Story of Teenage Dream – The Lost Earring
Photo credit: pinkladybug from morguefile.com
It was very strange, that evening. How strange I couldn’t tell. As usual I was walking the straight monotonous road that led to my house from school. As usual I was gloomy. Gloomy about what? Even I didn’t know. Maybe it was because I had lost one of my earrings earlier that day or maybe it was being a troubled 15 year old girl that really bothered me. Confused, lost and there was always something that was less. I was always intervened, not just by people but by my feelings too. I was sad.
But that evening it felt like there was something sadder than I was. Undoubtedly it was the atmosphere. It was too cold and too dark for a summer evening. The sky was clouded and it looked like it was gonna rain. The path ahead of me seemed rather long. There was something wrong with the way the situation stood, apart from the fact that I was surprisingly alone in the middle of the road. I couldn’t spot another thing with a heartbeat. I was scared even though there was no one to hurt me. The exaggerated sounds of leaves rustling against the wind made it seem like an intense scene from a scary movie. I continued walking, a little afraid, a little sad. I drew my hands higher to look at my ashen palms.
Didn’t know how long I had been looking at them like they were a book but after a while a tiny cold drop of water fell on my left palm. I clenched my hand as it took me by absolute surprise, as if it appeared there out of the blue and didn’t fall. I checked my eyes and I wasn’t crying. I looked up to realize it was drizzling. I started walking as fast as I could, for I had to reach home before the rain got worse. No sooner did I decide to walk faster than the rain grew heavier and heavier.
I moved to an edge of the road hoping the trees could make it better, which they didn’t. I moved to the left edge, I was sure because I passed the almost-a-century-old post office building which was ironically deserted that day, also my hand in that direction was still clenched. It was a short walk home so I didn’t give up on the walking. I kept walking briskly against the rain, breathing heavily with my mouth wide open. I kept walking until.. until i saw a figure sitting, a few meters away, on a bench on the other side, exposed to the wild rain that was happening. From what I could see I was convinced it was a girl, a little older than me perhaps. She was dressed in black which went perfectly with the atmosphere. Her head was bent and her hands were on her thighs. She was deeply involved in looking at her palms, which were also exposed to the rain. It was creepy because I was doing the same thing a minute ago.
The rain piped down a little and I could open my eyes tad wider. I understood she noticed me too, for she raised her head and I knew she was looking at me through her pitch black hair. I couldn’t see her completely but I had a feeling that she was familiar. There didn’t seem to be anything dangerous about her but she didn’t look convincingly harmless either. I thought about assisting her but something about her was repulsive. Maybe the sorrow kindling atmosphere exaggerated the sadness in her a little bit. As I had no other strong inferences, I concluded that she was one of the girls from my school. For whatever reasons, I decided not to face her. I couldn’t help noticing that as I was moving forward, her head was turning with me too. I felt a chill run up my spine.
When I finally ignored and made-believe it didn’t mean anything, she stood up and I instinctively turned back. I could see clearly that there was something in her hand, something white. She was rock still and so was I. We both stood there for a moment, drenched and facing each other. I had a feeling that the whole situation had already happened to me, maybe I read it in a book or saw it in a movie. I couldn’t recall. She made the first move. With every step she was taking my heart was beating a little louder. When she was about an arm length close to me, I was certain I knew her so well, but I couldn’t see her face yet. Though the rain grew lighter it didn’t help in making the state brighter. She held out her arm handing out a soaked and crushed white paper. I was terrified to see the gruesome condition of her arm. My urge to see the face behind her hair was killed. I took the paper from her hand barely daring to touch her. She sighed with relief. I didn’t want to open the paper in her presence. I looked blandly at the paper that was now in my hands, not knowing what to do next or say.
I finally decided what to say and raised my head. What I saw next shook me to my very soul. Her hair was no more on her face. I screamed loud, but I couldn’t hear it. I screamed again and I couldn’t hear that either. I ran away throwing the paper on the road. I kept running for my life. I could feel her chasing. I wanted to run home and never think about it again but it felt too late. I lost track. I was in a lane I had never seen before in the neighborhood. Whatever the place was, I had to get out of there. There was no other promising route other than the one through which I entered. I darted my eyes around in search of something I knew I wouldn’t find. I found something else instead. In a puddle a little ahead of me, was lying my lost earring. I was confused but somehow managed to retrieve the earring. I knew that with every second I was wasting in thinking she was getting closer to me. I turned back as there was no way ahead. I was breathing heavily and then I saw her face clearer than ever. There that face that might as well be a mirror. In one last try, I screamed. I heard it this time.
I pushed my eyes open. I was on my bed drenched in sweat, trembling with my hands across my chest. I ran to my dressing table and realized that my lost earring remained lost. I crashed on my bed with a pulsating head. If only I read that paper.
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