Post by ultraviolet on Jan 7, 2007 18:57:27 GMT -5
I wrote this last year for school and got a decent grade for it, it's one of the few stories I actually /like/. It's a bit dragging, because I had to really stretch it to 1000 words, but I think it's pretty good. I wouldn't bother critiquing it, as I'm not likely to change it. anyway here it is.
Fall// [Jessica Chambers '06]
Amy took a deep breath, closed her eyes and jumped off the bridge.
She could feel and hear the wind whistling through her hair and clothes as she hurtled to what would be certain doom. She could imagine her body on impact – she knew that water was like cement when hit at high speed. She shook that thought out of her head. She was doing this for a reason, to end it all.
She opened her eyes.
Amy took in the scenery, the forest on either bank of the lake, the long grass, the deep brown lake and the sounds of native birds. She humored herself for a moment – here she was, flying towards probable death and she was taking in the scenery. That was typical of her, she was naturally observant.
She had read somewhere that 80% of suicide victims realize that they can solve their problems after they’ve actually jumped or at the point of no return. She felt slightly sick at this thought. She had heaps of problems at home and at school, and so far nothing had come to her yet.
None of the other kids or her family would have expected her to do something like this – it was way too out of character. She would never have jumped, her parents said. She was always so shy, so timid and quiet. She usually passed her time by reading or something.
She didn’t think she was weird in any way – the other kids at school did though. She was the only introvert in a class of extroverts. And boy did she pay for it, through teasing and bullying. Her parents thought she was disturbed or a problem child, her peers thought she was weird and her teachers thought she was a psychotic recluse.
Maybe this would solve everything. Doing something like this, ending all the teasing, the weird looks, just because she was different. In her world she was normal; she liked to be just the way she was. Maybe she should be like everyone else, and be loud and annoying.
Just because she didn’t talk as much as everyone else, she was constantly annoyed, bullied and teased. Either that or she was ignored, or not included. She preferred this to teasing, but still, it hurt to find that people wouldn’t even try to get to know her, and rather just ignore her.
She was ignored and exiled by her peers for being shy.
This’ll show them, she thought. I can do something bold and daring just like everyone else. Jumping off a bridge though? Perhaps I went too far...
At this point she was starting to have regrets; was this really the right decision? Will I be ok? What if this doesn’t solve anything? Will I survive?
Perhaps being alone wasn’t so bad…
But was it really?
There was no-one else like her at school. She was completely alone at every lunchtime, every recess, every time there was group activity, she was the last choice, a last-option approach. Not that she like any of these things, when her lonesome was so obvious, but still, she had always wondered.
Why wasn’t there anyone like her at school? Was she just born different, was it genetics? Was it her ‘destiny’? She didn’t really believe in those sorts of things. Why was she so different? Why?
She had gone through this conversation in her head for what felt like a million times. It was always the same dead ends, the same frustration.
She often felt like screaming.
Amy realized this was the perfect opportunity to scream, so she did so.
She felt better, and let her mind wander, her clothes rippling in the wind. This wasn’t so bad, she felt like she could do this forever. Her mind floated towards her family.
They were the apple-pie type of family, wholesome, the ‘perfect’ family, always happy and never had any problems. Amy felt like a problem. She wasn’t like her family. They were all puzzle-nights and board games, having fun as a family, always in a group that stuck together, that went bowling, to the park, walking the family dog, having the whole ‘family fun’ stereotype.
Amy was a sit-in-the-corner-and-read-a-book kind of girl, reserved, a natural observer, an introvert, and only spoke when needed be. It’s not that she didn’t want to speak; she just didn’t feel the need to say every little thing that popped into her head, like everyone at school did. She was proud of her grades, she was a smart girl, and took interest in everything she did, except socializing. I guess I can’t be good at everything is what she often thought.
Unfortunately, her brightness was another way to attract attention to bullies, who liked to call her a bookworm, point out why she didn’t have glasses like the stereotypical nerd, and generally be a pain. The teachers of course put a stop to this, but couldn’t help but noticing that this happened nearly every day, every second day, practically whenever she was in contact with any other child of her age.
She didn’t follow the ‘trends’; she wasn’t a sheep. When everyone was interested in the new collectible/movie/TV series, she read her books.
They never grew old, and they were her only friends. They could take her away in a new world, a new time or dimension, while a yo-yo or soap opera only entertained someone for, say, 30 minutes at the most? She was practical, and she thought ahead.
Perhaps she was psycho, or disturbed. She didn’t really know, she didn’t know much about psychology, though it greatly interested her. It explained why she was different, why she didn’t like to socialize, and…why she had jumped!
She panicked. She was psycho. There wasn’t much she could do about it now; it was too late to turn back. It was hopeless. She realized her situation. There was nothing she could do.
For the first time she could remember, she gave up.
