What a cold night.
'Excuse me, what is the time now?' I picked out a pedestrian and asked her.
'Eight thirty.' She shot me an annoyed look and walked away.
'Thank you.' I said, feebly, although she was probably too far away to hear me.
I continued wandering around the streets, thinking about what just happened. Was it because of my ugliness? No one has ever told me that I looked ugly, but no one has ever told me I looked pretty either. I touched my face. Nothing is wrong, I thought.
Maybe it was my clothes. The shops were going to close now. I saw a big 'Sale' at the front of a boutique and walked in without thinking. There was a man standing beside a street light near the shop. He was facing the other side, so I couldn't see his face. The figure was tall. When I stepped in the boutique, he was gone. I didn't care to think further.
'Welcome.' I heard a boring voice said. I turned to look at the old chunky salesman and smiled to him. He eyed me up and down, and reluctantly said, 'How may I help you?'
'Uh, I need some new clothes,' I said. 'I-uh, fell down and got some mud on my clothes. Just want to take a browse.'
I walked to the back of the shop quickly and pretended to be browsing at the clothes. My heart was pounding so fast because of the nervousness; Josh had never brought me to any boutique or shops before. A glamorous 1950s Ruched Cocktail Dress (not that I knew its name, it was written there) caught my attention. The price was $140. Is it okay to buy it? I thought.
I looked at the price tag of another random dress: $70. Three hundred minus seventy equals to two hundred and thirty. I compared all the prices and found it the cheapest of all. Bingo. This knee-length white dress with embroidery would be good enough. I took it into the fitting room. I gasped looking at myself in the mirror; I have never seen myself in such beautiful clothes before. I went to pay at the counter happily, with my new clothes on me. This is the first shopping of my life!
'Oh, miss, congratulations! How lucky are you to be able to find the cheapest clothes of all in our shop?' The salesman said, sarcastically.
'Oh…' I didn't know how to respond to the sarcasm. 'Yes, lucky…'
I could see he was suppressing his laughter. Never mind. I was too overwhelmed with happiness to think about the stupid salesman again. Now, I have my new dress on me. I must be looking very pretty now; with my new dress on me. This was the first time I looked pretty in my life. People would now look at me!
I was so contented that I didn't notice I was crossing the road. I heard honks. I turned my head and saw lights coming so fast that I had no time to react.
It was a car.
The lights were getting brighter and brighter. My legs were all numb; I could not move an inch. I felt an impact at my abdomen. The next moment, I was on the cold, wet floor. There was a metallic taste in my mouth. My eyelids were so heavy. I couldn't move, I could only see... and feel pain. I saw red lights getting dimmer and dimmer- the car sped off. I laid on the floor, unable to breathe. I was covered in blood; I was coughing out blood. My beautiful white dress became scarlet stained by my blood.
So this is death?
I saw a man out of the corner of my eyes. He got to me so fast and lifted me up. He has no warmth; his body was ice-cold. He started running, fast, very fast. I couldn't believe my eyes. This man was inhumanly beautiful. He was very pale, his skin was marble smooth. He looked down and said, 'Hang on there.'
His velvet smooth voice sounded like a lullaby. I felt sleeper and sleeper. Everything went so blurry that I could barely see. I couldn't resist the sleepiness anymore. I finally closed my eyes and fell into what felt like deep slumber.
