hey, sorry h20pf! took awhile, i know... busy with life. anyways, here you go. chapter two, without further adue! hey, i think i rhymed!whatevs...
"Wyntia! You comin over after practice? it ends at four-thirty." said Justin, one of my aquiantences. i say aquaintence, because i never actually counted anyone i talked to as a friend. they were just people to talk to when i was bored. i thought about it, then shook my head no. i didn't feel like socailizing today. or any day really. btw, i'm Wyntia Storm. i'm sixteen. i go to Burgess High School, home of the Bob Cats. Whoopy! Go Bob! yep. i wear black everyday and every night. i wear black on black on black, sprinkled with black. i am so pale, i'm classified as albino, even though i'm not techniquly albino. i have dull, frizzly black hair that i can NOT control WHATSOEVER. and i have dull grey eyes that always looked tired. the bags under my eyes didn't help much. i walked off, leaving the warm sneaker scented gym, for the cool windy, dismal day of mid winter. i sort of smiled at it. i say sort of, because i hadn't actually smile smiled in years. years. since i was like... i dont even know or care anymore. about anything. i just went through every day, not caring. because if i cared, then i'd hurt. i didnt want to hurt. i'd hurt before, and i didn't like it. so i didn't care. that was the philosophy i lived by. i stepped into the cool climate of the coffee shop i was a regular at. the girl behind the counter, Leah, had grown used to me, and always had my drink ready and charged to my tab, ( not as often as she should have), by the time i stepped in. she was a nice girl, early twenties, aybe. i think she was nineteen. she handed it to me. "Hey Wyntia." she piped cheerfully. i nodded. she had also grown used to my silence, with only occasional words between us. sometimes, on her break, she would come and sit with me, or if she got off early, would give me a ride home. she was a nice, small town girl. when she'd come and sit with me, she would talk. about her life, her low pay, how her mom and brothers are doing, and when her father would be coming home again. she talked about her dreams and her fears. she wanted to get an education, a good college, then, after that, open up a business downtown, and settle down with mr. right, and have a few kids. like i said, nice small town girl. but she had this way about her, the look in her eyes, the way she spoke, as if she was one of those world wise, all knowing old ones who sat at the park and would give you the answers to life if you sat with them long enough. i picked a seat at the window, my usaul. it was in the corner, nice and shadowy. i could watch the world pass by and not be seen. i liked it that way. i pulled out my music and sketch pad, and the specail pencils my mother gave me a while back ago. i started a new picture, a still life picture of a mother and a toddler girl playing in the snow outside. the toddler was fascinated by the white flakes. the mother was smiling. she had that twinkle in her eye, that glow about her. my mother had that once too. once. they moved on, but i had immortalized them on my paper in soft grays, and blues and blushes. Leah came over, sitting down across from me. "So, what's new Wytia?" she asked. she didn't expect a verbal answer, i didn't give her one. just a shrug. " The usual, huh? yeah... me too." she took a sip from her drink. steaming cinnamon chocolate. her favorite. i had something to tell her. i drew it out, working silently while she talked. i held it out to her. "Wyntia! that's amazing! Why, it looks like my prince charming, did you draw him out for me?" she asked, her hand held on her heart. i pointed to the sign i had drawn behind the man with my pencil tip. it was the local hardware store. the corner of his shirt had dale's hardware on it. i had seen him the other day and immediatly thought of leah. his name was on the shirt. Ricky. "Dale's hardware...? are you saying he works there?" she asked, her eyes wide. i nodded. "Come on! we've got to go find him!" she said, grabbing her coat and me with it. appearantly, she was off work. i grabbed my stuff quickly, and followed her out. i got in her car, and we drove downtown. we parked outside the store. we got out. well, she got out, i hid behind my sketch pad. she stopped by my door, holding it open. "Come on! i can't do this with out you!" she said. i got out timidly, and followed her into the store, which smelled of paint and wood and metal. "Um, excuse me, but we're looking for a Ricky?" she asked the cash registar lady. " Stocking up isle four. at the end. Newbie." she said. Leah pulled me along the isle. "Excuse me, but are you Ricky?" she asked. the boy turned around. he was about twenty. "Yes...?" exactly like she had described. " this is gonna sound weird, but you have to hear me out. this