Numbly

The Social Outcast

To you, it was a tree.

To me, it was another piece of existence that would be obliviated from the world by the cruel and uncaring mankind.

Pessimism had existed in my personality for as long as anyone could remember, and no matter how hard I tried to suppress my negative thoughts, they were always a piece of me.

Looking around at the forest I stood in, I took in the sight of trees who once were huge and beautiful. Now, rotted stumps were the only traces left of them.

I gulped, taking in the frosty air. This could have been me. Completely destroyed by society without a care. And that's the thing. Nobody would care. I was alone.

Warm tears were threatening to flow down my cheeks. I fought them, taking this as another sign of my weakness.

Just as my tear ducts had almost given in, my sister's voice interrupted. Serena's voice echoed, contrasting with the sweet silence. "Luna, dad made dinner!"

She and my father both knew the forest was the only place I'd resort to when I wanted to be alone. We lived in a secluded cabin with a mountain view, so nature had always been an oasis – this definetely wasn't the first time she had to fetch my stubborn self from the woods.

My body refused to budge from the frozen tree stump it was practically glued to. My brain was to preoccupied with thoughts to process the discomfort that sitting on an icy stump brought on. I left Serena with no response, and the birds chirped as if the silence were unbearable. Sometimes, people simply weren't in the mood for any human contact. I most definetely didn't mind skipping a meal, so there was no problem with me to ignore her shouting.

"Come on Luna, please! You have to eat!" Serena's shrill tone grew impatient.

"No, I don't." I squeaked. Hearing my voice sounded strange. I hadn't spoken at all that day. It was, however, an automatic red flag for Serena that I actually responded. The shakiness of my voice didn't help.

And then there was an exasperated sigh. With this, the sound of crunching leaves followed. Clearly, Serena thought that my choice to avoid family dinner was irrational.

In all honesty, had no idea what the right thing to do was. My lack of wiseness was made me feel even more weak, along with the feeling that I needed rescuing from my sister whom was almost three years younger than myself. Or maybe I felt foolish that I had always sought solace in privacy rather than going by my sisters' method of "talking it out". It was always unsure to me if anything I did was ever correct, because I had always been the least favorited child. Everything Serena did was right, so that meant I had no choice but to be wrong.

But when she found me, still grumpily perched on my stump, she didn't try to drag me. I simply received one of her signature persuasively menacing looks.

After a while, she realized she wasn't getting anywhere.

"Luna, please?" Serena looked at me with glossy puppy-dog eyes.

"Not the eyes Rena, that's not even fair." I began to protest, my weakness for my little sister showing through.

She smirked, but behind her mocking expression I saw worry in her eyes. I felt sorry that my sister had to waste her youth worrying about me. I wanted to make sure she was happy, and I was willing to put on a show to do so.

I over-dramatically sighed. "Ugh. Fine." I gave in.

Rena seemed satisfied that she'd convinced me. "Yay!"

I rolled my eyes reluctantly got up. I followed Rena as she lead me to the back door of our cabin.

"Gosh, Luna, how do you do this? It's below freezing, and you're not even wearing shoes." She pointed a shivering finger to my current outfit.