Saturday is a glorious thing. Sleeping in late, big breakfasts, and slow moving days all to yourself are always welcome to Ashley. Yet, she knew that this Saturday was going to be different. Ashley had set an alarm for 7:00 am, early by her standards for a weekend, and made sure that the ringer wasn't up too high so it wouldn't wake her mom. Tossing and turning, Ashley slept fitfully, words coming and going in her mind, and images of the past pulling her in.
"Can we get a puppy, mommy?" Little Ashley begged as they drove past the animal shelter.
"No, sweetie. Our place isn't big enough for one."
To herself, little Ashley wondered if daddy would've let her.
Quickly, Ashley was swept away into another memory.
"Awww, is Ashley crying?" Mocked Ronnie, the school bully since kindergarten, as Ashley cried over her ruined finger painting.
"Now, now, class, what is going on?" Mrs. Roy, the elementary school art teacher, came over to figure out what all of the commotion in a second grade art class was all about. When she saw Ashley's painting, she gasped.
"What happened?" Mrs. Roy demanded.
The laughter stopped and the room went quiet.
"I said, 'What happened?' What happened to Ashley's painting?"
Still, nobody answered.
Ronnie glared at Ashley. The message in her beady eyes was clear: "Don't. You. Dare."
Suddenly, the bell rang. It grew louder and louder, and the air in the art room grew hot and suffocating. And suspiciously smelling of fish.
Ashley groaned and opened her eyes to a world of orange and white. Spinach was covering Ashley's mouth and was purring into her nose. No wonder the fish smell. Ashley rolled over in her bed and hit the alarm on her phone off.
Spinach looked at her expectantly.
Ten minutes later, a recently fed Spinach and a not-so-recently fed Ashley made their way to the kitchen table where Ashley placed her writing notebooks and laptop down.
Already, Ashley's street was busy with people, whether they be out driving or on the sidewalk. Always loving the view of the New York streets, Ashley found the kitchen table her favorite spot in the house.
Tearing her eyes away from the view, Ashley focused on her notebook.
Rereading her work from last night, she sighed.
"I have to get this right, Spinach." Ashley whispered, reading her words over and over again, liking the sound of them.
Spinach meowed.
"I think it's ready."
Spinach meowed again.
Sighing once more, Ashley scratched the cat behind the ears and sat down at the table.
"I can do this," She whispered to herself. "I can do this."
Opening up Wattpad on her laptop, she typed, fingers flying across the keys.
YOU ARE READING
Her Words
Short StoryTeen writer Ashley Burke is a quiet girl in her home city The Big Apple. Because of her shyness, Ashley keeps most of her things to herself, including her writing. So when Ashley is finally ready to come out with her best work, she looks on Wattpad...
