Short Stories

Auburn Hair

TW: Mention of death, mention of drowning, mention of murder | 991 Words

Eye-searing light streams in from my windows, waking me up. Beams of sunlight force their way into my room between slits in the blinds. Reluctantly, I get out of bed and draw the blinds. Bad idea. Dazzling sunlight reflects off the icy, white snow delivered by winter in the night. The effect causes me to look away, squeezing my eyes tight. Whoever said you don't need sunglasses inside is a fool. Slowly, I blink my eyes open. Yellowish shapes dance in my vision.

Yawning deeply, I reach for my phone and open Facebook. Maybe some of the cat memes Aunt Lydia always posts will make up for nearly blinding myself first thing in the morning. What I see only makes it worse.

It's a post by my mom. "Can't wait for the holiday party at two today! So excited to see everyone! :)"

Today. Two. What time is it?

I check the clock by my bed and my stomach drops through the floor and straight into hell. It's one fifty-five. "Crap!" I exclaim as I scramble into action. I rush my closet and pull out the first semi-nice top I see- a maroon sweater one size too big that Grandma Cindy bought for me last Christmas. Hurriedly, I tug the sweater over my and wrestle some clean jeans on, then speed to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Just as I'm about to head out the door and am thinking that everything will be fine, I remember one very crucial detail. I was put in charge of desserts for today's party.

I mentally beat myself into a pulp as I get into my car. I can't fathom how I forgot the party so completely. Granted, I've been busy. Starting an online business alongside my regular job has been more effort than I thought it would be. But it's not like me to forget something so important. I pull out of my driveway and head towards the grocery store. Hopefully, my family can deal with Kroger brand sugar cookies and cakes. Maybe all will be forgiven if I bring some wine, too.

I park in the first open spot I see. Despite my best efforts to seem calm, I probably look frazzled and strange to my fellow shoppers. I make a beeline for the bakery section in the back. There's an array of year-round and seasonal sweet treats on the tables. Blueberry donuts and fudge brownies mingle with reindeer shaped cookies and cupcakes decorated in green and red.

I select a couple boxes of shaped sugar cookies, then grab a container of cupcakes for good measure. They couldn't hold a candle to Auntie Jill's peppermint holiday cake, but it'll have to do.

With the first part of my task done, I turn to try and find the drinks aisle where the wine is. As I walk, I see something that makes me hesitate. Standing by a bakery display with bread is a young woman. She looks familiar. Maybe it's the way her auburn hair curls to frame her face, or how she shifts her weight between her booted feet every few seconds. Though, I can't place where I know her from. A previous job, maybe. Or she could be a fellow regular at the library I go to.

Well, I'm already late to the party, might as well fulfill my curiosity and go ask her.

The universe decides I need one more bad thing to happen first. I've barely taken a step when my foot catches on the leg of one of the display tables. I pinwheel my arms, fighting to stay upright, and just barely manage to stop myself from falling. My face must be a shade similar to my sweater. Wondering if she saw, I quickly glance in the direction of the auburn-haired woman. She's gone. Not gone as in she just wandered over to the deli a few feet away. Gone as in she is nowhere to be seen. I look all around, but there is no sign of her.

Suddenly, I have a bad feeling, but ignore it and convince myself that she must've run off down an aisle somewhere. I go back to searching for the wine. Once I find it, I have a five-minute debate with myself about which one to get. How little can I spend without seeming cheap? In the end, I grab a random one that isn't especially cheap but also isn't horrifyingly expensive for something meant to be consumed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone approach me. I can just make out a smudge of auburn. Oh, maybe the woman recognized me and came to talk, I think. I turn to look at her and say hi, but there is no her. No one is standing by me. There's not even another person in the aisle with me. Again, I have a feeling like something is wrong. How could she have just disappeared like that? It doesn't make sense.

A trick of the light, I tell myself. That's all it was. It couldn't be anything else. Still, I feel too anxious to be in this store any longer and hurry over to self-checkout. As I scan my purchases, I continue to wonder where I recognized the woman from. Maybe we'd met at a social function through a mutual friend. Or, less likely but still possible, she's an actress. Probably not a big name, but I let my friend show me indie movies by local filmmakers a lot. I could've seen her from one of those.

I'm walking to my car when it hits me. I remember where I recognize the way her auburn hair curls to frame her face and how she shifts her weight between her feet every few seconds. The idea is strange, but I am so certain of it. She went to my high school. Her name is Jill.

Jill drowned her junior year.

I'd know, I'm the one who caused it.