I open my eyes, knowing I'm in heaven. I see the bright light everyone always talked about. It was so beautiful, but it hurt my eyes, so I had to look away every time I wanted to look. I turn my head to try and clear the blue spots out of my eyes, and realize something, I'm not dead, I'm still lying on the ground. Looking up I realize it is still the sun. I try to stand, but can't. I have no feeling in my legs.
"Oh my god." Fear shoots through my whole body.
"So instead, of killing me by the fall, you decide to make me paralyzed from the waist down, thank you god, Thanks!" I decide screaming at someone who is not there is worthless, I decide since I can't move, I decided to go back to sleep. Lying there, in practical limbo, I think to myself, 'what if I had died, who would miss me, and if Blake ever came back, would he even care.'
I wake up again, although this time, the sun is burning down on me. I sit up, this time able to move my legs. "Thank goodness." I say, standing up.
"How long have I been asleep?" I ask myself. The ground is completely dry, as well as my clothes. I start walking towards my house, forgetting about my backpack in the tree house, walking back towards my house, holding my self close, with my arms hugged around my body. That's when I stop walking. Remembering back before I fell, even though it is a little fuzzy memory, considering so much happened within a five minute period, I do remember one thing, a third degree burn on my hand. I let my arms drop, picking up the left hand first, even though it was my right hand that got struck, I wanted to make sure the other one wasn't hurt as well.
Noticing that there is nothing wrong with my left hand, I put it back down. Lifting my right hand almost afraid to look to see if it is deep wound, with gushing blood, and green puss. Who knows how long I laid there. The ground is completely dry now, so I could have been passed out for at least a day and night and half of this day.
"What the hell?" I look at my hand, and there is nothing there. No open wound, bruise, cut, scratch, nothing.
"I remember the lightening though, the only reason I fell was because I had tried to climb up with one hand and it didn't work." I said to myself, bewildered.
"This is not possible, so does this mean I'm actually dead and I didn't realized it?" That made me break into a run, I ran home. Forget about school, people, cars, I ran straight home.
I was standing in my front yard, trying to catch my breathe. I see my mother's car in the front yard, though I'm afraid to go in. 'What if she doesn't see me' I thought. 'What if I'm non-existent now, and I can see her but she can't see or hear me?'
"The only way to know is to find out." I say to myself, gathering my courage.
Walking to the front door, I don't even have time to open it, before my mother jumps out and grabs me around the neck, balling into my shoulder.
"Mom, what's wrong?" I ask her, "You can see and hear me?" She pulls away from me.
"Why would you ask a stupid question like that?" She states, instantly angry, "You don't think I can't see my own daughter, who's now home and in flesh and blood finally after a whole week?"
My stomach completely dropped. I've been gone a week, and no one ever found me, even came looking for me?
"The cops wouldn't do anything," she said starting to cry again, while I thought, 'That's normal, Payson has to worst cops in the world anyways.'
"I tried look for you myself, but I couldn't find you anywhere." She took a big deep breathe, trying to calm herself. "Your brother asked everyone at your school, but no one had seen you."
"I tried to call him, and he said he would be right over," Then instantly covered her mouth,
"Who mom, who did you call?" I said confused. All she did was keep her hand over her mouth, shook her head and pointed inside. I walk inside, while she shut's the door.
She uncovers her mouth and says, "Go get a shower, and change your clothes and let's spend some time together, I want to talk to you anyways." She says, "Go do that while I call everyone, and tell them you're back and they can stop looking."
I just nod, I want to go get a shower and get out of the crusty clothes, and get some food. The hunger I didn't feel, I do now. I've never been starved before, but now I know what it feels like, and it is the worst pain ever. I don't understand why homeless people haven't gone insane from this pain, but i want to get a shower before I touch anything that I'm going to eat.
I go into my bedroom and grab some comfortable clothes. Turning, I see myself in the mirror, I look terrible, but there isn't a scratch on me. Not one bruise or anything. I decide to make a more thorough investigation. I walk across the hall and into the bathroom, turning to lock the door, I forgot a towel, I walk back outside the bathroom to the end of the hall to grab a towel.
Opening the towel closet, I hear my mother, "She's back, yes, you need to get over here now, it's been way to long and you will make her feel better. She doesn't look good, who knows where she's been," She pauses, I guess listening to what the other person is saying on the other end of the line.
"No, she doesn't seem to be in any kind of shock, except for when I told her she's been gone a whole entire week, other than that she just needs to get a shower, which I need to go check on her, how long are you going to take to be here?" she asks.