She was now approaching the water at great speed now. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and prepared for impact.
The bungee cord tightened, and then bounced slightly. It suspended her about two feet above the lake.
Fall// [Jessica Chambers '06]
Amy took a deep breath, closed her eyes and jumped off the bridge.
She could feel and hear the wind whistling through her hair and clothes as she hurtled to what would be certain doom. She could imagine her body on impact – she knew that water was like cement when hit at high speed. She shook that thought out of her head. She was doing this for a reason, to end it all.
She opened her eyes.
Amy took in the scenery, the forest on either bank of the lake, the long grass, the deep brown lake and the sounds of native birds. She humored herself for a moment – here she was, flying towards probable death and she was taking in the scenery. That was typical of her, she was naturally observant.
She had read somewhere that 80% of suicide victims realize that they can solve their problems after they’ve actually jumped or at the point of no return. She felt slightly sick at this thought. She had heaps of problems at home and at school, and so far nothing had come to her yet.
None of the other kids or her family would have expected her to do something like this – it was way too out of character. She would never have jumped, her parents said. She was always so shy, so timid and quiet. She usually passed her time by reading or something.
She didn’t think she was weird in any way – the other kids at school did though. She was the only introvert in a class of extroverts. And boy did she pay for it, through teasing and bullying. Her parents thought she was disturbed or a problem child, her peers thought she was weird and her teachers thought she was a psychotic recluse.
Maybe this would solve everything. Doing something like this, ending all the teasing, the weird looks, just because she was different. In her world she was normal; she liked to be just the way she was. Maybe she should be like everyone else, and be loud and annoying.
Just because she didn’t talk as much as everyone else, she was constantly annoyed, bullied and teased. Either that or she was ignored, or not included. She preferred this to teasing, but still, it hurt to find that people wouldn’t even try to get to know her, and rather just ignore her.
She was ignored and exiled by her peers for being shy.
This’ll show them, she thought. I can do something bold and daring just like everyone else. Jumping off a bridge though? Perhaps I went too far...
At this point she was starting to have regrets; was this really the right decision? Will I be ok? What if this doesn’t solve anything? Will I survive?
Perhaps being alone wasn’t so bad…
But was it really?
There was no-one else like her at school. She was completely alone at every lunchtime, every recess, every time there was group activity, she was the last choice, a last-option approach. Not that she like any of these things, when her lonesome was so obvious, but still, she had always wondered.
Why wasn’t there anyone like her at school? Was she just born different, was it genetics? Was it her ‘destiny’? She didn’t really believe in those sorts of things. Why was she so different? Why?
She had gone through this conversation in her head for what felt like a million times. It was always the same dead ends, the same frustration.
She often felt like screaming.
Amy realized this was the perfect opportunity to scream, so she did so.
She felt better, and let her mind wander, her clothes rippling in the wind. This wasn’t so bad, she felt like she could do this forever. Her mind floated towards her family.
They were the apple-pie type of family, wholesome, the ‘perfect’ family, always happy and never had any problems. Amy felt like a problem. She wasn’t like her family. They were all puzzle-nights and board games, having fun as a family, always in a group that stuck together, that went bowling, to the park, walking the family dog, having the whole ‘family fun’ stereotype.
Amy was a sit-in-the-corner-and-read-a-book kind of girl, reserved, a natural observer, an introvert, and only spoke when needed be. It’s not that she didn’t want to speak; she just didn’t feel the need to say every little thing that popped into her head, like everyone at school did. She was proud of her grades, she was a smart girl, and took interest in everything she did, except socializing. I guess I can’t be good at everything is what she often thought.
Unfortunately, her brightness was another way to attract attention to bullies, who liked to call her a bookworm, point out why she didn’t have glasses like the stereotypical nerd, and generally be a pain. The teachers of course put a stop to this, but couldn’t help but noticing that this happened nearly every day, every second day, practically whenever she was in contact with any other child of her age.
She didn’t follow the ‘trends’; she wasn’t a sheep. When everyone was interested in the new collectible/movie/TV series, she read her books.
They never grew old, and they were her only friends. They could take her away in a new world, a new time or dimension, while a yo-yo or soap opera only entertained someone for, say, 30 minutes at the most? She was practical, and she thought ahead.
Perhaps she was psycho, or disturbed. She didn’t really know, she didn’t know much about psychology, though it greatly interested her. It explained why she was different, why she didn’t like to socialize, and…why she had jumped!
She panicked. She was psycho. There wasn’t much she could do about it now; it was too late to turn back. It was hopeless. She realized her situation. There was nothing she could do.
For the first time she could remember, she gave up.
She was now approaching the water at great speed now. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and prepared for impact.
The bungee cord tightened, and then bounced slightly. It suspended her about two feet above the lake.
It was kinda funny, though. ^_^
