Weird Happenings

Ash slogged down the quiet, almost abandoned streets of the town. She was exhausted, tired, and sore after just getting off of work. She worked on the docks of her small, seaside town loading ships with her best friend, Fox. Personally, she despised the town and everyone in it except for Fox. The town was boring the people were annoying, and she just wanted to make enough money to get out and live somewhere else. Anywhere but there. Where nobody knew who she was.

"Ash! Ash, wait up!" Suddenly, a small kid was standing next to her with a wide smile. He was around thirteen and had brown hair and gree eyes. "How are you?" Ash was eighteen. She had already finished college two years before didn't pursue her dream job: being a doctor in the next town over. The kid walked alongside her. "What's with the jacket? It's like a hundred degrees out here!"

"Jeremy, I'm not in the mood for you tonight. I just got off work and I'm really tired today. So, please." Ash didn't have the energy nor the patience to deal with the hyperactive kid. "Why aren't you home right now? It's really late. Your mother will be worried about you." She pulled out her phone to check the time. It read back 9:45 p.m.

"Because my mom isn't home yet," he answered. Ash rolled her eyes at his words. "Do you have to work tomorrow?" She nodded, not bothering to answer with words. Jeremy started to whine about how much she worked and never played with him anymore. Ash rubbed her temples as she, steadily, made her way back home.

"Jeremy!" she shouted at him. The kid stopped his whining and complaining at her raised voice. "Please, just go home. I've had a long, stressful day and need some rest." He looked ready to cry. Ash placed a hand on his head as she stopped walking and turned to him with a small smile on her lips. "Please. I promise I'll lay with you tomorrow when I get off. Just go home for today." He, reluctantly, agreed after a moment. Ash took a deep, calming breath and felt better after he was gone. She continued to her somewhat small house on the hill. It overlooked the ocean and gave her a beautiful view of the moonlight reflecting over the calming waves.

Getting to her home, she unlocked the door before walking in. Quickly, she shut the door after herself. With her back pressed into the door, she slid down to the ground with an unsteady, breathy sigh. Tears filled her eyes before sliding down her cheeks. "Fuck!" she shouted into the dark, emptiness of her own house. "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" Ash turned, slightly, to the left and punched the wall. Her fist went, easily, straight through it. "How dare he say that to me! How dare he do that to me! The fuck is wrong with him?! Son of a bitch!" Tears of frustration, anger, sadness, loneliness, and self-loathing fell down her cheeks like streams before dripping onto the floor below her.

After a good thirty minutes of cursing, shouting, and crying on the floor of the entrance hall, Ash decided that she needed to pick herself up off the floor and go about her night. Getting onto shaky feet and legs, she stumbled to her bathroom. As she made her way through the halls, you could see many holes in the walls. Many were the size of her fist. Others were a bit larger than that.

In the bathroom, she moved to be in front of the mirror. Ash wanted so badly to punch it but didn't have the money to pay for a new one if she broke this one. She had already gone through about four in the past year.

Ash had dirty blonde hair that was cut short like a boy's, hazel-green eyes that held no light in them, and lightly tanned skin. Probably paler because she wore a jacket all the time. Dark circles were under her eyes from the sleepless nights and long days she would have. Ash hated herself. Anger rose in her again and she punched the wall directly next to the mirror. Her fist went right through it once again.

Giving off a deep, ragged sigh, Ash stripped her clothes before turning on the shower. There were many scars all across her body. You would think that she had a rough upbringing from how many she had. When the water was warm enough, she stepped under the head. She bathed and washed her hair with little to no emotion on her face. Ash scrubbed at her arms and legs. Her mind wandered to what happened that afternoon. Her boss tried to make a move on her for the fiftieth time since she was hired, and she rejected him once more. Her boss got pissed off at her and told her that no one, not a single person in the world would ever want her like he did.

Pain in her arms and legs brought her back to the real world. Looking down at the appendages, Ash sighed as blood mixed with the water and soap suds, turning them a reddish-pink colour. She had scrubbed herself raw and made herself bleed. It wasn't anything new to her. She just finished bathing.

Ash turned off the water and exited the shower. Blood dripped down her arms and legs as she stood in the middle of the room. She wrapped a towel around herself and made her way to the kitchen, leaving a trail of blood from the bathroom to the other room. Ash grabbed the first-aid kit from on top of the fridge. Blood was smeared on the sides of the box from her hands. Digging through it, she got out bandages, antiseptic, and cotton balls to use. After, she began to clean her wounds. She hissed a little at the burn from the antiseptic while cleaning the marks. It didn't take her long before she had herself fixed up.

After she was done with doctoring herself up, she replaced the items inside and the kit on the fridge before going to her bedroom. She picked out a large, blue, sheep-printed night-shirt and a pair of solid black underwear to wear for the night. After getting dressed, Ash crawled into the bed and hoped to get even a little bit of sleep for the night. She thought about her day. Ash, desperately, wanted to get out of this town. It was a horrible, life-sucking, depressing town.

