Pins and Needles

Chapter 1

I stood in a dark room, no people or objects in sight. I looked down at my hands, recognizing the small blemishes on my left pointer finger as I traced my other finger over the wounds. Suddenly, a grief-stricken screech snapped me back to reality as I whipped my head around to the object of the noise. A small boy laid on the ground, scrunched up into a ball as one hand covered his right eye. He was twitching and mumbling words that were too low to make out, so I inched closer to the boy. When I got around 5 feet in front of him, he yanked his head back, letting out another cry. It was then that his right eye was uncovered, revealing a yellow pencil sticking directly out from the pupil. Blood could be seen gushing from his eyelid and the sight forced me to take a shaky step back.

The boy then suddenly met my eyes with his one good eye. He turned his limp body towards me and covered his eye once again, using the other arm to point a weak finger at me. All noise then ceased to exist as he mouthed the word 'you'. My face curled into one of pure shock, then I looked back down at my hands to see blood spewing from my palms. The dark liquid fell to the floor in silently loud thumps, each drop falling faster than the one before. I shut my eyes instantly, shaking my head eagerly and backing up at the same time. My back hit something unexpectedly, and I spun around, wondering what I could have possibly bumped into. It was a mirror. A mirror that failed to show a reflection. A mirror that, when looked upon, came up short, just revealing the neck down and nothing more. It scared me.

I lurched up from my bed, my mouth shut as air exited my nose in rapid huffs. I glanced down at my hands, turning them palm up to reveal no blood. I let out a short sigh, then swung my legs over the edge of my bed. Placing my feet on the ground, I walked over to my dresser, scratching my head as I looked through the numerous clothing items. I decided on a white crop top with grey sweatpants and a black jacket to hang open, allowing the top to be slightly visible. I shuffled over to the bathroom outside of my room and grabbed the hairbrush sitting on the counter. I swiped the brush through my long brown hair a number of times before it felt less tangled, then placed the brush back in its rightful place.

After brushing my teeth and touching up my sloppy makeup job, I walk over to my desk. My trusty pin laid atop my binder and I lazily picked it up, slipping the slender metal into my pocket. The calendar that hung above my desk showed me that the date was October 1st. Next, I crossed off the 1 and stared at the X for a bit, dragging my hands over the fresh ink. Retracting my hand, I packed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Finally, I walked over to the mirror, staring at the person beholding me.

The girl was slim and tall, a similar build to mine. She had long brown hair and dull brown eyes that seemed to carry so much uncovered emotion. There was nothing special about her; nothing stood out on her body. She was just...average. Nevertheless, I found her to be great company as she had wonderful listening skills.

The girl was pulling at her body, feeling up the different areas that occupied her figure. She touched up her arm, then her waist, then her neck, and repeated the process. I found myself copying her motions, so I abruptly stopped.

"Hey, uh, I'll be going to school now, so...don't wait up," I cleared my throat.

The girl stared back at me and gave a slight smile. I smiled back, then scurried out of the room and into the kitchen. My mom was already finished making my lunch when I walked in. I shuffled around her to get to the fridge and grabbed an apple for my breakfast.

"Is that all you are going to eat?" Mom inquired.
I turned to her and nodded, "Yeah, I'm usually not that hungry in the morning."

Mom looked me up and down, then huffed, "Oh, alright. I made your lunch," she said as she handed me that bag.

"Thank you, now I gotta go if I want to catch the bus."

"Okay, have a good day, sweetie."

"You too," I said as I headed towards the door and opened it.

Once outside, I took my backpack under my arm and unzipped it to put my lunch inside. I swung it back over my shoulder and took a bite of my apple, savoring the juiciness. Its red shell broke easily once I dug my canines into the fruit. The sweetness of the apple made me giddy and appealed to my picky stomach.

After I finished the apple, I threw the core into one of the neighbor's trash cans and continued to my bus stop. Suddenly, my eyes landed on a crow that flew above me and into a nearby tree. My walking was halted as I watched the bird jump around on the branches. It seemed to be looking for something which piqued my curiosity.

What could the crow possibly be looking for? Maybe food?

I didn't need to think too hard, however, as the crow stopped its hopping when it crossed its nest. I chuckled a bit, thinking about how peculiar it is for a bird to lose its home. Nonetheless, I carried on my walking, paying no more attention to the black bird behind me. Getting closer to the stop, a crisp breeze pushed through the air. It slightly shook the trees and even lifted my jacket. The coolness didn't last long, however, as the breeze passed on just as quickly as it came.

Even while autumn turned the corner and winter faced, Florida failed to deliver any temperature below 50 degrees. On the rare occasion, it might be 45, but again, that was rare. I didn't mind the heat as much since I was pretty used to the warm winters. Although, a white Christmas was nice every once in a while...