November 5th, 1996
Dark clouds hung over the children's head as they played on the playground at the local grade school; laughing and having fun on the swings and monkey bars, while some were playing Four-Square or Tetherball. A small group of girls had traveled out into the field to play a game of Red Rover; a game of betrayal and subtle violence by whipping kids to the ground with linked arms, only to end with allowing the loser to walk away - but if won, then they'd join the opposing side and help lure their next victim into the partially fun trap.
This behavior never deterred little Starla as she walked up to the group of girls that were down to four members. "May I join?" Her little sweet voice happily rang out as she stared at the girls. The tallest child with a long blonde ponytail responded.
"You won't like how we play. We're rough."
"I don't mind."
"Okay, but don't cry if the other girls are mean to you." She held out her hand and took Starla's into her strong grip.
The opposing group sang out the chant and targeted Starla right away. "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Starla right over." The girls embraced for impact as she happily ran over and tried to break the chain between the redheaded twins, who refused to break away from each other and slammed her to the ground.
As Starla laid on the ground breathing heavily, the schoolgirls laughed and ran off towards the doors of the building when the recess bell went off. Unable to muster up the courage to get up, Starla laid there and stared up into the sky.
"Why can't people like me? Isn't there anyone out there who cares?" She winced when she felt rain drops land on her face, ignoring the teachers who were calling out to her. "Just once it would be nice if someone cared about me. Someone who's afraid of letting go." She turned her head when she heard her favorite teacher's voice calling out to her. "Even if it's my Guardian Angel." She sat up and rubbed the back of her head, feeling dizzy and soaked from the rain. "Coming!" She yelled out as she slowly rose to her feet.
The sound of thunder clapped and made her jump, but she kept walking towards the only teacher standing outside. Even though the teacher kept telling her to hurry up, she felt ill and by the time she reached the playground equipment, she made herself stop. Something had touched her shoulder, and she could hear her name being called out behind her but when she looked, no one was there. As she kept hearing her name, she looked around, confused but unafraid. "Show yourself." She yelled, not caring that she was making the teacher worry.
Out of nowhere, she felt a presence in her face and then something touched her lips. An electrical shock went through her and caused her to black out and fall to the ground, body shaking uncontrollably. She could hear the teacher screaming for help but was still unable to see her. Instead, in the darkness, she could see a beautiful face of a person she had never seen before. She tried to note every detail about his face; large nose, silver doe eyes, shoulder length black hair, big lips and something very different from herself - smooth skin of a different race. His voice was velvety and comforting and in this dream like state, she felt safe.
"Don't be afraid. I'm only here to help you."
His face disappeared when she felt her body be lifted from the wet ground and carried into the schoolhouse. "No, don't leave me." She said faintly as she heard the shoes of the male teacher carrying her scuff against the floor. Her eyesight started to return when the teacher laid her down on the bed in the nurses' office and wanted to cry when she saw the confused faces all around her.
"She must have had a seizure."
"Has she had them before?"
"It's not in her charts."
