Fish: Chapter 6

A Chapter by Irena

Another chapter of this book...

After surviving numerous amounts of dull chores assigned to me by Gram, and finally escaping the house, I headed back to my new secret hiding place. For some reason, I feared that it had completely disappeared while I was gone; that it was just a daydream that I had somehow forced myself to believe was a reality. I crossed my fingers the whole way there, and I guess luck was on my side because the street hadn’t moved an inch. My mouth formed the first smile I’d been able to muster for what seemed like the longest of times.

I plopped down onto the ground and flipped my sketchbook open to the latest drawing. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but I had spent hours just drawing birds the night before. They flew around the page and each one had such intricate detail. It was quite good if I do say so myself. My mind began to wander, and soon I was half day-dreaming and half drawing.

Wrapped up in my thoughts, I forgot that I was sitting in the middle of a road. I figured that it didn’t matter. After all, it seemed like it was abandoned, empty of all living creatures. Little did I know that the path was still in use by someone, but my mind was elsewhere, someplace far, far away from any kind of reality.

I guess that in the back of mind I heard the sound of the tires, but I subconsciously told myself to ignore it. I didn’t realize that there was trouble coming until it was too late. Looking up from my book, I saw a figure on a bike riding straight towards me at top speed.

He tried to swerve and I tried to duck, but somehow I was pushed to the ground and my drawings flew from hand, sailing a good distance away from where I lay. The bike rider toppled from his bike and landed on his knees right next to me with a thud.

It happened so fast that I barely had time to think, so I just lay on the ground in a heap, dazed by what had just happened. But he was back up again in an instant and before I could say a word, he was by my side asking me if I was okay. Then I made the mistake of looking up at his face.

I could only nod in response. No words could escape my lips as I gazed into his deep blue eyes. They were hypnotizing. I sighed. I was losing myself in the sky blue purity of them. It was like being in a trance.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

His voice was amazing. It was low and smooth, like beautiful music to my ears. I forced myself to look away from his eyes, but that didn’t help at all. I was still mesmerized. His face was the essence of perfection, with two adorable dimples and little crinkled lines of worry. Was that worry for me? I smiled to myself at the thought.

Then I snapped back to reality, yelling at myself inside of my head. Mimi, you can’t just let some stupid hot guy run you over with a bike! He’s probably full of himself, that jerk.

“No, I’m not okay!” I half shouted. “You just practically ran me over with a bike!”

“I am so sorry,” he held out his hand. “Let me help you up.”

My hand twitched in response. I longed to reach out and let him pull me to my feet, but I forced myself not to comply.

“I can stand by myself, thanks,” I got to my feet a little two fast and almost fell back down again from the dizziness that hit me. He grabbed my arm to steady me, then let go just as fast, as if I were afraid that I was going to punch him. I flinched in response.

Then he ran over to where my sketchbook had fallen and picked it up. At first, I let him, thinking that it served him right and he should put in the extra effort to help me out, but then I saw that the sketchbook wasn’t closed. It lay open to a drawing of intertwined trees, with branches twisting and turning towards the sky.

I didn’t want him to see any of my drawings. I didn’t want anyone to see my drawings.

I shook off my dizziness and snatched the book from him as fast as I could. Then I turned my back on him and lifted my foot to walk away.

“Wait!” He called after me. “That picture… did you draw it?”

I muttered a quiet yes, my back still turned on the boy.

“It’s amazing…” He said softly. “You’re a really good artist. Seriously, can I see some more?”

“No.” And I ran.

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