Darkened Smiles

two

ocean eyes - Billie Eilish

TWO

Eyes the color of the sea stared back at her, enlarged with fear and rimmed with red.

The girl's mouth was sewn shut with invisible thread, so that no matter how hard she tried, she could not utter a sound. Her once glossy hair was now dull and falling out in clumps. Her hands reached out endlessly, the nails chewed to the wick, while her ocean eyes pleaded for her friend to help her, to save her, to take her from this hell.

Julia could only watch as she was dragged down, down, down into the deep abyss by those swirling, inky black tentacles—as she herself was bound as well. They both screamed silently, reaching for each other, but they never met.

They were too far gone.

Frank had offered to give Julia a ride home, but she had politely declined. The drive to the office was the longest she could remember and she would prefer to not have that experience a second time. Frank, nice as he may be, was not one for road trips.

Besides, the way home wasn't too long by foot—about twenty minutes. It would give her time to savor the cooling air, before it became too cold to walk without a coat.

Julia took a long, deep breath.

The session at the office had gone on longer than she had hoped. It drained her. All she longed to do now was snuggle into bed with her cat, Snickers, burrowing under the covers and blasting sad music in her ears.

She smiled gently at the people passing her by on the sidewalk. Art Jennings Sr. paused to inform her of the new pie on the menu at the diner, to which she replied with a 'thank you, I'll be sure to try it next time'. Her eyes roved from person to person as she continued on, pausing for a moment on the newcomer she had seen eating said pie in the diner. As her eyes met his, she gave a small smile. He did not return it, instead turning back to his phone, but she shrugged it off and moved on.

Julia loved to people watch.

It may sound creepy as all get out—a bit stalkerish, even—but just simply watching people live their lives in those fleeting moments soothed her frazzled mind. Each and every person was so unique. They continued to live their lives, love who they loved, and make decisions even as she was doing the same. Every person on the planet had an individual, special place and role. They had goals, they had plans.

To Julia's mind, this fact was astounding.

Violet used to love it too.

Sniffling, Julia stuffed her chilled fingers into her shirt sleeves and continued her journey home, fully intending to carry out her plans of couch-potatoeing.

➖➖🐱➖➖

"Meowwww!!!"

Julia groaned aloud. Snickers, her cat, was rubbing up against her leg under the blankets, trying to get her up.

She shushed him. "It's not supper time, you chunky kitty."

Snickers only meowed louder, insulted. Julia rolled her eyes, laughing lightly.

She had gotten him from a shelter when he was just a skinny little kitten; his fur was an inky black, with patches of tan and white and he had the most adorable pink nose. The name Snickers was given to him when he had jumped onto her counter on the first day she brought him home, sniffing in her purse to find the candy bar.

Julia paused her bedroom tv, halfway through a rerun of a show, to check the time. 1:17. Her blankets were thrown haphazardly aside—smothering a still crying Snickers—as she scrambled to get out of bed.

Her wildly colorful sock-clad feet padded lightly to the front door, which she swung open and stepped through, after slipping on her plain white crocs. She skipped all the way down to her apartment's mailbox, the chilly air biting into her bare legs. She smiled and waved at her neighbor, Rose, who was tending to the bird feeder on her porch. She began to turn back towards her home, sifting through the various letters and such.

It was by pure chance that she happened to glance to the left—hearing a bug wiz by her ear—and noticed it.

A small blue Sedan, parked down the street a ways, on the opposite side. Hardly noticeable, except for the fact that the windows were tinted so black that Julia couldn't see a hint of a shadow inside. The passenger's side window was cracked slightly, but it was as if as soon as she looked their way, the driver quickly rolled it up.

It irked her a bit, but, telling herself she was just paranoid and overly suspicious, she turned to head back inside. The entire way up the stairs to her door, however, she felt the hairs raised on the back of her neck. She brushed it off as the chill in the air.

Rose didn't seem bothered by it, after all. Why should she?

Once she got inside, Julia hurriedly turned and dead bolted the door. Wetting her lips, she decided to peek through the blinds in her kitchen. Only to see if she left the mailbox open, of course.

Her left pointer finger slipped between the blinds, pulling lightly to expose the front lawn. The mailbox was closed.

The car was gone.

Really, she thought to herself, am I that paranoid? Why would anyone be camped outside my apartment?

Huffing a relieved laugh, she stepped back from the window, only to turn and find Snickers on the counter behind her. He was lounging patiently, licking his paw. When he saw that he had her attention, he stopped and looked pointedly at her. She let loose a loud snort, shaking her head. Sometimes he seemed more human than feline.

————

Sonder - the profound feeling of realizing that everyone,
including strangers passed in the street,
has a life as complex as one's own,
which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it.

I want you all to know that I wrote this as my head was spinning. Thanks.
Feel free to comment your thoughts!
xx KP