This is my first ever story! I'm so excited to get this started and I really want you guys to review :) I really love feedback. But before all that, please read this little prologue/teaser that I have prepared for y'all.
- Snow
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters in this story
Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting things go. It is about letting mistakes be mistakes and the past remain in the past. Life is short, and moving on is the one way we all mature.
Rain peppered the grass of the cemetery with drops of crystal water. The sky was cloudy, dark and grim, casting a shadow over the damp ground. There, in that cemetery stood hundreds of people, all quiet and mourning. A coffin could be seen being lowered into the ground with precision. Women cried, their tears mixing with the steadily increasing rainfall. The men had their heads hung low, holding back tears in fear of losing their dignity. Children remained silent. Only the soft pattering of rain could be heard in the cemetery. The man in the very front stood tall and straight with a solemn expression, staring out into the sea of people clad in dark clothing.
"Today, is a day we will always remember." The man began, grabbing the attention of all standing.
"My daughter, the most beautiful girl I will ever have known, has gained her wings today. We are very sad to see her leave us. And we are never going to forget her. We lost someone so young with such a promising future and the person who is responsible for this will remain nameless. But that person will remember that, while our daughter may be gone from this earth, she will never be gone from our memories."
The silence seemed to grow deadlier, tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife. All of the people turned to look at the girl standing in the corner of the graveyard. Her hair hung limp on her shoulders and sobs racked her body. Accusing eyes looked towards her with hate and deadly passion.
The girl continued to sob, hoping the rain would wash her away to nothing.
Shouts echoed through the halls of the small apartment. The sound of breaking glass and objects being thrown grew louder and louder… and louder.
"I don't know why I ever married you!"
"Go to hell! I don't want to see your face."
The shouting escalated along with the sounds of breaking objects. Through the turmoil, a young girl sat. Curled up in a little ball, she kept whispering to herself the things she was afraid to say aloud.
"Please…please stop." The shouting grew louder.
"Please!" She sobbed into her knees. Outside, lightning flashed adding to the girl's growing frustration. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.
"That's enough! I'm getting out of this house!" A few more shouts could be heard before a door slammed loudly.
"No…no don't leave mom." The girl whispered again. But her pleas were shrouded with the discordant sound of thunder and her wishes disappeared along with her feeling of hope. "Your mother and I have decided that we can't live together anymore. You are going to take turns living with each of us." The father spoke to the girl after entering the room, not paying attention to her bloodshot eyes. "W-why?" She whispered. The man glared and slammed the door shut, making the girl wince as if physical pain was inflicted upon her.
She prayed that night. Prayed to anyone who was listening that things would be better and that she could have her family back.
A girl dived into the waters of the pool. Her body was tiny, but she zipped across the water with the agility of a professional. She glided smoothly, flipping over and pedaling, practicing all of her techniques. Her hair was pulled up into a topknot with a blue swimming cap pulled over it. She made several laps around the pool before slipping back out of the water and checking the stopwatch. Her face turned into a frown.
"I'm eight minutes and 34 seconds away from her." She quickly dashed to the shower rooms to shower and change before exiting the pool area. She started to jog, now wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
After reaching the front door of her house, she stopped and checked the stopwatch again. It read 25 minutes.
"15 minutes away from her." The girl muttered before entering the house.
Her ankle, wrapped in several bandages, ached with every step she took, but the pain seemed to fuel her energy.
She quickly ran over to her training mat and began to count pushups. Sweat dripped down her forehead and her ankle was swollen from her efforts. She collapsed after ten minutes, the pain in her ankle becoming unbearable.
"F-fifteen away from…the record." She panted, slowly slipping into unconsciousness.
"Come on darling, lift your leg a little higher! You won't get anywhere like this!" A woman with graying hair and a permanent frown stared down a little girl in a pink and white leotard.
"I'm sorry miss. I'll try a little harder." The girl broke into her routine again, leaping across the room with one leg high in the air, landing perfectly on her toes. The woman's frown grew deeper.
"That won't do. Your balance is off. You'd better keep practicing, I have to go tutor other students now, but that jump better be perfect by the time I get back or you are not going to have anything to eat today. Am I understood?" The girl nodded in understanding, bowing her head low, tears threatening to come out of her eyes.
Later that same evening, the girl sat perfectly straight at the table with her two parents. Each parent eyed her critically.
"I heard that your jump is not improving very much." The father spoke in a menacing way, glaring at the girl. The girl nodded, unable to speak.
"Sit up straighter! You're going to disgrace our family at an event sitting like that." The mother shouted. The girl straightened her back even more. On her plate was a measly portion of lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. A half empty glass of water stood to the side of the plate.
The girl ate silently, spitting her food out into her napkin every once in a while. She didn't want to eat. She felt sick from being criticized, analyzed, and scolded every few seconds.
Her eyes were glazed over with moisture and she excused herself to the bathroom. The minute she got to the toilet, all of the food in her stomach was vomited out.
The girl cried silently, in fear of being heard. In fear of being looked upon with those critical eyes.
And there you have it. The prologue of my first story, Learn. I hope you all enjoyed it, I worked super hard on it! Like I totally neglected a really important project to write this (something you should never do and I do because I'm an idiot who can't get her priorities straight).
I really appreciate feedback and I will be updating this as soon as I can get the next chapter written. This was extremely short so I'll make up for it next chapter. So for now,
Ciao!
- Snow
