White Noise

Dear You

Clarisse was walking outside her house, admiring the flowers her mother tend to every morning. She misses this. Being out in the sun and feeling the soft breeze. There were some children running around the street and a few other mothers shouting to their children to behave and keep away from the road in case a car pass by.

She hasn't been released from the hospital for long. It's only been two weeks but it's like she's been outside for most of her life.

She went back inside and took her camera. Her mother said that a few days after waking up, a camera was the first thing she requested to have. And for some reasons, Clarisse found a strange fascination over the device. She likes how it captures moments and emotions and keeps the memories.

Ever since going home, she's done nothing but take pictures of everything she can see. Her parents, her bed, the cactus on the coffee table, the ants lining up to gather the pieces of biscuits she crushed to give to them on the floor, the lone leaf of one her mom's dying plants, the red car accross the street, literally anything.

She's used up 2 memory cards over that short two weeks. Her Mom's been scolding her, to stop taking pictures of things that doesnt matter but she just brushes them off.

Today, she's off to take pictures of the streets.

The sun is bright and now is the perfect time to take them especially with the natural light being as bright as it is.

She wanders around like a child. Curious of the world that she missed for so many years. The memories of when she was a still a child is fresh as if it just happened yesterday, and to see such big difference in what felt like a day, the whole world is the most fascinating. To undergo such a development in such a short time, it's the most amazing.

She continued walking around. The yellow sundress she wore flutters along with the wind and her smile is carefree, it's like being a child again and rediscovering things.

On one of the streets that she chose to wander at, a house stood out from the rest.

There's nothing eye catching about it. Nothing even interesting. The structure itself is built like every other house is. But it pulls her in. Makes her want to go in.

So she did.

On the lawn of the house is where a sign is placed that says "SOLD". The house must be empty right now.

On the front porch steps on the house, it is lined up of pots of gladioluses and baby's breathe. It's an unlikely pair, but beautiful nonetheless.

Before she could even open the front door, a car stopped by in front of the lawn so she turned around and walked away from the door.

A man in his early twenties stepped out of it, he was holding a brief case in one hand and is talking to his phone on another. He must be from the real estate.

"Excuse me. " He says, not even looking up, to ask Clarisse to get out of the way.

Clarisse stepped aside and watched the man put down his briefcase and take a set of keys on his pocket. It seems that he was done talking too as he cursed at the phone he previously held on his ear.

"That jerk! I told him to wait for my advice but went and did whatever he wanted anyway!" The man shouted and stomped his foot on the porch. It looked kinda funny watching a grown man throw a fit like that so Clarisse stood there and laughed quietly.

The man then seemed to notice her for the first time, and as he turned around, Clarisse gave him a smile.

The man, stood there, with his mouth hanging and the keys he was previously holding made a clang as it connected to the ground.

"C-Clarisse. " he stuttered, shock evident on his face and all traces of hostility gone. He knows her. But she doesn't remember him. Doesn't even recognize him .

---

Dear You,

Did you know? That I met you on the most peculiar of ways? It was kinda funny now that I think about it. I was frightened and you were ethereal.

I don't think you would believe me. This story, this one I'm about to tell, is far from the reality that we're living in. But it's how I met you anyway. And regardless of whether how scared I was that day, it was the first time the I saw you. And you are the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

That day started off as one of my worsts. The coffee I bought tasted like death and my car broke down on the way to work. The Tow Truck arrived an hour late an I was shouted at by my superior for being late.  In the middle of finishing a proposal I need to present at the monthly meeting, I got called by the Managing Director all of a sudden, berating me over a mistake that I didn't even do. And then the directors told us that they had to fire a few employees because the budget for the year will be short after two companies pulled out from investment.

It was even raining. That day. I guess, it was the most unlucky day yet. And it wasn't even a Friday the 13th. It was a Wednesday! And it was the 25th of August!

I was so frustated. Everything suddenly went wrong and all the things I planned are gone. Just like that.

I wanted to be optimistic then. To think that on the bright side, I don't have to deal with an annoying boss and even more annoying workmates. But still, before the day even ended, I was jobless and dripping wet waiting for the bus that never came.

I don't even remember how long I was there. I just knew that I was lonely.

When the rain finally decided to stop, it was already 11pm and I was too tired to go back to my house. So I went to the park. I walked there and thought to myself, I look pitiful.

Even when the rain was causing me to self destruct, the park is as beautiful as ever, I was rarely there. In fact, it wasn't the park that people visited often. Because it was the farthest and was at the edge of the forest. There were rumors that a snake was found there. I knew it was a lie though. People just loved to frighten themselves.

I don't even know what came to me. I just went and took out my camera, thankfully dry and undamaged, and took pictures of the park.

Taking pictures, it's one of the few things that makes me happy. I am a simple man. With simple dreams and mediocre joys in life.

I wonder why I've never done this before. Take pictures of this park I mean. Even the dew that accumulated on leaves are pretty.

On the end of the park, amongst the other trees there was a tree stump. Even in the dark, I can see it beautiful rainbow bark. It's was breathtaking, although cut down, it was the liveliest out of all the trees there.

Through my eyes, the park, that night, was the most beautiful.

I went home. I wasnt planning to actually but apparently, I can't take more pictures because my camera's battery died. Did you know how strange that was. I remember checking and seeing that it still had 45% left. But I guess I probably didn't see clearly.

When I got home, I washed up and cooked some ramen to have for dinner. (That was a waste. I didn't even get to eat one. )

I plugged my camera but it opened and showed that I still had 40% of battery left. I was not amused.

So I just checked the photos that I took, despite it being dark, I think they turned out well, better than I was expecting at least.

But you know, as I looked at the pictures of the tree stump, it was so weird? There's a weird white smudge on every picture. And as I was getting near the tree, the white smudge that was previously a circle, started taking shape, a form.

It was a sillouhette. Then it was a girl. A girl standing beside the three looking directly at my camera.

It was so strange. I was sure that I was alone there! And if someone was with me, I would have known, with them being that near.

I stared harder at the girl. And the way she was staring sent chills down my spine. I almost dropped my camera and my head started aching.

Because among all others things I noticed, the girl wasn't staring at the camera, she was staring through it. She was looking at me.

You were looking at me.