Lonely Fantasy

Loud chatter surrounded her. Everyone got a friend group of their own, laughing and making some jokes. She watched them in envy. Oh, how lucky they were.

"Hey, Ernie? Mind taking our pictures?" "Sure, no problem," she responded, smiling at them. She took the camera from the girl as she carefully set the perfect angle to commemorate their perfect picture.

They're posing happily as if this were their happiest day. Probably because it was indeed their happiest day. Ernie gave back the camera towards the girls, smiling silently as she observed them briefly while they were busy reacting to their own photos. She turned away and left the hall as the silence followed her. All she heard at the moment was the sounds of nature with the occasional breeze hitting her face.

She sighed deeply while mumbling towards herself, "Ah, I wish I had friends. I'm envious of them." She pondered for a while, walking mindlessly towards here and there with no actual direction. Until she stumbled upon an old campus garden, hid under ugly bushes and ruined woods. Her eyes wandered through the garden, analyzing the situation.

She glanced towards her watch to check the time. Her eyebrow raised, as she realised how late out she was. She hastily collected all her stuff and went ahead towards her dormitory. Unlocking the door, she greeted all her other roommates. Some were on the phone, some were studying like usual.

Seeing them made her smile a little but it quickly faded away after.

"Hey, Julie. Shall we meet up at the library?"

"Just a minute, I'll be there in a second."

"The café? Sure, I'll be there."

Right then, all of them wrung up their appropriate clothes, perfume and did their hair before they left the room, one after another.

Ernie was left alone, again.

Ernie frustratedly took off her bag and jacket that were worn to hide her insecurity. She chuckled towards her pathetic self. "Oh, Ernie. You're a natural loner."

Slowly, she dragged herself towards the body mirror in the room. She stared at herself. "Fat tummy, round and huge face, droopy eyes and full of stretch marks," she huffed out, "No wonder nobody wants to be around me." She let out a deep sigh before she remembered the garden she found back then.

"I see no harm," she giggled at the idea before picking up her jacket and backpack again as she too, left the room empty with only silence inside it.

She walked on the same path she had walked just a few minutes ago. There, she arrived again, staring through the ruined garden right in front of her. "I wonder why people don't talk about this place and why it's so messy, ugh."

She walked around with no reason or clue on what to do until she found a random book stuck between the bushes. Her eyes perked up at the new sight, and her hands naturally tried their best to get that book out of the bushes. After a few tries, she finally got her hands on the book. "Whose book is this? How did it even get there?"

She flipped around the page to find a clue on whose book was this but her hand halted at a certain page. "Welcome to our perfect fantasy. Read out the passcode and enjoy to your fullest," she read out and her eyes naturally wandered around to find the passcode.

She couldn't help but notice only the word 'perfect fantasy' was printed out with blue ink.

"Perfect fantasy?"

Suddenly, a harsh wind slapped her face, making it hard to even open her eyes. She grabbed the book tightly towards her chest while clenching it through the wind until it finally stopped.