His short chestnut hair sits haphazardly atop his heavy set brow. Beautiful brows that most would do anything to have and his eyes shine like a pot of swirling melted chocolate in the sun. His beard fills the lower portion of his angled face and is soft to the touch, thick and full, and just long enough to grip with the tips of your fingers. Plush pink lips hide slightly behind his mustache, and when he smiles, his entire face brightens. When he turns his head you can see his gaged ears and broad shoulders, perfect for soft warm hugs.
I was having a great day so far, I made myself some coffee and sit myself at the bay window located at the back of my parents Victorian styled home. I like looking out this window because it faces the woods behind in the backyard. The room I’m sitting is wallpapered with blue flowers and ornate couches sit opposite each other with a beautiful mahogany table between them. My mom always keeps a little silver tea set in the center for decoration. I flip my book open in my lap, and delve right in. I love getting up before everyone else to sit in the peace and quiet. I like to do this every Sunday morning, it’s really the only time that the rest of the family sleep in, which just means more alone time for me. That all changed though, when I hear my little whirl wind of a sister come bounding down the old wooden stairs, they creak loudly in protest. With a sigh I try to dive back into the story but the sounds of clinking in the kitchen are distracting. What is she doing in there? I wonder trying to lean back enough to see into the kitchen but to no avail. I don’t have to wait long until my sister trots into the room with a big glass of iced tea, she smiles a wide toothy grin at me, dimples showing. She’s still in her pink night gown and her brown hair braided on either side of her face. “Good morning!” She sings almost dancing as she makes her way to me from the other side of the room. “Morning.” I grumble irritated that my quiet time is gone, even though it had barley started to begin with. I wasn’t expecting to be showered in ice cold tea only a moment later. I gasp loudly and throw my book down on the bay seat and stand up. Looking down the entire front of my shirt is drenched. My sister now on the floor looks up at me with wide eyes, from what I can see she had tripped on the coffee table’s leg and now I’m soaked in tea because of it. I turn slowly to her with a glare and she smiles sheepishly at me. “Sorry?” She squeaks. “All I wanted was a lazy Sunday, but now I have to kill you.” I growl and then the next moment she’s up and I’m chasing her. Taking every corner a little to fast and I try to not to slip with my socked feet. “Mom!!” My little sister screams running for the stairs. “Oh no you don’t!” I yell after her and just at she got the stairs I got ahold of her arm and then we’re rolling on the floor while I give her a wet willy she’ll never forget. “EWW!!” She screams and tries to wiggle away. “You could of ruined my book!” “I’m sorry I didn’t mean too!” The sound of foot steps from atop the stairs freezes us. “What is going on?! It’s to early for this” my mom grumbles down at us with her coldest glare. I release my sister and we apologize while standing up. “I don’t care what happened just keep it down, you guys are old enough to work it out on your own.” She snips at us. “Yes mother” we say in unison and slink off back into the bay windowed room with only the sound of my moms grumbling behind us. My sister looks at and I at her and we laugh.
It’s finally happened, she finally got away. Her bare feet pound against the dirt and grass of a wide open field. Behind her the small shack like house grows farther in the distance behind her. It had been years that she had been trapped there, hidden away in a small dank room with only a small blanket for comfort. She had been taken two years ago by the horribly toxic couple that reside in the house that’s barley a speck on the horizon anymore. They thought it easier to just take a child then to work to have their own. She doesn’t loose pace once, it will only be so long before they realize she’s gone, so she needs to keep going, no matter what. Tears break free of their damn and stream down her cheeks in small rivers. Her breaths come out sharp and exhausted but she keeps her face. The field ends at a patch of woods and just on the other side a road. That road leads to the nearest town which means, salvation. She wipes at her cheeks trying to dry them but it useless, she can’t stop running nor crying at this point. It’s finally happening, she was almost free, after two long years of working to the bone on their farm and living through the beatings the husband would inflict on her if she didn’t finish her work on time, or just when he felt like it. She hits the edge of the woods sooner then she realized and only slow to jump over roots and rocks that are in her way. It’s not to far now, she can see the road through the copse of trees ahead. Her steps stumble at the sound of gunshots but their not close it sounds far off, that means they know. She pushes her aching legs harder, she’s almost there, one step, then two and her next step she’s on the on the rough pavement of a backroad. She doesn’t stop to think as starts down the road away from their farm. Her heart beats so rapidly she feels like it will fall out of her chest, but she needs to keep going, she wants her family back, her mom, dad and little brother. She would give anything to see them again to feel their warmth and love. The sound of wheels appear behind her on the road and she quickly looks over her shoulder in fear. All she can think is that they found her and she’s done for, but to her great relief it’s not, it’s an elderly couple in a small off green car. She stops and turns waving her hands calling out for them to stop. They pull over to a stop but she can see the apprehension on their faces. The older woman steps out before the man and then her tears blur her vision for a moment and calls out for their help, begging them. She can see the elderly woman’s blue eyes mist over at the sight of the of her, she knows she’s covered in bruises and mud and who knows what else. The elderly woman turns with a resolute nod and quickly pulls a thick knitted sweater from the backseat and moves to her then pulls it around her. She falls into her warm embrace and now..she’s free.
