Puddles

Her Laugh

Her laugh broke the silence. But from the sound of her laugh, you could tell that it wasn't a happy laugh. Her laugh was hollow, detached, almost as though she wasn't in her own body. 

At one point in her life, the light of her soul was equivalent to that of the sun. Blindingly happy, she intoxicated everyone with her melodious laugh, a musical sound everyone wanted to hear over and over. She moved with all the grace of the wind, and if you had seen her walking, it would seem as though the wind carried her, allowing her to move gracefully. Before, her eyes sparkled relentlessly, almost as though stars were trapped in her orbs.

All that was before. Now, her soul emanated the gray, dreary skies during a summer rain, her laugh was distant, broken. The wind attempted to lift her, but it seemed as though weights were tied to her feet. Her eyes, once sparkling, were now stormy, matching the sound of her soul. 

Nevertheless, she always made sure she looked happy before leaving the house, so no one would suspect anything. The smile she wore was fake, tailored to fool those who aren't observant of the moods of a person and their effects on the face. The laugh she let loose was forced, but if you listened hard enough, you would be able to tell that it was a fake laugh. 

But no one seemed to notice, and she felt as though she would be stuck in this constant place forever, a trap of the mind, confining her to the recesses of her mind to mull over her thoughts. 

And finally, like a rubber band stretched far enough, she snapped. On the day that she snapped, she woke up feeling irritated. Nothing consoled her, not even the music that once seemed to share the same pain as her. Stepping outside, she headed towards school where she would be destined to spend eight hours with a bunch of ignorant fools, save for the few that weren't ignorant. She could actually stand those people. Glancing up at the sky, it was obvious that it was going to rain, the sky was gray, and held the promise of rain. They looked so heavy with precipitation, that if the clouds were not careful, they would burst open and pour out in one huge stream. 

Stepping up the steps of the school, she sighed, a pit of dread already planting itself in her stomach. The day passed like it usually did—boring, and filled with minor inconveniences. Everything was going tolerably, nothing angering her. Until she got to her last class. She liked her last class, it was one of her favorites, but most of her classmates were known for being ignorant, and rudely inconsiderate when it came to other people's beliefs. 

The class ticked by like normal, everyone minding their own business for once, listening to the teacher rather than interrupting and disturbing the peace.Wrapped up in her studies, the girl almost didn't hear the backhanded comment that would cause her to burst with anger and resentment not only to this person, but to the whole world. 

"If someone doesn't know English, they shouldn't be here." Was the crude whisper. And that did it. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down, and failing. She opened her eyes, raising her head, letting out a laugh that was noticeably fake. 

"Is that what this country was based off of? Being able to understand English? Because for my whole life, I thought that this country was based off of being able to have a better life, not being able to understand the english language. Wasn't this country based off the belief that all people were created equal with certain unalienable rights? Doesn't the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson say 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness'? Does that not mean that anyone who comes here should have an equal opportunity to succeed? Does this mean that we shouldn't each be treated equal?" She took a deep breath, her face flushing with anger, a determined look lacing her eyes.

"Or should we each be treated based on our religion, sexuality, race, ethnic background, and whatever else divides us? Should we all be treated different because of that?" She demanded, pausing to wait for an answer. 

Everyone stared at her wide-eyed, the teacher on the sidelines, an amused smile on their face. "I-uh..." The person stated.

"No, it should not. You know why? Because if you take one person from every different skin color, sexuality, race, religion, ethnicity, and so on, if you were to metaphorically peel back their skin, you would see that we are all the same, composed of the same things. Instead of looking at what makes us different, think about what makes us the same. Do not judge people based on something a minority did. I would never judge any white person because of the KKK, I expect the same from all of you." She concluded, picking up her pencil, and returning to her work as though nothing happened. 

She wasn't 'fixed' by this occurrence. The road to being whole again would be a long one, but this filled her with a hope that allowed her soul to beam like the sun yet again. 

A/N~Soooo, it's been a little while since I updated this, and even longer since I updated my other books. But this project is really important to me, and I need to put more time towards this than anything else, besides orchestra. My MPA's (Musical Performance Assessment) is on February 16, and we are getting worked to the bone because we are simply not ready for that. They just had to push up the MPA's, didn't they? Ugh. So yeah, between practicing pieces of music after school,  on my own time, writing this for my project, volunteering, and homework on top of all that, I don't have much time for anything else anymore. Oh well, I enjoy writing and playing my violin, it's just a small price to pay, I suppose. Anyways, we had to present our project through a powerpoint pretty much outlining what we were going to do, and my teacher liked mine! He also encouraged me to force myself to write something new every day, so I'll attempt to do that for this book. Until further I get more time on my hands though, my other books will have to go on hiatus. I hope that's ok! 

P.s.- I put "[I Guess I] Miss You" from the SpongeBob Musical on loop, and it played like 20 times while I was writing this and I'm still listening to it. I'm not bored of it, and never will be.