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Monday, November 27, 2017

"Alone" by Rochelle-Leah N


Walking down a sidewalk alone, you may hear the rustle of the wind and the leaves behind you. Leaving you thinking that someone, or something might be following you. Imagine that scene being played repeatedly. Whether I was alone or with my family, I heard footsteps following behind. I'd always turn around to find no one ever there. I thought it could've been my young imagination, because of the constant scary movies I'd watch with my mother. Even so, through all my thoughts leading to that conclusion, the feeling of being monitored never went away. I couldn't sleep for months, and two hours of sleep became a nightly routine. I started to hear a constant voice, whispering in my ears, "Don't be afraid, I'm with you." What did that mean? Who hell was with me?  

I dealt with this paranoia for fourteen years. It took fourteen years for me to tell my mother. At first, she was confused as she tried to comprehend that her fourteen-year-old daughter was pleading insane. The solution was to send me to therapy twice a week. I've been going to therapy for two years now, and slowly the footsteps have died down and the voice disappeared.  
Now, I'm half way through a therapy session, a day before school starts. The creaks of the wooden floor repeat as my therapist, Mr. Heckler, rocks back and forth in his chair. His nose was deep in his cheap 3-subject notebook. I'm sitting on a therapeutic chair with my knees close to my chest. Mr. Heckler, would always take note of it, but I'd never put much effort to sit properly. 

 "Willow, ready for junior year?" Mr. Heckler asked scribbling away in his notebook. 
I answered with a simple shrug. School was never something I was enthusiastic about. I lost all my friends during freshmen year. 

"Anything you want to accomplish this year?" I took a moment to think thoroughly. 

"Gain friends," I replied with another note taken. 

"Have heard your whispers?" He asked nonchalantly.

"No, there hasn't been any," I replied monotoned hugging my knees closer. 

"That's good, that's all today," he snapped his notebook closed. I nodded and got off the chair. 

 Before he let me out he said, "I'm proud of your progress Willow," 

"Thanks Mr. H," I rubbed my left shoulder wanting to leave for home.  Mr. Heckler patted my back and I swiftly walked out of his office. I walked down the back of the hallway that seemed endless. My surroundings felt like I was in a mental hospital as I exited to an ally way.  
After sessions, I walk alone through a long narrow ally to reach my backyard. This was a normal routine my mom didn't care for.  My hands find their way to the pockets of my fitted jeans. Today, there was more trash on the pavement and new spray paintings were up on the Art Wall. Bold statements between every piece of graffiti from murals, small cartoons, and words.   
Once I reached my backyard fence, the smell of fresh paint became strongly pungent and I covered my nose. I looked up staring at the new art. The painting appeared to be a little girl made of puzzle pieces, but pieces were missing. She was sitting down crying; singular and isolated. I look closely to see the missing pieces of her, shattered. I had this gut feeling that we were connected. I was shocked that no initials were left behind to claim this masterpiece. Could it have been self-created? 

"Willow, come inside or you'll get jumped by those filthy hooligans," my mother nagged.

"Again mom, they aren't hooligans," I rolled my eyes as I flipped up the wooden board.  

"What do you call vandals ruining city property?" she started raising her voice. 

"Artists, the city lets them paint, it's not illegal," I squeeze in through the fence to the backyard.  

"I don't have time for this, go to your room," she sighed. 

I shrugged walking into the house. I entered my room locking the door and sat on the bay window, staring outside. Children were playing on their front lawns, and cars passed by. Complete silence drives me insane sometimes. I open my window to listen to the sound of life. Outside the birds are chirping, and the children across the street are laughing. Two years I've been the modern Rapunzel.   

Suddenly lighting struck catching my attention. A figure of a boy appeared in the middle of the street. No one saw him standing there. I couldn't tell if he was my imagination or if he was real. Then the door unlocked. Mother.  

"What's the point of locking a door for privacy, when you have a key?" I groaned.  

"What were you staring at?" she asked looking outside shutting the window.  

"Nothing," I say moving to my bed.  

"Where's your phone?" She began scrimmaging through my closet.  

