This Life's A Little Melancholy

This is a a fiction story I wrote for my writing class back in high school

 

 

 

 

            It was a frigid night in New York City, it was the month of December. Kristina shivered as she listened to traffic pass her by, and the sound of peoples voices trailing further and further away from her as she walked. Every time someone would walk by her, Kristina would glance at the persons face. Looking for even a minute sign of happiness hidden there. She continued to walk until she reached the Brooklyn Bridge. She peered over the railing of the bridge to the water below. She backed up and sighed. Kristina reached her hand into her pocket, and pulled out a neatly folded piece of yellow paper, she unfolded it and read the note again to herself.

“Dear Kristina,

I want you to know you will always be dear to me. I will never forget everything we've done together. You are a truly amazing girl and I know one day you'll find someone who will treat you better than I ever could. I am truly sorry I couldn’t make you happy. I tried my hardest, I really did. I guess it just shows you your best really isn't your best and you can always be better. I'm sorry for being so distant the last two months of our relationship, I was in a bad place and since I'm writing this, well I guess I still am. I love you Kristina, and as confused about everything else I may be, I know that’s true.  I love you more than anything in this world, and I will continue to love you from the other side. I'm sorry, please take care of yourself. You’re beautiful, don’t you ever forget that.

         - Love Always, Brent

Kristina fell down onto her knees and sobbed. People passed her by like she was just some crazy teenage girl crying on the sidewalk. Kristina neatly folded the note and stuck it back in the pocket of her jeans. Kristina pulled out another note, and unfolded it.

“My name is Kristina Farmingdale, I'm seventeen years old and live on Watkins Ave...If I am able to be revived, don’t revive me.” Kristina's hands began to shake, her heart beat quickened and her breathing became heavy. “It's crazy how small little things can change your life forever, isn’t it? If this note actually survives my fall, here's a story just for you, whoever you are. Whether you are my mother, father, brother, or even a stranger, you get to read all about my pathetic little life, lucky you!” Kristina began to walk and read her note. “I live in the s**t town of Manhattan, I was born in Ohio, but my family moved here when I was eight to be closer to my aunt, who was suffering from MS. I'm in my Junior year of high school, and let me tell you don’t listen to anything that those movies say that high school is great or the best years of your life, cause their full of s**t. Pure 100% concentrated s**t. I never fit in, and cause of that I was bullied, severely. I picked up smoking which was a filthy habit to start I know. I don't think I did it to impress anyone, I just did it to piss off my classmates at lunch, which worked. I still remember the day a girl tried to get me to eat the cigarette butt.

            .           .           .

            “If you're going to smoke it, you're going to eat it.”

            “Over my dead body.”

            Rebecca ripped the cigarette out of Kristina's hands, and forced it near her mouth, Kristina fought back and pushed Rebecca away, but with that three of Rebecca's friends came over and held Kristina's arms, and forced her mouth open.  Kristina tried her hardest to fight back, but with three girls holding her back, Kristina's attempt was useless. The cigarette just touched her lips, and she felt the burn immediately.

            “Hey! The b***h bit me!” Rebecca dropped the cigarette and examined her hand.

            “It's bleeding! You psychopath!” One of Rebecca's friends had quickly grabbed their stuff, and ran off. Rebecca followed closely behind leaving her bag on the bench.

Kristina, still sitting on the pavement brushed her fingers over her lip, it was swollen and bloody.

            “Need a hand?” Kristina looked up to see a boy, of about 6'2, tan with buzzed black hair and brown eyes.

            “Sure, thank you.” He pulled her up and she brushed herself off.

            “I saw the whole thing, you can really handle yourself you know. I'm Brent, Brent Richardson.”

            “I'm Kristina”

            *          *          *

            Ahh yes, that was the night I met Brent. My knight in shining armor, only I had not known that yet. Him and I would talk for hours, and hang out after school. I cherished those days...

            Now, back to the nitty gritty.

I have a brother, but hes in jail for the murder of my father. I was nine years old my brother was Seventeen, my father was an abusive drunk man. Not just physically abusive either, he used to come into my room when I was five and do stuff to me, stuff I didn’t know wasn’t right, and one night... My brother John walked in...

            *          *          *

The door creaked open, the smell of alcohol quickly filled the tiny room, and heavy footsteps got closer to Kristina's bed.

            “Hey, Kristina sweetie, are you awake?”

The words were slurred together, so badly you almost couldn’t make it out.

Kristina stayed quiet in hopes he would leave, but he didn’t. He slid under the covers with her.

            “Kristina daddy had a long day, I need some father-daughter time with you.”

he slid his hand across her stomach Kristina pulled away.

            “No daddy, I don’t want to”

Her father became angry.

            “You do what I say!”