"Little over an hour, okay she should be out by then, okay, I'll talk to you later, I need to go check on her, bye." Hearing the phone hit the connector, I grab the towel and run to the bathroom, shutting the door as quickly, but quietly as possible. I strip as fast a I can, and turn the water on. That's when I hear 'knock, knock, knock.'
"Sweetie, are you okay in there, why are you just turning on the shower?" she asks concern in her voice.
"I'm fine mom, I was on the toilet." I say as calmly as possible. my heart is racing and my breathing heavy from running down the hall so she wouldn't catch me eavesdropping when she was on the phone.
"Oh, okay." she said, convinced, "Oh!" she squeaks, "Do you need a towel, I'll go get you one."
" No, that's okay, there was one in here hanging on the towel rack, it clean." I say to her through the door.
"Okay, I love you, enjoy your shower."
"Okay, love you to mom." After I say that hear her walk away from the door.
"Phew." I breathe, hopping into the shower.
The moment the water hits me, it hurts. I wince in pain as the warm water hits my cold body. It's still the end of January, beginning of February, so it's not very warm, and considering I was rained on for who knows how long, apparently laid there for a whole week, long enough for my clothes to dry out, but it was still cold outside, sun or no sun.
As my body adjusts to the water, I begin to relax, reaching for my shampoo. I get my hair more wet, squeeze some in my hand, and rub it all through my hair. Washing my hair always made me have time to think. It was like I was massaging and stimulating my brain so that way anything I really wanted some peace to think, I could.
Though I want to think about other things, I keep going back to that night. As I'm remembering, I was mad at Blake because of the note he wrote, he hadn't told me anything, all he had said was sorry, and the same thing he said before he left. That he loved me and he was sorry he couldn't tell me, and it was family related, and he would be back soon. Four years almost five is not soon. I remember the promise i made to myself to. That I would never love anyone again.
Skipping forward a little bit, I remember hanging onto the tree. I remember the lightening strike my hand, and me holding it. That brings me back to reality, I look at my uninjured hand, the lightening did hit my hand, then why isn't my hand hurt? I don't understand, maybe I can find out why. Rising my hair my mind goes back to that night, I'm falling now. Looking up at the tree house, I see the rain in slow motion everything was like in slow motion when I was falling.
The rain, the lightening, the clouds, everything was so beautiful, but fierce at the same time. I fell eighteen feet, why didn't I die? I don't understand this, people die from an eighteen feet fall, especially flat on their backs. I'm not going to think about that right now. I should just be happy I'm alive, but something is wrong, I don't know what but something is wrong.
Grabbing my scrunchy and my coconut body wash, I put the soap on it, and start to get most of this dirt off of me. Washing the dirt off of my arms, I remember something again. I keep getting flashbacks, but this time instead of me falling, climbing, or being mad, It's a flashback of eyes, green eyes. I see them looking over me, I drop the scrunchy. My mind is stilled on the green eyes, beautiful green eyes, nothing I have ever seen before. Shaking my head back into reality, I grab my scrunchy and finish my shower. Stepping out of the shower, I'm right in front of the full length mirror. Turning back and forth, looking at my body, there is not a scratch or bruise on me.
"What the hell is going on!" I yelled. All of a sudden I hear foot steps. 'knock, knock, knock,'
"Sweetie, are you alright?" my mother said, she started turning the bathroom doorknob, trying to open the door.
"Don't open the door!" I yelled, watching the handle go back to the way it was, knowing she let go of the door. "
"I'm fine, I'm not dressed yet, I'll be out in just a second, okay?" I said.
"Okay, but why did you yell?" my mom said, with worry in her voice.
"No reason, I'm just fine okay?" I said, getting annoyed.
"Okay is there anything you need?" I know she' my mother, but why is she so worried? She saw me and I was fine, and apparently I am, so why is she doing this right now?
"Yes, can you make me something to eat I'm hungry." I said that not only because it was true, but, because I wanted her to get away from the door.
"Okay." I hear her walking away from the door, relieved.
I double check myself one more time in the mirror before putting on my pajama pants, and a night shirt. I look in the mirror above the sink, leaning on the counter a little, to get a better look at my face, I look just fine. No bruises, or dirt, now that I had a shower, so I just put my hair up in a pony tail, and go towards the living room.
Going through the living room, I walk into the kitchen. She already had food on the stove apparently. She had spaghetti, fried potatoes, green beans and milk all sat out. She cooked enough to feed an entire army. Then I remembered whoever she was on the phone with is going to come over. I decide to go ahead and make me a plate, my mother didn't say anything while doing so.
