhythm of the song guide them.
A breeze lifted loose petals around them, drifting through their hair and dresses. Softly crushed under their steps. Amaretti leaned forward slightly, letting her head rest on Angel Food’s shoulder. Angel Food’s hand rested on her shoulders.
Amaretti whispered, “You’re my favorite. My…best friend. Forever.”
Angel Food blinked, “Forever is a long time.”
Amaretti didn’t move, “Which is why I’m glad it's you I’m gonna spend it with. We’re gonna stick together always, promise?”
Angel Food’s hand met Amaretti’s, “Promise.”
…
Angel Food and Amaretti stood shoulder to shoulder, they could feel the weight of millions of eyes on them. From the crowd, the beasts sat high above all, watching the girls on the stage.
Angel Food closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she started to sing the first notes of their song. The chatter of cookies seemed to quiet down as her voice came calm and clear from the microphone.
Amaretti looked at her, then started to sing along.
Then, they started to dance. Each step one they had taken before. Angel Food’s arms wound tightly around Amaretti, her head resting on Angel Food’s chest. Angel Food could feel Amaretti shaking in her arms.
Angel Food kept singing, the same song she had sung a million times before. The song Amaretti had begged her to sing in the garden, the one she would hum for hours as Amaretti fell asleep in her lap. Amaretti did her best to follow along, but her voice shook violently. Each note was a desperate reach for the forever she had promised but wasn’t allowed to have.
To the crowd, it was only choreography. But to them, it was real, it was everything.
Amaretti glanced up at Angel Food, eyes bright with fear. Then, Amaretti pulled away from her. Her hands shaking as she adjusted her microphone.
Angel Food turned away too, anything to make it look purposeful.
Amaretti looked over her shoulder, the light catching in Angel Food’s hair like threats of spun gold. The way she seemed not to shake under the weight of the cameras and prying eyes that picked them apart. The fog glittered under the light like angel wings that stretched out behind Angel Food.
Amaretti smiled, small but real. She started to sing, her voice stronger now, like she had borrowed a bit of Angel Food’s strength by just looking at her.
The music waned like even it knew what was coming. Amaretti held out the last note longer than she should’ve, her voice carrying everything she couldn’t say to Angel Food, fear, love, and defiance.
Then the numbers started to climb, Amaretti nor Angel Food could bring themselves to look at the screen towering above them.
Many screamed and cheered, clapping wildly at the twisted spectacle. Then a mechanical crack cut through the noise of the crowd.
Angel Food felt Amaretti’s weight buckle against her, and the ridiculous quiet that came after.
No one in the crowd moved in the anticipation of what Angel Food was to do next.
She lifted Amaretti up from under her arms, and laid her across the stage, closing her eyes. She knelt down beside Amaretti, still singing the same lullaby, because if she stopped singing, she'd have to believe it was over. That she couldn’t sway the votes. From this angle it looked no different than sleep. The guards came up behind her and clicked a collar around her neck. Angel Food barely noticed as she buried her face into the folds of Amaretti's shirt.
The guards grabbed her and pulled her away. She didn’t fight, only stared at Amaretti with glassy eyes. The color on her neck flickered red.
She murmured under her breath, “Forever…”