submission thing
ok so here's my submission for prospero's whim... and i'd love to know what y'all think bout it...
you can either comment here or im me... whatever i'd just LOVE feedback
here goes.....
A Rose Amongst Weeds
At the familiar place, all she saw was unfamiliar faces. Rain pummeled the glass box which stood as her only protection from the impending gloom. Normally perfect, her brown hair frizzed, forming a shield of security around her. Clutching her backpack close, she watched for the bus, with eyes that shone the last ounce of life left in her existence. People bustled by the spot where she sat as if she was never there; she envied the normalcy of the lives they’d learned to take for granted.
When the bus finally came, the girl gathered what things she had, and then boarded. The driver’s typically friendly eyes seemed piercing on this not so normal day, and they gave her the incentive she needed to quickly find a seat. As the bus jerked into motion, she directed her focus to the scene outside the window… a scene different from the dismal city day that she just minutes ago was seeking protection from.
Looking around, she somewhat recognized the area surrounding her. Instinctively she broke into a sprint headed towards the old burgundy farmhouse. Her hopes began to soar after years of darkness; she was back home. Bursting through the door, she noted that the house was full of people, but it wasn’t the welcoming that she’d been hoping for. Realizing the focal point of the room, the girl suddenly understood. The closed casket told her everything and yet nothing at the same time. Although she had no memories of the event, she envisioned it daily. Heading towards the casket, she weaved her way through a throng of people with tearstained faces. One couple’s pain in particular stood out; she saw a flicker of familiarity in their eyes, but then refocused her attention to the casket. Trembling, she brushed aside a bouquet of roses that sat atop it, then opened the casket. From it a blinding light emerged, and she found herself back on the bus.
Shrinking into the familiar comfort of her oversized sweatshirt, she fumbled around in her backpack for her CD player. The sound of the Foo Fighters filled her head as “DOA” blared. “Never say forever ‘cause nothing lasts. Dancing with the thorns of my buried past.” As she hummed along to the music, she started to wonder whether the gloom currently penetrating the bus was worse than the despair that filled the old farmhouse. Although she knew the bus route all too well, today her destination would be different than her habitual one. Buildings, people and the once familiar sights of the city flew past her. A few faces stuck out with traces of kindness in the crowd; given time they would forget her… they all would. They always did.
When they looked at her, other passengers saw a lost teenager; merely a runaway or a teenage drug-addict. Freckles spotted her fair small face, while her fiercely green eyes seemed to plead for help. Beneath her crimson cap, her hair messily sat on her neck begrudgingly taking the form of a ponytail. To others, she couldn’t have been more than 17, but appeared weathered beyond belief. Her face told the story of a wizened young girl, whose had an unrealized strength, and yet looked as emaciated as she had just been released from the hospital. Nobody paid much attention to her though; she was nothing out of the ordinary, just another teenage girl lost within herself. What could they ever know about her?
The ride ended soon enough, when the girl realized that her stop had finally come. Clamoring off of the bus, she looked up at the sky as rain fell down onto her face. Unlike most people, she welcomed everything about rain; the scent that it left on everything that it touched, and the cool feeling it left on her skin. However she could have gone without the gloom and humidity that it brought about. Reluctant to have to go inside, she headed for the main entrance. A sign on the door read “Train Station.”
She had to think for a minute when the man at the desk asked her where she was headed. Eventually she replied “Anywhere but here,” and handed the man some money. He gave her an odd look but followed her command. Hastily, she grabbed the ticket and went to sit at the platform. Once she located an empty chair, she closed her eyes for a moment’s rest. All of a sudden, she was once again in a distant place.
She discovered that she was in a crowded forest, where policemen scurried around frantically, centered around a black sheet on the ground. Barely standing the couple she had seen earlier was lead towards the sheet by a policeman. They fell to the ground as the policeman pulled back the tarp. The couple looked horrified and as tears flooded down their faces, all they could do was nod. The policeman thanked them and grimly led them out of the forest. Consumed by curiosity, the girl had to see what lay underneath the sheet. She fell to her knees and gently lifted the tarp… but all she could see was the light.
Snapping back to reality, the girl gripped the arms of the chair while she glanced around, only to realize that her train was boarding. Although she realized what a sight she must have been, the girl could not have cared less.
She found her seat quickly and stared out the window. Thinking back to the events of her past, she came to the harsh realization that she never understood what had happened; just carried on after it. Outside her window the city passed her by, just as the people in it did everyday. She reminded herself that those people were the lucky ones, even if they’d never stop pitying themselves, they were the lucky ones. They had their lives to live, along with friends and family to share it with. The girl could barely remember a time when she shared the same commodities. She found an outdated fashion magazine lying next to her and picked it up in an attempt to take her mind off things.
The scene in the magazine transported her to a place long forgotten in the depths of her memory. It took a second for her to comprehend where she was; she had not seen the room for years, but it looked exactly as it did when she left it. The doorknob rattled as excited voices filled the hallway; a girl appeared in the doorway. Not noticing the intruder in her room, she sat down at a vanity to further tease her sky-high hair and put a touch more cherry lipstick on. Her mother emerged from the hallway holding a garnet prom dress for the prom queen. As the girl sat in the corner and watched the scene, memories of that particular night began to come back to her. A small dog ran up to the exquisitely dressed girl and licked her feet while she giggled. Suddenly, the dog ran from the room. As she watched the scarlet queen run after the tiny dog, she followed the girl outside. In a sudden stream of memories, she remembered everything. “NOOOOO!” she screamed, now chasing after the lady in red at full speed, but her efforts were to no avail; the girl couldn’t hear her cries. Once deep inside the forest, the girl watched as her past unraveled before her eyes. She saw the girl she now recognized as her former self reach down to pick up the dog as she touched her throat to feel a rigid scar. “NOOO!” she cried once more. The shadow of a figure suddenly appeared in the forest and slit the prom girl’s throat. The darkness came one last time.
“Did you ever hear the one about the girl that died in these woods?” a young girl asked her friends as the glow of a campfire illuminated her face. Intrigued, her friends persuaded her to tell them the story. “Well they say on the night of her prom, a girl came out into the woods looking for her dog, and never came out alive. Her dress was already bloodstained by the time they found her. Single slice through the neck was how they did it. Of course,” she said as she leaned into the fire so the shadows made her look haunting, “they never found out who did it. Some people even think that it was a suicide. Anyway, it is said that she roams these very woods constantly reliving that night and searching for the life that she left behind.” The pack of girls all gasped at this news. Not believing the story they’d just heard, they got up to leave the campsite.
“Ouch!” one girl exclaimed, as a drop of crimson blood fell to the ground. As she looked down she saw a single red rose lying on the ground, amid a sea of weeds, in the very spot that a girl was said to be slain so many years ago.