It was weird, usually if she cooks like this, which was not very often, she would usually make us wait until whoever else was going to eat either came to the kitchen or came over to the house. I finish putting what I want onto the plate, go to the couch and sit down, turning the t.v. on. Switching the channels, I see my face on the screen, I notice I'm on the news, literally.
"Mom, come here." I hear my mom turn off the stove and come over.
"yes?" She says, looking at me and not the t.v.
"Look at the t.v." I say, turning it up so we both can hear it.
'This young girl, Alex Delacroix, went missing around seven forty five a.m. last week on Monday, we now have from an anonymous quote that she has come home. We are very grateful for the news, and we appreciate this person for letting us know.' I click off the t.v.
"You put me on the news?" I instantly got mad. I stood up about to go to my room, when the doorbell rang. My mom tried to go over to the door, but I beat her to it.
"Don't open the door." She pleaded
"Why not?" I turn the knob and start to open the door.
"I didn't put you on the news." I stop and shut the door.
"You didn't?" I asked, shocked.
"But you said you had to call someone to make sure they knew I was home." I feel as though she is lying to me.
"If you didn't then who did." I asked her.
"I don't know" she pleaded, "Did you not hear what they said, it was anonymous. Maybe one of the neighbors did it, I don't know, but I did not call them, you should know I don't even watch the news."
She was right, she doesn't watch the news. I let go of the door handle, feeling completely ashamed. I shouldn't be mad even if she did. that was one way to let everyone know that I have gone missing. Who ever did it cared, or maybe they just wanted to be known as the person who helped to look for the girl on the news.
"Sweetie, just calm down. I don't know what you have been through, but I don't want you so upset right now. Why don't you just go to your room and lay down for a little bit. I'll get the door, you go get some rest okay?" she hugged me.
"Okay, I will, I'm sorry momma." I hug her back, noticing she has a new perfume, she never wore perfume before. It smelled good, what ever it was, she needed to keep getting it, the smell suited her very well.
"It's alright darling, now go lay down, I'll see who's at the door." She let go of the hug and nudged me toward my bedroom.
I open my door and see my bed, all alone with the covers perfectly straight on the bed. I walk over, but instead of getting under the covers I lay down on top of them. My eyes slowly start drifting to sleep. As I'm falling asleep, I think back to those green eyes, whose were they, and why would they just leave me in the woods. Who would do such a thing like that. I fall into what I feel is a deep sleep completely exhausted, thinking of those green eyes.
Right as I fall asleep, I hear something thump. Worried, I rush into the living room. Shock fills my whole body. My mother is standing beside the couch, my father sitting on it. I haven't seen my father in twelve years, but that's not the shocking part. The shocking part is who is sitting next to my father. I got excited, then mad. He never needed to be here again either,
"Get out both of you!" I scream, the all tense up. I have the biggest snarl on my face, feeling as if I'm a dog. "Especially you, Blake." As I said his name with disgust. I look at my mother with complete hatred.
"This is who you invited, the one you were on the phone with?" I said, "Why do you think they even care they both left me behind like a piece of crap." I said.
Blake stood and came over, he tried to give me a hug, but I pushed him away. I pushed him so hard though, he fell to the floor, almost into the coffee table almost three feet away.
"Alexandra!" I mother scorned.
"Don't even start!" I yelled, with all my hatred between the three of them, I practically started to see red.
They all stayed where they were at, with shock on their face. Even Blake was completely still. Blake stood up after a few moments though.
"Alex, please you have to under-"
"Don't!" now I really was seeing red. "You have no right to explain, either of you. You both up and leave me alone, leaving me with nothing. Mom just started talking to me after I was gone for so long." I said, so angry I started to tear up.
"You both leave me and my mother here alone, while I had nothing to live for. Everything changed after you left dad, but Blake, you have no right to just up and show your face at our front door, actually, neither of you do. You both leave I don't hear from either of you, Four years Blake really, you said soon, not four years from now." I'm back to extremely angry.
"Actually, let me re-think that, five years, five years next week to be exact." I say remembering the day that he had left.
" And you," I look over towards my dad, "You left when I was only four years old, then you just want to up and show up?" I'm in such a rage, I reach my fist over and punch a hole in the wall, trying to get out a little excess steam.
"Where were you when I was in the hospital on the edge of my life at seven with pneumonia, where were you when I broke my leg and couldn't walk for almost a year when I was ten?" I asked, but he knew it was a rhetorical question.
"Where were you then, I end up disappearing for a week, and you all of a sudden show up?" I said. "No that is not going to happen, you need to leave," I turn to walk to my room, "And mom," I say.
"Yes?" she said, she had started crying apparently. I had reached my room to look at her
"You need to show them the door." I shut my door.
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