He grabbed her tiny wrists and pulled them together, with his other hand he pulled down her bottoms.

            “Daddy no!” Kristina was in tears trying to wiggle away from him, but it was no use, he had her pinned down.

            “Ow daddy that hurts!”

Her father ignored her cries of pain, the door opened, and her father was ripped off.

            “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

            “You mind your damn business Brian!”

Her brother punched her father, and he punched back and soon they were in an all out fist fight. It went from Kristina's bedroom to the hallway. Her father pulled out a knife, and tried to stick her brother.

            “And I’m the crazy one!”

Her father grabbed Brian and had him in a headlock, he moved the knife closer and closer to Brian’s neck. Brian was trained in hand to hand military conduct. He broke free of the headlock and shoved their father forward.

            “Oh s**t!”

Brian tried to grab him, but it was too late, he went toppling down the stairs and half way down you heard a blood curdling snap.

            “D..Dad?” Brian looked at the bottom of the stairs, where blood was trickling out of the mans mouth.

            “Kristina stay in your room!”

            *          *          *

 

            I remember that night as clear as day. I lost my father, and my brother. I only loved one and here is a hint, it wasn’t my father. I hope he is rotting in hell. I wont see my brother for another three years, well... He wont ever see me again, actually. I think about him everyday, and he calls me once a week to see how I'm doing. I never tell him the truth, I cant have him worrying from behind bars. I would always say “Oh I'm doing great! School is going so well, I have so many friends and I am so happy!”. That was all a lie, all of it. Not one bit of it was true. In reality, I was doing s****y, school was going terrible I was failing nearly everything, I had one friend, and I am depressed. I know I'm depressed. It's hard to talk, think, or eat when you want to kill yourself. When the nip of a razor no longer has an affect, and the pills they prescribe don’t work. I just wish I could go back to when things were simple. My family wasn’t always crazy, we did normal family things. That was, until my father had an affair with a co-worker which cost him his job, and the trust of his wife, my mother. My mother who was once so beautiful now looked as if she lived in the slums of Manhattan. Her once, luscious sleek black hair, is now overwhelmed with patches of gray. Her eyes that once contained the ocean, now only contain a pond. My point is, she looks atrocious, she looks nearly 60, not 45. Her heart of gold slowly turned into stone, and she hasn't been the same since.

            His hand slipped, rubbing the thigh of the red haired woman. He kissed her lips like he had done it a million and a half times before, with no remorse, or thought of the woman he had at home. His opposite hand slid up under her shirt, and reached for a breast, which he again caressed generously.

The door creaked open, a man dressed in a charcoal suit walked in.

            “Richard what the hell are you doing!?”

Just like that, it was gone. The passion of his adultery, and his job were both ripped from him in seconds.

 

            When he arrived home nothing was the same, his wife had received the call and that was when her heart of gold froze over. She had not even given him a chance to speak, all of his stuff was packed and out on the front porch. The front door whipped open, Rich walked into the kitchen where there mother, Samantha was cooking herself and the kids dinner.

            “Get out.” Her voice was cold and calm.

            “You cannot kick me out of my own house! I worked my whole life for this house, and those kids! You do not have the right to throw me out! I made this house, I made those kids, and I own you!”

 

Samantha looked up, with fire in her eyes. She pulled her arm back, and threw it forward, something went hurdling into the air, before it could be identified Rich clutched his arm and let out a cry of pain.

            “Are you crazy!? Stupid b***h!” He put his hand over the handle of the knife sticking out of his forearm.

 

Yet they still stayed together, after all that. His adultery, and his abuse afterward. After he has passed away mom said she only stayed with him for us, my brother and I. Well I don’t know how much of that is true, but I feel like a whole lot isn’t.  They would still have sex, and talk about adult stuff, and by adult stuff I mean bills and what to buy my brother and I for Christmas, or how they were going to get the money to pay for all this stuff since my father didn't work, and my mother only worked part-time cause the other half her time was dedicated to taking care of my brother and I. Not to mention half of their budget went to supporting my fathers alcohol addiction...

 

When I turned fifteen I started getting into drugs, and alcohol myself..

 

            “Your shot Kristina!” She picked up her seventh shot of tequila, and swigged it.

            “Come on, Brent its your line!” Kristina held up the glass under Brent’s nose while he snorted up the white powder, and slammed his head back and screamed.

            “Man! That stuff is great!” Kristina took her line and continued playing shots. While they were playing, a joint was passed around among the group of about twenty people. This party was supposed to be secluded, in the backwoods of upstate NY, they traveled 4 hours to go up to Brent's uncles cabin which he only used during the summer. Everything was going great, until Kristina collapsed on the floor and began to violently shake.

            “Oh my god Kristina are you okay!?” Brent knelt down by her side and grabbed her hand.

