DEATH WISH - j.hale

O' GREEN WORLD - 02

SATURDAY PASSED rather quickly and in a blink, it was Sunday. Both days were spent unpacking and getting the house ready for a comfortable life. By Sunday afternoon, the pair were finally done with putting everything in their respective places.

Surprise surprise, it was raining again. Sara had been spending most of her free time looking out her bedroom window, sat in a chair while she watched the rain come down. She found herself becoming more and more comfortable with the wetness of Forks, even going as far to say that it was relaxing to listen to. Because she had no window screen or curtains, rain would sometimes drip into her room and the result was a few wet spots on the floor. The teenage girl didn't seem to mind — she was far too busy daydreaming about the events that might unfold on her first day in a new school. After some thinking, she felt slightly relieved she would be having a fresh start, but she was too stubborn to admit it.

At around 4 pm, Anna made her way up to her daughter's room. She knocked once before entering, seeing Sara looking out her window.

"Let's have a movie night. I've got all your favorites on our shelf in the living room," she said, giving her daughter a small smile.

The teenager turned to look at her before standing, nodding her head. "Sure. That's probably better than sitting in here all day," she chuckled, grabbing a blanket from off her bed.

And with that, the two girls spent the rest of the night watching movies, drowning out the sound of the rain from outside. The pizza was ordered for dinner, given that both girls were too lazy to get up and cook —

Finally, the ending credits of Corpse Bride rolled and Sara let out a loud yawn. Her mother picked up the remote, turning off the tv, and switching the lamp on. "Bedtime, honey. Remember to set your alarm tonight — I won't be here in the mornings to wake you up anymore since I have the morning shift." Sara nodded before standing. "Goodnight mom. Love you," she mumbled, slowly making her way up the stairs. "Love you too, Sara."

She reached her room, shoving the door open with her foot before closing it behind her. She shrugged off her blanket, letting it fall to the floor. The sound of rain still hit against the window, sending a relaxing feeling over Sara. She moved to sit in her chair in front of the window, reaching up to unlock her window and open it. She leaned her head out, feeling as small droplets landed onto her head. She smiled to herself, moving her head back into her room.

The girl paused for a moment before turning and standing. She opened her dresser and reached into the pocket of a large jacket that was pushed towards the back of her wardrobe. Pulling out a small box, she returned to her spot in her chair and opened the box, pulling out a lighter and a single cigarette.

Cigarettes had kept her anxiety down in the past but by relying on them to ease her worries, she had developed an addiction — one she couldn't seem to shake. She was able to keep it a secret, making sure to only do it when she was alone.

Her small hand brought the cigarette to her lips, the other holding up the lighter to light the cancer stick. With a harsh inhale, the stress of the weekend was blown away as she exhaled outside of her window, the smoke melting away with the rain.

Aside from the stress she had been feeling, she was empty. She couldn't even decide whether or not she was happy, mad, or sad about this whole move anymore.

Growing up, she had been taught that everything happens for a reason. And because of this, she was able to excuse everything that happened to her and the others around her as fate. She was broken up with? Must have been fate. What about that time she would cry herself to sleep because she never felt like she was good enough? Fate was always the answer.

But as she sat there, puffing on the cigarette that lay between her lips, she couldn't understand what exactly was wrong with this universe. She had never been a religious person, but she had always felt as if some sort of higher power — a greater good that watched below. The idea of one perfect god had never appealed to her — the idea of someone watching everything you did with judgmental eyes who expected you to be perfect. Who was she kidding; she could never be perfect.

Even as she watched her world crumble beneath her, she had always held onto hope. She had always held onto the thought of everything happening for a reason because that was how she was raised. There would be something greater in store for her, she just knew it.

A movement from outside caught her attention, dragging her down from her thinking and bringing her back down to earth. Her head snapped to the right, the direction she had seen moving.

In the complete darkness of the night, she could barely make out the movement of a tree — its green leaves shaking slightly. Sara could have brushed this off as wind, but as she observed the near by trees, she could see them all standing quite still. Confusion filled the girl as she took the last drag of her cigarette, putting it out on the wall of her house before letting the smoke release from her lips. She continued to stare at the single tree, watching as the moving slowed to a bare minimum before completely stopping all together.

She let the cigarette fall from the second story of her house, looking down to watch it hit the grass beneath her window. Her gaze moved back to the tree, seeing it standing completely still.

Normally, the girl would most likely continue to try and hold a staring contest with the tree — but oddly enough, she felt an overwhelming wave of calmness and relaxation roll across her body, her tense muscles completely relaxing as she leaned her head against the edge of her window. Letting out another yawn, her mind let go of the mysterious moving tree and she stood slowly, her hand moving to pull the window mostly closed — stopping when it was just slightly cracked open.

She stumbled to her bed, almost collapsing with exhaustion as she pulled her blanket over her cold body. She had barely switched off her bedside lamp before she was drifting into a dreamless sleep.

oooooooo why was the tree shaking 👀
How do you guys feel about the story so far? The first few chapters are mostly the boring ones — usually just introductory chapters. I promise things will start to pick up and when it does, you better be ready for some angst ;)

(edited - 2/5/21)