Noah's Day

A tribute to the movie "Groundhog's day"

The sunlight filtered through the open window to kiss thirteen year old Noah’s soft cheek as she slept fitfully. The wind that came with the warm rays was chilled, but pleasant. The girl stirred, her pale green eyes opening slightly to observe her once beautiful room. The walls had been baby blue, long ago, but had faded to gray. The mirror of her vanity was cracked and blackening, and the ceiling had holes in it, revealing broken pieces of wood and asbestos.

Pulling herself from the bed, Noah places her small feet on the cold cement floor of her room. It hadn’t always been cold. Years before, the floor had been covered in a deep blue carpet that fit her pale blue room well. It had been lush, warm, and fuzzy. She had enjoyed sitting on it reading in the early mornings as the sun came through her open window and danced on her golden hair. Everything had been warm. But now it was lost. The warmth was gone, and in its place a new feeling emerged. It was a feeling of constant chilliness that never seemed to dissipate from the girl’s body. The carpet along with many other things the girl had once enjoyed had long since decayed and turned to dust.

Noah moved to her closet, pulling on the rusted door knob in a somewhat futile attempt to dislodge the closet door from its rotten wooden frame. It popped open after a few minutes, spewing dust and wood particles into the air. They danced in the light from the window for a few seconds before falling to the barren floor. The girl went into the closet and dug around in it until she found a light auburn dress, one that her mother had made her, in a storage box. It was in pretty good condition with only a few rips and tears in the seams. She pulled the itchy nightgown off and slid on the silky brown material. It didn’t really come to her as a surprise that the dress would be there. It was always there. Sometimes she wore other outfits she managed to throw together, but soon gave up because she found it pointless to keep changing it up when she knew it wouldn’t matter.  Noah decided she would ignore the clothing. She would ignore everything this time. Today was a day of obliviousness. Today she would meet her parents again.

                Today Noah would die.

The girl stepped out of her bedroom door into the soft rays of the sun. It was high noon by its position in the sky. The rest of the house had all but fallen away. All that was left was the remnants, like chunks of old dead wood and a few items of clothing that had once belonged to her parents. Today she wasn’t going to cry. Noah looked over towards the edge of the large hill her parents had built the house on. It used to overlook the neighbors but now it was just an empty valley. 

All along the bottom of the valley were wild flowers of all colors and plants sprouting threw rusted out cars and wrapping around the dusty ruins of buildings. They lived off the chaos, off the death of the city she had once lived in. It was nature’s city now. Noah scowled down at the wildflowers, their once bewitching scent now thick and sickly sweet. It made her want to vomit. She hated those flowers. She hated the scent. To her, that was what hell smelt like. Her own personal, beautiful hell.

Noah moved along the rim of the hill her house once sat on, moving across it to view a huge gorge that sat next to her bedroom. Her mother and father had loved the view, and didn’t care that it was dangerous. This was the best spot in town and they wanted a house here. They got their wish. Noah didn’t understand why she couldn’t have hers.  She stood on the edge of the large gorge, which opened up like a huge mouth. The ocean was right below. Huge jagged rocks grew from the sides of the cavern, like sharp, gruesome teeth. Noah sucked in a deep breath, the salt stinging her lungs. The wind blew her  long black hair about her, whipping it into her face. The lithe girl moved a little closer to the edge. Her pale skin was dampened by the sprinkles of water the wind carried to her. It was nice. She moved even closer, her toes gripping the rocky edge of the cliff.

Her stomach knotting tightly, Noah stared out at the horizon. Empty.

Taking another deep breath, Noah stepped off the ledge.

Memories flooded back to her as time finally felt like it didn’t matter anymore. She could see her mother and fathers’ faces. She could hear their laughter and feel their touches.  She remembered her friends, her school, and even her cat. She remembered it all and felt peace for what seemed like forever. If only. She knew that this was the only way to really see anyone again. And so she would keep doing it. Forever.

And then there was nothing. It all went white, and warm, and blank. Blank like her dreams.

 

The sunlight filtered through the open window to kiss thirteen year old Noah’s soft cheek as she slept…

Today would be the day she died.

 

 

Author's Note

Constructive criticism welcome and encouraged!