            “Someone call 911!” Tears were streaming down Brent's face

            Yeah, that's it. The story of how a fifteen year old girl almost died from drugs. I haven't touched them since that day, neither had Brent. When my mom found out what I had done, she forbid me from seeing Brent. Which didn’t matter, she was passed out by 8:00 which meant I would sneak out my bedroom window, and shimmy down the drain pipe. His house was only three blocks from mine, and the walk gave me some time to think. I often thought of leaving this god awful place, just up and leaving one day never coming home. Pack a duffel bag, take the $2,000 out of my bank account, get a bus ticket and let it take me wherever.

            Brent and I began going steady, and we were going strong for a good 9 months, but the last 2 months of our relationship he seemed very distant, too distant... I still remember the day I went to go see him cause he hadn't returned my calls in three days...

 

            “Hello Mrs. Borgreen, is Brent home?”

            “Hello Kristina! Yes, he is upstairs in his room he hasn’t been down all day though, he seems very depressed lately, maybe your presence will cheer him up.”

            “I hope so”

Kristina headed up the stairs and opened the first door on the left. The same thing she has done over a thousand times.

            “Brent?”

Kristina moved around piles of garbage and clothes that covered Brent's floor,  trying to make her way towards his bed.

            “Brent? Talk to me, please.”

Kristina sat at the foot of his bed and pulled back the blankets, Brent sat up abruptly, and shoved her off his bed.

            “Kristina please, go. Leave me alone. It isn’t you but I need to be alone.” Brent's voice was hard and cold. It wasn’t the sweet, masculine voice Kristina knew. This voice could blacken your heart.

            “Brent please its been three days and I am really starting to worry about you, I love you and I need to know you're okay.” Tears started to well in Kristina's eyes, but she chocked them back.

Brent sprung up and out of the bed, he grabbed Kristina's shoulders, picked her up and threw her against his wall.

            “Get. Out. Of. My. Room Kristina! I asked you nicely I told you to just leave me be but no I forgot you cant do that cause you are constantly up my a*s!”

Kristina shoved Brent off her and slapped him.

            “Don't you ever lay a hand on me! You want me gone, fine I'm gone!” Kristina turned to go and Brent collapsed down on his bed and muttered “I'm so sorry.”

 

            That was our worst fight.. and I blame myself for what happened next... Mrs. Borgreen called me the next day to inform me Brent was in the hospital, and it didn’t look too good. He chased a bottle of vodka with a bottle of pills and got behind the wheel of his moms Ford. I didnt even go to school, I ran straight to the hospital.

 

Kristina busted through the hospital doors, putting her hand on her chest trying to gasp for air. “What floor is Brent Borgreen on!?”

            “Who are you exactly?” An old receptionist had asked

            “My name is Kristina Farmingdale, I'm Brent's girlfriend.”

            “He's in ICU, room 105.”

Kristina ran to the elevator and pushed the up button, she stepped inside, hit floor six which was the ICU ward, and held the “door close” button, cause it keeps the elevator from opening on the way up.

 

When Kristina reached the floor, she didn’t even bother to sign in. She ran into Brents room and collapsed to her knees.

He was hooked up to morphine, bags of water and blood, he had an oxygen mask on, a tube down his throat, and his legs were rapped in casts. “oh my god, Brent” Kristina began to weep, a doctor walked in and put his hand on Kristina's shoulder. “I'm so sorry, we dont know if he is going to make it. Id give it about a 20/80 chance.” Kristina stood up and walked over to Brent, who was comatose. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

            “Brent, everything will be okay, please... I'm so sorry I wish you had talked to me!”

His heart monitor started to beep slightly faster, and slowed when he didnt hear Kristina.

            “Brent, I am going to go home now, my mother is going to kill me for coming here already, I will come back later I promise, I love you.”

The heart monitor beeped slightly faster once again, Kristina kissed him on the forehead and walked out.

                       *          *          *

            Kristina walked through the front door and collapsed on the couch she looked over to her jacket which was laying on the couch from last night, she noticed a yellow piece of paper sticking out of her pocket, she reached over and pulled it out.

           

            There it was, the note from him that started this crazy one, I have nothing more to say, I think I have told you enough. I'm so sorry...

Kristina sighed and crumpled the note back up, and stuffed it in her bag which she placed on the sidewalk. She looked once more over the bridge, she swung one leg over, then another. The only way she was still on the bridge was by the little ledge given on the other side. She gripped the railing and looked down. She released her grip, and pushed off. For a moment, she was weightless, there were no cares just falling downward towards the water below. “forgive me” Kristina screamed, then hit the water. She felt her ribs shatter and her lungs fill up with fluid, it was like a dream she had. She couldn't think for long before everything turned black and faded out...