The sound of my heeled footsteps echo through the empty halls of Fairview High. It’s a Saturday, so not many others are here, mostly custodians and teacher like me trying to catch up on ungraded tests. They honestly could be done at home but sometimes it’s nice to get away, there are to many distractions to be had at home. The hall is wide, lined with blue lockers littered with various posters depicting teamwork and motivational phrases on the walls. Classroom doors are spotted through out the lockers and I can see mine only just a head. The door is slightly ajar, which is odd, I always lock it. I slow my steps, feeling a little apprehensive. Looking back up the hall I just came from to see it’s still empty. I shake my head feeling ridiculous, a janitor probably came by and cleaned it and probably forgot to lock it. The sound of typing stops me thought, from fully pushing the door open, there’s someone inside. With a creased brow I peak inside, and try with all my might not to gasp loudly, not wanting to alert the figure sitting at my desk. Thankfully the typing continues and I take a moment to look at this person. To my horror the figure looks just like me, down to the messy bun atop my head, my jacket with the same fray on the right cuff, right down to my favorite pair of heels peaking from under the desk. My heart skyrockets as the woman, who is me, but also is not, turns and makes eye contact. I can barley breath as she stares right though me. Then a hand falls onto my shoulder and I can’t stop myself from shrieking loudly. “Woah woah” the man connected to the hand says raising his hands in surrender. With my hand over my rapidly beating heart I turn and see Jonah, the school’s history teacher. Probably here for the same reason I am and just happened on me staring into my office like I’ve lost it. “Oh, hey Jonah, you scared the life out of me.” I mumbled embarrassed beyond belief. “Yea sorry about that” he chuckles running a hand through his chestnut hair then looks to my office door which still lays ajar. “What were you doing? If you don’t mind my asking” I turn back to the door and peak inside and to my astonishment, it’s empty. Nothing out of place, even the chair is fully pushed in. I feel like I’m going insane. I shake my head to clear my racing thoughts. “Oh um, nothing, I thought I saw someone, but I think it was just my imagination” I turn to him with a smile and I can feel my cheeks warm. “Just means I need to get more sleep” I laugh and fold my hands in front of me, mostly because I don’t know what to do with them. “I hear you on that, I came in to finish up some last minute tests.” He smiles and pats my shoulder as he starts making his way around me. “See you later!” He waves and I return it over my shoulder. Now that my heart rate is slowed to normal, for the most part I turn back to my door. I still feel nervous to go in, I’ve been tired before but never to the point of hallucinating. I finally decide that whatever it was, it had to be a fluke or trick of the light. I push the door fully open to my empty office, leaving the door open and telling myself it’s not because I’m scared, I make my way around my desk. I plop into the chair ungracefully and test the mouse to see if my computer is really off or just asleep. To my dismay the screen blinks on with a swipe of the mouse, the screen shows a window open containing my email. I shake my head confused, I know I turned this off yesterday on my way out. There was a pop up with a newly composed email, it was cc’d to everyone in the faculty. I feel myself grow cold at the contents, this email was full of horribly inappropriate pictures of..me. There were many and a lot of them are with men I have no recollection of. I know I never took any of these x-rated selfies, in reality I consider myself quite boring. The only good thing is that it hasn’t been sent yet, I quickly draw the mouse up to the little trash icon and press it. It does nothing, I try again, still nothing. Then the creaking of my door freezes me in my spot. Slowly looking up I see her. Me, but not really. She’s standing behind the door, slowly closing it shut. It locks into place with a resounding click, and my heart stutters. The mirrored women walks slowly towards me, her heels echoing in the small room. She stops just on the other side of my desk and bends at the waist and smiles at me. It’s looks off, for the first time she doesn’t look exactly like me, her smile is too wide, curling at the edges. Her arm comes forward and I can’t get myself to move an inch. I can’t stop staring into her eyes, it feels like I’m being pulled into a endless void of darkness and despair. Then there’s another click and she’s gone and I can move again, breath again. My breath comes out shaky and my eyes well with tears. I can feel a thin film of sweat covering my entire body. I run my hands over my face and rub my eyes to wipe away the almost tears. I blink and slowly try to ground myself, but it’s useless because the moment I look at the screen again my heart stops. The large box that once held the composed email, is now empty except for one word, sent.
