Chains

A Story by G Warren

Mara has a very strange power; one she's had all her life...

Mara walked through the school hallway, skipping around as she walked to avoid the chains lying at her feet. She found that there were many more chains in high school than in middle school. A small, faint noise was made as her old sneakers hit the linoleum floor, almost unhearable. Her long black hair swished around. People gave her strange looks as she moved, they way she walked looking strange to them. But they could not see the chains scattered around.

Some big, some small, some thick, some thin, tons of them were scattered all over. Each one represented a problem. When whoever the chain was attached to solved the problem somehow, the chain fell off. No one could see them, to Mara's knowledge. Only her.

On each chain printed in print was the problem that the chain represented. The font was similar to a prisoner's number, something Mara always found to be a strange coincidence. Or maybe not. People's problems were what imprisoned them.

The hallway was splashed with the bright colors of blue and white, school colors of course. As she walked by the main entrance (she had come through the side) she was hit by the bright morning light shining through the large, grand windows, the kind one usually found in a church.

Finally Mara got to her class. She sighed of relief. Usually she was too preoccupied on her way to class and ended up tardy, but today she was right on time. As she sat in her desk at the very front the bell rang.

Her Science teacher stood at the front of the room. He adjusted his thick glasses before speaking to the class. “We are going to continue working in the packets I handed out yesterday. For today, I ask that you work in partners, if you can.”

Mara looked around the room. Mara only had one friend in the entire school, and she didn't have this class. She opened up her packet and began to work alone.

The bell ending fifth period finally rang. Mara ran out of her French class as fast as she could, in a frantic attempt to get to the cafeteria earlier than the others who had lunch sixth period. But luck wasn’t on Mara’s side. She promptly tripped and someone’s outstretched foot, falling to the ground with her books splayed out all around her. The boy who tripped her and his friends laughed before walking off.

“Do you need some help, Ms. Wei?” As Mara picked up her books she tilted her head up to see her English teacher speed walking towards her, going as fast as her heels would allow her. Mara smiled at her favorite teacher.

“I’m fine.” She said as she picked up the last of her pencils. Before her teacher could say anything else Mara ran off towards the cafeteria. To her dismay, it was already packed. Many people were already eating, and many ‘hunger’ chains littered the ground.

Mara skipped around as much as she could to avoid the chains, many people giving her strange looks. She managed to get to the lunch line without a problem, and promptly look her lunch outside to sit in front of the tree. While it was possible, most people didn’t eat outside. The wet grass was uncomfortable to sit on, and there was a surprising lack of chairs, none at all. Mara sat there for precisely this reason- there were never any chains around.

“I’m here Mara!” Mara heard from the door to the cafeteria. Out stepped her only friend Lainey.

“Oh, hey Lainey.” Was Mara’s only reply.

“Always the quiet one Mara.” Lainey joked.

Mara and Lainey continued talking about trivial things throughout lunch. Lainey, the most talkative of the two, spoke the most, wild hand motions causing the chains on her arms to move with her. With all her talking it took her quite a bit of time to eat her bolognese sandwich, but when she finished the two of them decided to go to the library. While both of them quite liked the library, this brought Mara to the daunting task of navigating through the cafeteria, one she obviously couldn’t avoid for long.

Mara skipped around the cafeteria in order to avoid the chains, watching the old ones from earlier lunch periods dissipate into nothing. Lainey paid no mind to this, used to the antics of her strange but only friend.

“What book are you getting?” Lainey asked. Mara looked up from the ground to answer her, resulting in stepping in a hunger chain.

“Oh, I… think I’ll be getting another play by Shakespeare… after I get another sandwich.”

“Honey…” Lainey said. “You’re gonna have health problems if you keep getting more food!”

“But I’m starving.” Mara explained.

“You just had a turkey and cheese sandwich…”

“It was small.”

“Oh please, it was roughly the size of my head.” Lainey replied. Mara ran to the lunch line anyway. Lainey shook her head. As she walked back with yet another sandwich, she noticed someone with a large bag out of the corner of her eye. She looked on in surprise as she saw the boy who sits in front of her in Math take a chain off the girl near him and slip it in his bag.

“I’ll meet you at the library, Lainey. They don’t allow food in the library.” Mara told her. Lainey shrugged in response and walked out on her way to the library. Mara ran up to the boy.

“Who are you?”

“Why’s it matter?”

“I saw what you did.” She replied. “You took it off her and slipped it in your bag. How?” He gave her a excited look.

“You saw that?”

“Yes, I did, and I want an explanation.”

“You could see that?”

“Yes, I always have!” She said impatiently.

“Your whole life?” He asked. She nodded. “I’ve only been able to do it for a week! How do we do it? Where did it come from? Tell me, tell me, tell me!” She sighed.

“No, no, no!”

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re supposed to have the answers! I don’t know! You have more power than me! I can’t move them, only put them on myself.”

“Then we’ll figure it out together, I promise you. I’m Silas.” Silas extended his hand to her.

“Right, I’m Mara.” She shook his hand.

Mara studied the back of Silas’s head during math. His dark hair was quite messy in the back, but there wasn’t much else to see. She was mostly thinking about what had happened. She’d never met someone like her, though thinking about it she realized unless they were liked Silas she’d really have no way of knowing. She wondered how many others were like here.

“Mara.” Silas whispered. “Tell the teacher you’re going to the bathroom.” Silas asked to the teacher to leave and went out. Mara followed, the teacher not caring if her students go to the bathroom.

“We’re going outside.” Silas said. They went outside with the back entrance, the school soccer field deserted.

“You ready to go?” Silas said.

“Go? Go where?”

“Anywhere. Everywhere! We have power! Watch.” Silas took out a big Sharpie marker and a chain marked ‘tiredness’. He took the sharpie, crossed out the word, and wrote in something else.

“Amazing! What do you want to do?”

“Mara, we can control anyone we want. It’ll be easy! We can do anything, we can control anyone.” He rambled. “No one can possibly beat us!”

“You’re crazy, Silas.” Mara replied, shaking her head as she walked away. “I’m going back to class- don’t approach me again.”

“Mara!” He shouted, but to no avail. Mara simply walked away from him.