 

 

 

                       But it wasn’t over.     

 

 

 

            Kristina awoke to the sound of beeping and rustling feet. She tried to sit up but was in too much pain . Her vision blurry, and a mouth full of tubes and the taste of metal.

            “Kristina Farmingdale, can you hear me? Blink twice if you can” an unfamiliar voice spoke, Kristina blinked twice to confirm she could, even though she was still groggy, and the voice was echoing.

            “Kristina, you’ve taken some very serious injuries. All of your ribs are broken, you have internal bleeding which for the most part we have been able to stop, there is severe swelling to the back of your head, which has caused you to go into seizures, fits, and black outs about thirty two times in the past week.”

Kristina rubbed her eyes and grabbed a paper and pen set next to her table, that was when she noticed she was in the ICU. She scribbled something down and handed it to the doctor. 

            “You’ve been here for 4 weeks, we have kept you medically induced, today is the first day we wanted to see how you would respond to interaction, to see if you have any signs of severe brain damage.”

It was quiet for a moment, when the doctor cleared her throat and spoke again.

            “ A man on a charter boat said he saw you jump off the bridge, if it wasn't for him, you would be dead right now... police also found your note.”

Kristina wouldn’t look at her, she couldn’t. She was ashamed to.

            “Kristina, we want you to talk to us, but we are allowing you time to recover from your injuries... You’re in the ICU, we apologize if it's crowded, we have run short of rooms and had to start putting two patients to a room, but this curtain will keep you guys separated don't worry, plus he isn't very chatty anyhow.”

Kristina nodded. 

The doctor grabbed her chart and walked out of the room, pulling the curtain behind her. Kristina was curious of who was in the bed next to her. She knew she didn't need to know, she knew she probably didn't know who it was. She was curious. Wondering if he was in there for the same reason she was, if he had tried to end his own life.

            Kristina stood up, her legs shaking, she clutched her stomach . She went to walk but got jerked back by the wires on her arms and tubes down her throat. She could move the IV machine, but couldn't move the breathing machine. She took a hold of the tube, counted down from three and yanked. Half way out it got stuck and she could not breathe. She did one last final yank. The tube came out, and she collapsed on the floor. Winded, and aching she let out a cry. Both of her hands now clutching her stomach she lay on the floor for a few moments.

            “Are you okay over there?” The voice from the other side of the curtain spoke.

Kristina recognized the voice immediately.

            “B...Br..”

Kristina could barley talk, pulling the tube out left her throat sore and dry. She was almost inaudable.

            “Brent.... is..that you?” Kristina stay lay on the ground, clutching her stomach with one hand, and trying to push herself up with the other.

She heard shuffling on the other side, the curtain swung open, she looked up and saw her knight.

            “Kristina! My god, what happened to you!?” Brent picked her up and sat her on her bed.

            “Brent I... I thought you were...” Tears started to well in her eyes.

            “Dead? Yeah I was legally dead for about five minutes. They resuscitated me though.”

            “They told me you were as good as dead.”

            “Doctors don't always know all, now do they?”

Brent stood up and pulled up his shirt, revealing a pink scar that extended from one end of his stomach to the other.

            “My god... what happened?”

            “They had to reconstruct my ribs, and pump my stomach.... but I am alright now... are you?”

Kristina looked down and sighed.

            “Brent, between thinking I lost you, and the demons over powering my mind, I tried to.....”

            “Shh, I know. I'm so happy you're okay.”

Brent hugged Kristina, careful not to hurt her.

            “I'm being released tomorrow... I promise I will come visit you everyday till you get out, then we will leave this town, this city.”

            “Canada” Kristina said with a smile

            “Wherever you wish, baby.”

 

                       *          *          *

 

Everyday for 2 months Brent was there, next to Kristina. He helped her through physical therapy, and the mental therapy she had to go through, after 3 months spent rehabilitating, they declared her sane and sent her back out into society.

 

                       *          *          *

 

Brent slammed the trunk down.

            “You ready to go Kristina?”

Kristina looked back at the house that was never a home, and looked at her mother looking out the window, who then stook up her middle finger and walked away.

            “Yeah, I think I am.”

Brent and her jumped into the little convertible, and started off on their journey.

            “I have $10,000 saved up for us Kristina, an apartment already saved for us and hopefully a job that pays well.”

Kristina leaned over and kissed his cheek.

            “That's great, I can finish school, get a job and live.”

            “ definitely , this place only cost $400 a month, and since I'm eighteen I can work full time.”

Kristina smiled and looked on past the horizon, she thought about all shes been through and where she is now. She knew happiness was finally headed her way. After all the bull she put up with for years, shes finally free. She can finally be happy, and so can he.

She turned on the radio, took his hand and counted down the miles to their home.