Kim Scissorhands and Edward Boggs

Chapter Six: The Girl

This all came flooding back to Edward as his eyes adjusted to the dark interior. He felt nauseous, and sensed he should go back. Still, he trudged further onwards, just like he had eleven years previously.

The paper sculpture had not changed in the slightest since Edward had been there last. That was odd. He did notice, however, that there was a lot of scrap paper littered all over the floor. He picked up one magazine ad that read, "New! Technicolor television sets, right in your own living room! Only $250", and had a photo of a generic, modern family watching Looney Tunes. That ad had just come out... She was still there.

There was a very dim light by the spiral staircase, where an abundance of papers were scattered. Edward carefully climbed the steps. When he arrived on the next level, he found it hard to breathe for a few minutes. Surrounding him was an even more momentous art piece than the last.

The room was lit, but not with lamps or bulbs- there was so much white paper in the room that it emitted its own glow. Thousands of broken mirror chips were spread in the room as well, its reflections contributing to the light. The designs were dispersed from floor to ceiling. This room, on the other hand, was even larger. Hundreds of different illustrations took place: Houses, maps, flowers, cars, TVs, dogs, book characters, barbecues, grocery stores, candy wrappers, bowling alleys, presidents, cats, birds, shopping malls, microwave ovens, tissue boxes, shoes, air conditioners, calendars, music groups, and more. It was unbelievable. As he inched closer, he noticed that there were even some moving parts. Edward crouched down into the aisle that it formed. He took fleeting looks around, hoping to see the mysterious girl again. When he reached the other end of the room, there was still no sign of her. He sighed. That's when it hit him.

"Crap, I have to go back to Jen," he said aloud. Edward started to take long strides down the room when he detected a sound, the slight squeak of metal against metal.

That's when she was noticeable; A sharp, dark silhouette bundled in the farthest corner. The early moonlight shone against her wild orange-red hair.

"Hello?" He took a step closer, despite her nervousness. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. But, who are you?"

"Kim," a barely audible voice said. She sounded as if she hadn't spoken in years.

He lowered to the ground and spoke quickly. "I'm Edward. I'm from down there. I was just looking for my sister's necklace, and I happened to come inside. Your artwork is amazing. You did it, right?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

For a few minutes they just sat there in silence. He knew he had to get going, but his heart was beating beyond control. This was the girl whom he had talked about for years, going the extra mile just to convince people that she existed. And here she was. Breathing. Talking. Kim.

"So what's your story?" He asked after prolonged quietness. "How did you end up with scissors for hands?"

She sighed, "Not now. You need to leave. Back to Jen?"

"Oh yeah," he smiled awkwardly in the semi-darkness. Edward was surprised she had picked that up. "I guess I'll see you another time. I don't know for sure, but it will definitely be soon."

"Promise?" Her voice sounded reluctant, pained.

"Of course."

Edward walked away, with one last glance at the pictures, then slumped down the stairs to the life he didn't want to return to.