I stare at her with a deep pain building in my throat. She crosses her thin arms and rolls her eyes at me, disgusted with my very presence. “I…made this for you…” my hands shake and I nervously give her a albeit poorly drawn card, that I tediously designed. The front of it was just a simple heart, but the inside I had written her my feelings: “I love you, I will always love you, please tell me you love me too” She opens the card and scoffs as she balls it up. She throws it in the trash, turning to walk away from me. I run after her and grab her hand, but she pulls it away. With her other arm she pushes me to the floor. “I will never love you, you disgust me, I can’t stand to look at your face” she says, eyes full of pure hate. “But…mommy please” I beg “NEVER call me that again” she spits at me and leaves the room. I ball up on the floor and hold myself there, alone with my tears.
How do you find the perfect pet at Fogerum’s Giant Pet Emporium? A ten foot tall puppy would be too much to handle on walks, plus the poop pick up would be a nightmare. A cat would use your trees as a scratching post, and if it napped on the roof of your house it might cave in. You could ride on the back of a giant snake, but it may see your friends as a snack, and don’t even talk to me about the tarantula. You might find a giant bunny a good companion, that is if you don’t mind the holes in your yard. Don’t bother asking mom for a rat, the answer will be no. In my humble opinion the best pet to get for someone who has a large backyard pool would be a goldfish you can swim with and ride on its back. Trips to the beach would be epic!
Salads would be easier to eat now if it weren’t for the texture. I was devastated learning I’d never be able to enjoy a Big Mac again, a stupid condition I had developed last year took away my ability to taste food. My friend Farah told me I should look at the bright side of this, that I could drop the sixty extra pounds that have been literally weighing me down so much easier now. I did try to focus on that. I didn’t realize that a burger would still FEEL better in my mouth.
The sensation of chewing my meal was not only all I had left of the eating experience, but it was like I could feel the food in my mouth even more now that the taste wasn’t distracting me from it. Salad was still out. My family said I was being selfish, that I could have taken this set back and gotten healthier, start fitting in with the popular girls. None of the women in my family were below a size 20, and we were on the shorter side to boot.
Family get togethers were the worst, I could feel the heat of my aunt and cousin’s stares as I’d eat a couple of hotdogs, or go back for a second plate of ribs. My uncles and grandfather made comments and jokes at my expense. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to lighten the mood or actually found my situation funny. Either way it didn’t make me feel any better. Mom and dad said nothing. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it wasn’t.
Grandma was the only one to really support me. “Don’t worry about it Layne, if you started losing weight they’d be pissed that you were skinny and how unfair it was. People have a way of making everything about themselves and will find things to be upset about” she told me one evening while we were the only ones to sit out of a family game of touch football. It made losing her that much more painful.
It really wasn’t that hard once I started, though I will admit I was scared to try at first. The boy was a close friend of mine, I invited him over to my house where we went to the basement for some privacy. He looked at me, surprise in his eyes, with a nervousness that I felt too. Our hearts beat rapidly, as I pulled off his shirt. “Don’t…stop” he said in between exasperated breaths. I smiled coyly as he looked down at me. That’s when I knew I had made the right decision to make him my first kill. I thought the blood would make me squeamish at first, but it was all too easy to ignore once his screaming took my attention. I will say this: next time I’ll drag it out longer, he only lasted forty-two seconds.
We feed off of each other, our spirits intermingled in a dance. We cling to that knowledge we have held onto since birth. We struggle to release the doubts we have come to interpret. I am at a loss of self, as are you, finding only where our bodies greet each other. We are but one of many in this race against time, against what inevitably will happen. Struggling to persevere every ounce of one another. So much is wasted with hours, weeks, spent arguing. When that loss is achieved, only then do we learn our mistake, yet the mistake is always repeated.
I sit here waiting for him to marry me after all of these years. He will come, you will see. My bridal party and all of the guests have left, from the world before and this next. Even the priest could not display the level of patience I have, everyone is gone. Still, any moment he will walk down that isle ready to wed me with a full heart. Soon I will leave this overgrown grave, and will no longer be mocked by the teenagers who come to mock the forgotten bride. Who will they have to torment after I leave? Not I! I will be long gone from here and they will be the fools then. I wonder where he will take me for our honeymoon?
I am desperate, The agony is unbearable, My grasp quenches the urge to tear this man apart, A gentle breeze would be enough to persuade me otherwise, Were I not so heavily set in place I might have given his death hasty aid already, His eyes nearly roll into the back of his skull just on the cusp of death, Yet still he receives enough oxygen to stay death’s hand, The blistering sun shades me from my freezing veins, We are locked in a never ending game of life and death, Who will give first?
There was a collective gasp of dread and concern. “I’m fine, it’s not my blood” I wiped it off of my face best I could as Jim and I bolted the door back up. Michael stepped out from behind Sarah “you weren’t bitten?” his little voice trembled. I bent down to meet his eyes “of course not, those things don’t like the taste of your old dad anyway, I’m too musty” I roughed up his hair as he took my words lightly. It wasn’t fair for a five year old boy to live like this.
“Did you find them?” Devin asked “no” was all I replied as I walked into the kitchen with my bag “Haven’t we struggled enough?” Harper shook her head as her husband Kyle yelled at me. “We are almost out of food, we’re having to travel every single night. The kids can’t take much more of this!” He spat. I stepped into him “don’t you think I know that? I’m doing the best I can!” I said. I knew Kyle was just exhausted and worried about his daughter Keira, heck she was barely younger than Michael and they both were at the end of their rope. Even so, we all were tired of Kyle’s crap.
Jim stepped in to diffuse the situation, much like he always did. “Hey it wasn’t a complete bust, we found some medicine and several cans of food” he said as he pulled the items out of his pack. I gave him a nod of appreciation. Kyle groaned and stomped off, his wife following behind him, giving me an apologetic look as she passed me.
Sarah touched my arm calmly “Thomas…I’m not sure we can move again tonight…the kids and Mr. Fenton aren’t going to make it much longer if they don’t get some rest, that I will agree on with Kyle even if he is a complete ass”. Before I could respond to Sarah, there was a loud banging at our the door. “They followed you?” Devin asked in horror. We all were at our weapons in seconds, save for Mr. Fenton who took the kids in the back room.
We had been smart, never leaving tracks, waiting for a long time before approaching the house everyone hid at. How did they manage to find us? I put my finger to my mouth, silencing everyone as I approached to unlock the door.
Dear Diary Geoffrey sat next to me at the park again today, we talked about Emily eating her boogers again, she’s so gross. We laughed, and sat there until his mom told him it was time to go home.
Dear Diary Geoffrey and I watched a frog in the pond at recess. He helped me get a stick out of my hair. I won’t tell him I put it there for him to get hehe. Emily ran by us and tried to see what we were doing, I told her to shove off.
Dear Diary Geoffrey asked me to wait for him after school tomorrow, he said he wanted to talk to me about something very important.
Dear Diary Well I got suspended from school, but it really wasn’t my fault. Geoffrey asked me for my help in asking Emily out, so I punched him in the face. Boys can be so ridiculous.
The lights cascade from branches elegantly as I finished setting the table. Noble creatures from all seven realms would be in attendance, no one wanted to miss the union of Princess Amara Leafelle and Grey Jaspera. I stepped back to admire my work. Candles hugged the middle of the table warming the space from the cold. I only prayed that the bride and groom would be pleased with the setting.
