Author:
Stacia Legacie
11th
Grade
Educator: Heather Yarber
Fargo
She was beautiful and full of
light.
Was.
But now she sat alone in the
attic that once was her home, in a dress that once made her feel like the most
beautiful girl in the world. She cried softly, in front of the rusted old mirror
that held too many memories, wishing upon a lost star for the demon inside her
to go away. To find someone else to play with for the night as she dealt with
the loneliness that engulfed the remainder of her bleeding heart.
How could I thought that blissfulness
last forever? Was I that desperate—that alone?
She asked herself, not noticing
the reflection that flickered in front of her, that turned to look at the trail
of tears stripping away the once carefully applied makeup. This girl with
livened blonde curls was different. Beautiful even. With a face of happiness,
and a smile that once ached in the other girl's head—that once offered any
breathing soul a smile if they only dare gave her a chance.
The girl cradling herself still
didn’t look up. Not even when the girl in the mirror dripped from the cracks of
the broken mirror to stand before her, to gaze at the artwork that now was
splattered with the mistakes of life. She only dared to look when a cold breeze
raised the hairs on the skin of her bare arms.
“If only you had listened,
Piper.” The girl from the mirror breathed.
“I did.” Piper lied, not
wanting to feel the truth that would come.
“Then why are you here?” The
girl’s voice felt like a ghost’s, an unwanted ghost that only made it more of reality
as she created an invisible circle around the kneeling mess.
“Leave me alone.” She hiccupped,
not daring to turn around. “Please.”
She chuckled
softly—humorlessly, maybe now she would listen. “I told you this would happen.”
“I know, okay, I know but I
never thought it would happen to me.”
The standing girl tutted
softly, not an ounce remorseful as she held tight to the girl's shoulders with
her invisible nails. “Did you think that life would grant you all your wishes?
Redeem your mother from the reckless disease encasing her brain?” The girl in
the mirror was ruthless, yet, believe it or not, loved this girl with all her
heart. “This is life, there are no happy endings, no three wishes to grant, and
there’s not even a friend to hold your hand.” The girl leaned in closer,
breathing what little warmth she had onto Piper.
She knew of the cruelty of life
and how it was the apple, while Piper was forsakenly the ever-innocent Snow
White. Forever waiting for the Prince Charming that never existed.
“But she promised—promised me
she would always be here for me.” Piper muttered, her hands holding traces of
the hand that she used to hold. That, if here would protect her from the
sulking shadow that seemed to hang around her more and more as the nights
passed.
As if hearing her thoughts the
pacing stopped, a set of eyes watching as porcelain hands softly cradle the
other, as if she could protect herself from the lurking of her desolated
future. The mere thought of knowing what was crossing the young girl's mind made
her crouch in front of Piper, allowing herself to look into the eyes that were
once as pure and warm as a summer’s day. Now darkened by a storm cloud of the
darkest fortunes.
“Promises don’t exist Piper,
they’re as fake as the belief that the world is a good place. They are lies
that fill our head and cloud our judgment, it is what makes us believe in happy
endings.” Carefully—as to not upset her—her fingers softly play with the wisps
of her hair hanging across the leaning girls face. “Because in the end you will
always be completely and utterly alone.”
Piper looked up then, a nasty
sob racking her battered body. “Then why live if there is nothing to live for?”
The girl shook her head, a soft
smile tipping the ends of her lips. “There is something to live for. Me.” As
gentle as a lamb, the girl placed her hand on the other girl’s chest. Feeling
the steady heartbeat that no longer beat under her own rib cage.
For the first time, they looked
at each other then, and at the same time looked at themselves.
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