Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
it almost feels like a dream.
the river's peaceful streams roaring in her ears. dark blue skies held clouds overhead, covering the moonlight she never had. a soft thud heard as her sneakers hit the rocky path, aimlessly strolling on the bank side of the river with tranquil.
it was the middle of the night, she decided she couldn't sleep as she continuously staring at her bedroom ceiling for hours. rather than struggling in the soft mattress trying to fight insomnia, the next best thing that came up in her mind is sneaking out to take a jog.
the girl didn't really know where she was going, but when the sounds of engines on the road and the buzzing of broken streetlamps are dissolved by the rustling of trees and clear water streaming through the rocks, she knew she found her serenity.
the place gave her exhausted mind to rest, by just hearing the calming sounds of nature and not the stressful thoughts and unwanted judgment. she wished she could live like this forever.
the clouds parted, revealing the silent selene and its beautiful soft glow that hit the river, the light bounces to her eyes, a sphere of obsidian black softens as she smiles, a smile rarely seen to the outside world.
along with the music of nature, she sang, a song written out of the blinking stars, thought by none. a song about surreal happiness, illusions, and nostalgia, of love and loneliness.
a bird's chitter disturbed her melody, the night sunk slowly, the shining stars disappeared to be replaced by dawn. soon, she realized she was in a place unknown, where no exit signs are placed close to her.
panic grew worse as something -or someone- grabbed her by the shoulder to somewhere the lights couldn't reach. it finally let her go, but instead of getting lost like she wanted, it covered her eyes. a soft deep voice echoing in her ears.
"never, ever, go here again. your life is precious even if you don't want it." a harsh flick made its way to her neck.
then her sight went from dark to bright, her eyes taking into the view of the neighborhood she lives in, her feet ached as if she's been standing for hours. the sun had already begun it's glorious ascent to the sky.
the girl rushed to her house, climbing the window that led to her bedroom. she quickly wiped off the mud on the edges and shoved her sneakers on a corner. the mirror catches her sight, she looks fine, her shirt might have been a bit dirty. but her eyes widen in suprise as she spotted a bruise on her neck and the apple of her cheek. small, but hard to miss.
two hours later, just before school, she hurriedly applies concealer to her neck and cheek. on the way there, she sincerely hoped that no one saw it.
"what the heck? you could've really outdone him if you didn't act kind!"
she sighed, "it doesn't matter that i lose,"
her friend rolled her eyes "sometimes i don't get why you're softhearted at times like this. i never heard ahn mirae acting like that."
the two girls sat under a tree on the yard at recess, they were discussing about the basketball game they had before in p.e., supposedly they were competing against five of the strongest male player in the school with their fellow classmates, but most of them decided that they're sick or some other excuse. so the two girls went for it along with a few that had dared to.
they were leading in the game, both teams were in high scores, the crowd placed bets on which one will win as the game started to get wild.
close to where the time's almost up, the crowd roared in disbelief as mirae threw the ball to the hoop. instead of rolling into it, the ball bounced and hit one of the other team's player's face, giving him a nosebleed. she rushed to his aid, mumbling apologies while trying to clean the blood on his face with a clean tissue in her pocket.
his other team members said he'll be fine, but mirae was not assured, that crooked nose looked nowhere to be fine.
"why do you even care, though? you missed like, half of the game." mirae pushed her friend playfully.
it was true, jia had to leave the game on the break time, she was called to the principal's office for something. it was a bummer to mirae that she left. on recess, jia didn't want to talk about why she was called, so she made mirae tell her what happened in the rest of the basketball game.
"yah, stop that." she glared, then jia noticed something on her friend's face. a spot of purple near her eyes, a bruise. "mirae, who did this?" she cupped her right cheek.
mirae noticed her change in tone and stopped laughing, " i- what?" she was about to pull her hands off her face when jia's thumb smeared over her cheek, revealing more bruises. her eyes widen, "what the- i swear if any of those cunts laid a hand on you-"
then she began to tell the story on that night- dawn, whatever, in the woods. mirae expected jia would tell her off why she would go out in the middle of the night alone, and she was not disappointed.
"i honestly can't even think how dumb you are. did you bring your concealer?" her friend sighed.
mirae reached to her pocket but she realized she can't feel the little bottle inside, she rummaged inside again just to be sure. she got nada. "shit, it must've dropped here somewhere."
they scoured the field in search of the concealer. as recess was about to end, they head to the class empty-handed. mirae threw herself to her seat in frustration, uncovering her mask jia had given her earlier, it helped to cover most of the bruise but a small mark of purple poked out of the fabric,
" i can't have anyone see me like this." she groaned.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
