Blackened Cherry Blossoms

• 4 •

I was quite shaken up. I had to get out this orchard before anything else odd happened. I was actually starting to miss my normal life. My peaceful neighborhood, our neighbor's dog that always liked it when I gave him treats, my journal, my wardrobe, my camera; I missed so many things. The thing I missed the least was the people in my life because they never really helped me with anything to be completely honest. They all just broke me down. Maybe if I ever found the door I would just run away from home and I'd never have to see them again. Was it really worth the hassle? I mean all I had to endure was one more year of high school then after that I could just move out.

I started walking out the orchard at a fast pace and I found myself at a gorgeous streamside straight out of an anime my neighbor's niece used to watch about an elegant warrior princess with red hair. It had lush green grass scattered with the cherry blossom petals the wind carried out from the orchard. Pink lotuses drifted down from the sky landing in the stream and being carried down to a possible pond nearby. One of the lotuses landed in my open palms, weighing lighter than a feather with few tiny diamonds and pearls sitting inside of it. I was in absolute awe. Sure this whole place was quite odd but it sure had some quite amazing things.

I sat down by the stream for a while planning my life after I got out of here. I just hated waiting for this mysterious door to find me. I already had the rest of my life planned. I would open my own photography business, earn so much that I can travel the world and write my own poetry book. Seems impossible but this whole occurrence has proved that nothing really is impossible.

The sweet sound of the running stream distracted me from my thoughts and attracted me to the crystal clear water. I inched forwards and gazed into the water and immediately regretted it.

My reflection looked horrendous. My lip was cut and the dried blood was all over my chin. My eye makeup along with my lipstick was smudged all over my face. A deep purple bruise was formed at my cheekbone. How did this all happen? Quickly my memory clicked.

The pieces of last night all came together. A group of my friends were grinning at me and nudging me towards the front of the crowd near the doorway. I could see the setting clearly now, it was my house completely trashed by teenagers. I was suddenly lifted up by the waist and put on the shoulders of a lanky man.

"Let's do something extra special for the birthday girl!" he hollered followed by a series of whoops and hollers from the crowd surrounding us. "Everybody c'mon say her name! Rose! Rose!"

The crowd followed suit and chanted my name with him. Everything around me looked as if I was looking through a kaleidoscope so I couldn't clearly tell what was happening around me. I was carried outside, but at some point everything turned black and I couldn't audibly hear anything around me. That was all I could remember.