is my friend Wyntia. say hi wyntia." i waved meekly. " and i once told her what my prince charming would look like, and she drew him out, except, she drew out you... so, if you're not already in a relationship, then would you like to go out on a date with me?" she asked. there was an awekward silence. "i'm sorry. i know this is adrupt, and you don't even know me, but i just really really want to go on a date with you, and my story is true, so i'm not a gold digger or nothing." she said, blushing "Well, people in the city aren't as... direct as you are, but, yeah. sure, i'll go on a date with you. whats your name?" "Leah, Northfur." she uncapped a pen, and wrote down her number on his hand. "Thanks!" she said. he smiled, and went back to stocking the shelves with boxes of hinges. we walked out of the store. "Oh, thank you Wyntia! Thank you thank you thank you!" she said, hugging me. i managed a small squeak. " Your welcome." i said. she gave me a big smile. she knew how hard it was for me to talk. "You wanna ride home?" she asked. "Um,no. I think i'll walk." i said. "you sure?" "Yeah." "k! bye! see you tomorrow!" she said, unlocking her car. i started walking, but stopped, turning to face her. "Leah?" "yeah?" " I'm glad we're... friends." i had never said that word out loud before. it felt right, saying it to her. "Me too." she said. " And leah?" "yeah?" "I'm sorry." "For what?" "Um, nothing." "K, i'll let you know how my date goes see you tomorrow girl!" she said, driving away. i watched her leave, then pulled out a crinkled paper from my pocket, along with a stubby pencil. i walked back into the store and found ricky. " Oh, um... Winter, right?" he said "Wyntia. and i want you to do something for me. on your date, be nice to Leah. be geantlemanly, pull out her chair for her, open the doors, give her your coat. and if goes good, and you continue to see her, be good to her. you hear me? be good to her. she deserves the best, and according to her, you're the best. so be good to her. don't you dare hurt her." i said. "I wouldn't even think of it. i'd never hurt her." he said. i looked into his eyes. i trusted him. "Good." i said. then i left. i held the paper, using my palm as a table. i checked off one thing on it. it was a checklist, to make sure i got everything done before... well, before. setting up leah with ricky was one of my things to do. i had one last thing to do. i walked into the park, and spotted the person i was looking for. an old man, by the name of John. he was a WW tuskegee veteran. i would sit and listen to him tell his stories sometimes. today, he was sitting in his usual spot, by the fountian. he saw me coming, and waved a veiny hand. i waved back. i sat down by him. "Well hello there Winter." " Hello." "Oh, so you're talking today?" "yes sir. but i can't stay long. got something important to do. i just wanted to give this to you." i said, handing him an envelope. "And this." i pulled out a framed picture. one i had drawn. of his beloved wife Isadora, and italian from where he was stationed back in the war. she moved here with him after it was over. he talked about her often. i wished i had known her. "My, oh my Winter. this is a master peice! its Isa, isn't it?" he asked, holding it out before him. "My isa. its like she's here agian, standing before me, saying, ' Now johnny, why you gone and done that?" hah! you 're an amazing artist. and whats the envelope for. can i open it now?" he asked. "Um, no. open it tomorrow after the news." i said. he gave me a questioning look. "Its a surprise. no opening before then, k? now, i gotta go." i said, getting up. "You just like her, you know? you gots her spirit." he said. i smiled at him, and left. i'm sorry john. thats was the second to last envelope i had to deliver. one more left, then i was done. i had slipped one into leah's coat. she wouldn't find it till tomorrow. i went home. my baby brother, Joshua, was taking a nap. my dad was probably at the bar. i kissed his sleeping head. "Love you buddy." i said. i slipped an envelope under the nightlight on his table. then i walked out of the house. i walked out of town. there was a bus stop, just at the city limits. it hardly ever had any passengers on it. i got on it, and rode it till it came to the national sea side park. Devil's Pass. i waited for the bus to disappear, then slipped over the railing. the park was deserted. i walked through it, my footsteps and the laps of the waves the only sound. i followed the trailmarkers, until i reached a clearing. the cliff edge. there was rusty old yellow railing with warning signs on it, keeping visitors a safe distance from the edge. i jumped it. i pulled my coat around me, the wind whipping my hair about. tears started to spill over, my self control cracking. i walked closer, slowly. then i heard a voice. i was startled. but