"Don't you trust me?" I grabbed my cellphone from my pocket.  

"No, I don't think I can" she said grabbing my phone, then leaving. 

I locked the door once again placing a chair underneath the handle. Curiosity killed the cat, leading me back to my window. The sun had fallen and the figure I saw mere minutes ago, vanished. Now this left me time to think deeply. Wired to illusions of plain abnormality changing imagination. That the mind is just set up a different way for people like me. Spiders crawling inside, eating away parts of your brain on who you could've been. I'm sick with illness that can pull me away into a shallow pit of black. There's no cure, only drugs to seduce the crazy person inside. 
"I'm not insane, just scared," I repeat this to myself laying on my bed.  
The lies I continually proceed to tell myself every night. The lamp shade still on but starts to fade as my eyes close. Slowly but surely, I'm drifting to a world that I can control; my nightmares.   

















































































































15 comments:

  1. I love this. It is suspenseful and interesting to read. It keeps us readers entertained and wanting to read more.

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  2. Wow! This story was amazing. I loved how you could feel Willow's isolation. The detail you added really brought the story to live. For example, when you were describing the painting of the little girl and how there were pieces of her missing. You could really see how that little girl represent Willow, which was very insightful into her feelings.

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  3. Goodness gracious. As soon as I began reading I felt an eerie sense. I went through it wondering if she was insane, if demons were haunting her, or she just has emotional issues. The italics around, "Don't be afraid, I'm with you," made me want to jump because I felt as if someone was watching me too. The ending as well with the figure in the street and the spiders in her brain made my heart race and even jump a little. So suspenseful! Very well written piece.

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  4. The diction and imagery is so vivid, I got goosebumps just reading this. The way you portray every event in this story gives of an eerie sense as to what would happen next. Very well done.
    - Taylor Vasquez

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  5. This is truly an amazing piece and I believe that what greatly contributed to it was its omniscient point of view that really helped the story line be playing out in a way that the reader can get into Willow's mind and thought process that slowly builds and builds up to the final line.

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  6. I really loved how you made it feel like we were in the story. Your diction and imagery really made the story come alive as if we were experiencing this with you. This was very good and I enjoyed reading every detail.

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  7. WOW! Great job rochelle! I loved how creative this was and it made me feel like I was in that therapy session too! I really enjoyed your choice of diction and detail it really made this story very special and very real.

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  8. This was a great story and such an interesting read. The imagery you used really put me into the scene and made me partially hear the voices as well. I liked how you portrayed the relationship between the protagonist and her mother and therapist. It was interesting to see how they treated her knowing her circumstances. Overall, a great story!

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  9. This was a truly great piece. The detail and the imagery used really made the story come to life, which made it very interesting to read. Great job!
    -Eliana Rodriguez

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  10. This entry was really suspenseful. Right off the bat it foreshadowed that something suprenatural was following the character. All her thoughts, not knowing what to do with that, is understanding. It must be hard to understand something you can't grasp your mind around. I really enjoyed this entry. Good job!

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  11. Ooooo, what a spoopy story!! Your descriptions of the main character's long walks by herself and of the feeling of being followed are so detailed, its incredible. Your ability to convey how being along made Willow feel was truly captivating for readers, as well as the image of the little boy in the street. Amazing job !! - Imani Crenshaw, per. 2

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  12. I really enjoyed your piece! You conveyed the story very well and I felt suspense throughout all of the piece. What I liked most was the description of the painting and the girl made of puzzle pieces- the painting seemed to have lots of deep, underlying meaning to it. I'm still curious about what the true intent of the painting is, as well as who the artist was (and also if it has a special connection to the narrator). Great work!

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  13. Wow Rochelle this was so good. All your imagery and detail made me feel as if I was actually there. I loved how you described the character and just the plot of the story overall. Great work.

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  14. Rochelle this was soo great! The detail in this piece was so good! I loved it Great job!

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  15. This was a very exciting read! I felt that your use of imagery and dialog mixed perfectly and formed a picture right in front of my eyes.

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