Bring them back

Chapter 1

There had not been many occasions on which she had felt so frustrated and so helpless. So dependent on others goodwill. She hated that feeling.
And yet she stared at the letter in her hands, telling her that she had failed her seminar paper. If she had not worked for that thing at all she couldn't care less. But she had learned for weeks, noted everything down according to file card, had even called the patient from her work to get the last piece of available information. She had not wanted to lie on her seminar paper, so she had left out information she didn't know.
And now, look at that. Failed because these things were missing. Because she had forgotten to print out a page – which was completely unnecessary because she had the data written down, but who cared for that? - and had hurried to do so, as well as fill it in and fax it.
For what?

So she did not pass that thing for one point? One single, fucking point? They could have given that point for writing skills, which were demanded, too. Or for accuracy in describing the wound-treatment. But instead there were notes what she could do better. And why a wound was treated the way it was. How would she know? She wasn't a doctor, she just had used the available information. She had even described that she would use another wound-dressing and given reasons. So why was that part wrong?

Angrily sniffing, she took another sip of nüwang, some sort of plum-wine. It was sweet and got her where she wanted to be faster and better than wodka or rum.

"Fuck you", she mumbled while opening the word document, named Piece'o'shite. Not exactly a high striving work title, but since she had not sent it via e-mail, it had done it's job. And now look at it – it was exactly according to name. A piece of shit.
She had her headset on, new metal music played and drowned out the sound of her snuffling. Least thing she would need now was the sad voice of a sad person singing about sad things. Angry suited her better.

The worst part was – aside from not passing this fucking piece of paper - that it was late at night and she could call nobody to share her misery. She was all alone in the house which her uncle had gifted her as his legacy.

It was a nice place, though. A bit far off, surrounded by a forest, a pond nearby – it seemed rather a fairy tale house than a real one. But it had a working plumbing system and hot water and electricity so she had taken the house, no questions asked.
Her gaze wandered out of window which was halfway covered by ivy. Maybe she should cut it so more sunlight could enter the room. But not today. Or, rather, tonight.

Deeply sighing she read the letter again. How should she tell her boss? Because, she definitely had to. Of course she could correct her mistakes and send it in a second time and hope to pass it then.
But her life had taken some strange turns lately and she did not know if she had the capacity to redo half of the paper. She drank some nüwang, sighing again. The only sound, it seemed, she was capable of right now.
Her goal was to study medicine one day – with every year spent waiting it seemed farther away from her. Every year she applied to the nearest universities but her degree and her experience didn't seem to count for anything these days. It was frustrating. She refilled her glass.

Luckily she was on holiday. Unfortunately this was her first day of holiday, so she could think three weeks about how she had failed that thing.
So much for holiday, she thought, reading through her paper, searching for the mistakes. It rather seemed she had to work for that and could not just chill for a week. Getting through the pages didn't help her mood at all.

Grabbing for a halfway eaten bar of chocolate she decided to not do that now. Tomorrow was another day to worry. Tonight she would try to not think about it anymore.
Emptying her glass she threw the letter onto her desk. "Fuck you."

It was coldish outside, not cold enough for her warm coat but definitely not warm enough to go out without a jacket at all. Above her the sky was sprinkled with sparkling stars, a bright waning moon lit her path down to the pond. In her hand she held an old fashioned lantern, not because she had no flash light at home, but because she felt the need to get away from all modern stuff. Including her failed seminar paper. Mostly because of that.

Her glasses fogged due to her breathing into her scarf. She liked wearing it up over her nose.
The shrubs around were merely dark shadows, something rustling through the undergrowth. On other occasions she probably would have felt some sort of discomfort, being alone out in the dark, but not tonight.
She needed to be alone, to be unseen. There was comfort in the dark sky. In the cold light of the stars. In the calm of the forest. She had no desire to see or feel anything right now.
The candle radiated a small eerie pool of light around her, causing shadows nearby to flicker wildly. Soft scrunching of the lamps hinge accompanied her.
In her head she could almost hear the teacher read the letter out loud.

Dear Ms. Jenkins,
thank you for turning in your seminar paper. After careful perusal we unfortunately had to note that not all standards had been met. Due to that we have to inform you that the course assessment is not passed. You have the choice to...

Clenching her fingers around the handle of the lamp she approached the small pond, sitting down onto a tree trunk. Silver moon light reflected on the still surface of the black water. Somewhere an owl hooted.

"Yes, thank you for your condolences", she mumbled, sniffing again.
She hated feeling this depressed and angry; and knowing it was only natural didn't make it any better. The owl hooted again, this time a dark shadow glided over the ground.
If my life would be just half as easy. Hunt, eat, sleep. Repeat. The young woman put the lamp down and stared off into dark distance.

Suddenly something changed in the woods. Leaves were rustling loudly, it sounded as if animals fled from something in all directions, heavy thuds landing on the ground not far from her.
Hastily she got up and grabbed her lamp. No need to take a risk. Although this was a quiet place with little to no crimes, one could never know. Especially since she lived here all on her own.