The field was empty apart from three young women. It’s a large field secluded from the rest of the world and bathed in moonlight. Fireflies dance across the clearing, sparkling prettily, dancing to their own tune. The bright moon’s light casts itself beautifully across the field and the women alike. They hold their arms high above them soaking in the radiant energy the moon casts down of them. A light breeze rustles the trees surrounding the clearing and the fire between the women gives a puff of smoke. One of the wood pieces crumbles under the pressure of the heat causing sparks to fly into the cool night air. The women clothes which were in all varying shades of black, blues and dark greens start to sway with a music only they can hear. Their bare feet move gracefully over the flattened grass as they twirl and dance around the flames. Each woman’s long hair seem to almost float around their peaceful faces as if they were underwater. With a few more turns from the women, they stop then shout to the moon above their heads, and with a flare of their hands they drop their offerings into the fire. It roars up and shoots high of them, washing their faces with warmth and light. With the moon shining brilliantly above, the women come together and hold hands then with a serene breathing and out, they smile to the moon.
I’ve noticed the opening along my walks through the forest trail many times but this is the first time I’ve ever decided to go down the small steep hill to the dark entrance. I already feel the prickly chill of goose bumps running up my spine and I’m not even to it yet. I brush it off and step closer to the darkness. I’m at the entrance to the tunnel before I know it and look in, and I could see no end. I touch the brick outlining the entryway, it crumbles slightly under my fingertips. This tunnel looks like it’s been here for a very long time, the woods have grown around and onto it, their vines swirling around the brick. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to start playing tricks on me when deep in the tunnel a pair of eyes appear. I rub my own hoping to not see what I had thought I did but they were still there, unblinking and looking straight at me. I take a step back, my anxiety growing. The eyes are moving now, getting closer, the closer it gets the farther back I step, until my heel connects with a root and I trip. I thankfully catch myself and look back at the dark abyss of the tunnel. The eyes blink and the sound of a small yip sends me running back up the small embankment and back onto the trail. Never looking behind me as I sprint towards home. Missing a small brown puppy trot out of the entrance, ears raised and head tilted in what could only be confusion.
The whirling gale pulls me this way and that. I can barley step without loosing my balance for every rush of the wind against me feels like I will take off into the frigid sky. The rain is painful as it pelts my back and I pull my thick jacket closer to me trying with hope to hide myself from the howling winds and the mad tempest that surrounds me. The trees lining the soaked pavement thrash wildly, they’re movement mimicking that of a furious monster ready to eat me whole. Looking up through the cover of my hood I finally see my door and give a sigh of relief. Though the storm only seems to worsen as I get closer. My door shines like a big red beacon of salvation and my hand only slips once when unlocking it. I dash in only to push heavily against the door to shut out the ferocity of outside. The lock clicks into place and I pull my soaking jacket from my shoulders, leaving it behind as I step farther into my warm cozy home.
It had only been a few days since she had gone missing. She was my best friend and now here I stand only steps from her body. Tears fill my eyes even as I try to hold them in. I wasn’t there when she needed me the most, so it was almost like a slap to the face that I would be the one to find her. People of all kinds move around the embankment, taping off the area as a crowd starts to form. I couldn’t make myself move from my spot, shivering from the damp air and the dark overcast above. Multiple people have tried talking to me but all I see is their mouth move but no words just the loud ringing and the fast pace of my heart. I look again as a couple police cover her body with a large tarp and surround it with small cones. I let out a shaky breath as tears finally break from my eyes like a damn. All I can see is her pale motionless hand peaking from beneath the tarp and tall grass and I crumble.