my focus was already on the edge. " Why are you crying?" it was curious. "Because i'm sad." "why?" "because this world is a cruel, hideos place, and i can't stand it." "so... when you gonna stop being sad?" i had reached the edge, some pebbles falling off, plunging into the churning green waves. "right now." i whispered. then i jumped. the air stung my eyes and face, making them numb. i resisted the urge to scream. whoever was up there would surely call 911, but it would be too late by the time they got he-. i felt arms catching me. What? how was this possible?! i stopped falling, and started going up. i was set down in the snow, back on the cliff. "Now why are you gonna jump? don't you know you would have deid?" he asked, holding me. i struggled. how had he stopped me? was he wearing bungee cords or something? i couldn't get a good look at him. "That's the point Idiot!Let me go!" i yelled. "Wait. you want to... die? But why? you're so young..." he said. "Because...because ican't takethe p-p-pain!" i stuttered, my control breaking as i began to sob, slumping to the snowy ground. therewas apause,my cries echoing off the trees. "Hey... hey... it'll be alright. here, ah,um,let me take you someplace good. someplace...happy." said the voice. i finally looked at him. he was my age, but i knew he was different, and i knew how he had caught me. and i accepted it. there wasn't much choice, was there? i nodded, and he lifted me up into his arms, carrying me bridal style. icried, pressing my face into his cool shoulder as houses and trees and skyscrapers passed by below us, the wind whipping my hair around. i fell asleep, exhuasted. i never thought about where i was going, who i was with, or what i had done. i just cried and slept.
- 3rd per. POV-
while wyntia was whisked away, meanwhile, in her little hometown of burgess, the people she had left behind were getting worried. her aquiantences at school paidno real mind. she would begone for days at a time sometimes. (this is not true, she was just more invisible somedays). Leah noticed her absence, but thought nothing of it, as sometimes Wyntia would'nt come in. John, the war veteran she visited,noticed, but thought nothing of it, as shewould not come some days either. her father didn't notice it at all, his drunk stupor was that heavy. her little brother, Joshua, didn't pay attention to her absence, as hehardly saw her sometimes. she was either at school, or put off coming home till late. on the second day, they got worried. and then they found out. John had gone home, and turned on the news. he hadn't opened the letter yet, as requested. Leah, who had gotten home from her second date with Ricky, turned on the tv, which was on the local newschannel. she had yet to find Wyntia's letter. this also happened to be one of those rare days when Mark, wyntia's dad, was not that drunk. he sat on the couch, flicking through the channels when he stopped on the was playing on the floor. do you want to know what they were all watching? let's listen in. " ... I'm Donna Daily, reporting to you live from Devil's Pass,where earlier a couplehiking witnessed a horrific scene. they were filming wildlife when the wife first spotted a young girl. she was walking towards the edge. they thought nothing of it at first, until the girl crossed the safety fence. they went to stop her, but it was too late. here iks the footage from their camera." a clip rolls. it's grainy, but you can definetly make out a young girl, walking towards the ledge, then jumping off it. "This girl, now identified as Winter Storm, age sixteen, goes to the localhigh school. i wish i could say they were looking for her with first aids, but the local police have been searching for hours now for the body, as a jump like that no one could survive. more newson this horrific circumstance will be later posted on our website at www. . back to you tom." all the faces watching this, John's, leah's, her father's, were frozen in shock. "Leah's mother, who had been watching over her shoulder, made a comment. "Now why do people have to go and do that? kill themselves at such a beautifulplace, now thats all its gonna be famous for. shame on who ever she is." "Mom?" "yeah sweetie?" "i've got to go." she grabbed her jacket and ran to the police station. Ricky, and John, plus Wyntia's family were already there. a minature roit was forming. the next day at school, her aquiantences were informed of her death at an assembly. they searched for another week, then pronounced her, officially, dead. a service was held with no body, but an empty coffin, which was paid for by the citizens of Burgess. "A local tragedy" it was called, when most of these people didn't even know her, but everyone attended. her letters were opened and read. many tears were shed.
so... what do you think? good, bad, eh? please,please, R&R!