...

Ash sat in a bundle of flowers. Butterflies fluttered around her in clouds as the sun peaked through the leave of the trees above her. It was warm and beautiful that day. Ash wore a pure white dress with no shoes. A garland of lovely, pink roses was in her hair as it flowed down her back.

"Ash, sweety. It's lunchtime," her mother called from a different area.

Getting up, some of the butterflies landed on her head to add to the garland that was already there. Ash giggled as she strolled to where she heard her mother call her from.

Her mother, father, and younger brother sat in the middle of a picnic blanket, smiling at her as she walked up. A basket was beside her father. She couldn't wait to have lunch with her family. That was the main reason they hiked to this particular area outside of town.

...

Ash was rudely awoken by her alarm clock. Grumbling, she reached a hand out of the fluffy, comfortable cover-cave she had created to slam her fist onto the snooze button. She made sure not to hit it too hard. Ash couldn't replace this one if she broke it. The good thing was that she had been able to get some sleep, for once. "This would be the first. And I didn't have a nightmare. That's a good sign. Maybe today will be better." Crawling out of the bed, Ash walked to her dresser. Grabbing a black shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans with flecks of white in them, she struggled to get dressed, being careful of the bandages she had to put on. With her clothes on for the day, Ash went to the bathroom and retrieved her white converse and large, dark-brown jacket.

Dressed for work, Ash looked at the living room clock. It was five o'clock. She had a bit before having to leave. Walking back into the kitchen, she got some eggs out. Ash made some scrambled eggs for breakfast before having to go to work.

When she was done eating, Ash washed her plate, pan, fork, and spatula. After that, she checked the time. Five-thirty. Walking out of her house, she grabbed her keys and phone before locking the door after her. Turning around, her shoulders sagged as she started her trek to the docks. Ash dreaded having to see her boss again. She tried to think of happy thoughts before getting there. Like the dream she had the night before.

...

It was getting to be high noon as Ash loaded bags of salt onto a spice ship. She had done it hundreds of times before, so she was used to the weight of the bags. "Ash! You have ten minutes until your break!" Her only friend in this whole town was Fox. He was the only one that helped her out at times and let her go on breaks.

"Okay! I've got about three more bags to get onto this ship," she called back at him. He nodded with a smile before walking down the docks a bit. She toted the bag in her arms onto the ship. Ash was tired and needed a break. She was glad that he informed her of it. Her arms and legs were sore.

As she walked out of the storage part of the ship, Ash saw three large sailors huddled in a corner on the deck. They were whispering to each other in hushed voices and kept glancing at her. She didn't like their looks. They made her uncomfortable and worried.

Walking back onto the docks, Fox came up to her, long red hair whipping around behind him. "Break time, Ashy. I'll finish this ship up for you. You go sit down and rest." Ash gave him a big hug before walking away. She sat on the edge of the docks. Ash had nothing better to do for an hour. She couldn't go home because it was about a forty-minute journey each way.

She watched the fish swim around her feet as she swished the tips of her shoes in the water. It was comforting to know that, at least, the fish liked her. A soft, kind smile graced her face. Her hatred for herself always disappeared when she was looking at or even playing with the fish. They didn't hate nor dislike her. They didn't even understand what that meant.

Suddenly, Ash was pushed off the side of the docks. Hitting the water, Ash didn't freak out like most people would. Freaking out will only make you sink faster. I need to keep my cool or I'll drown. Looking up, she swam back to the surface so that her head was the only thing sticking out of the water.

The three sailors from before were standing there, laughing and pointing at her. "Ya should've seen yer face, lad! It was priceless!" Ash didn't say anything back as she continued to keep herself afloat. Her expression was one of boredom. It wasn't anything new for her. Things like this always happened. She was just glad that her phone was waterproof.

"That was hilarious! Let's do it again when he gets out!" Ash wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of them right then and there.

"Hey, do you see that?" the third man asked, pointing to the water below her. Ash looked down but saw nothing but darkness at first.

"What're ya pointin' at, Ron?" Both men turned to see what he was talking about. Their eyes widened with horror. "What the fuck is that thing?!"

Ash looked back down to see what they were seeing. A serpent-like creature was underneath her. It was humongous. Easily twice the size of a ship. Fear gripped her but she knew better than to move. A moving target is prey in the eyes of the hunter. Moving only her arms and feet a little to keep herself afloat, Ash saw it open his large mouth below her.

She was ready to accept her fate. If she was to die, she was ready for it. The creature got closer to where she was, practically, sitting in his mouth. The men ran away, screaming about the monster that had suddenly appeared in the water. A second after the men were out of sight, the jaws of the beast closed around her and she was quickly enveloped in darkness. Her consciousness began to fade from shock and fear. Soon enough, she passed out in the water around her.

I was asked to rewrite this in a slower manner. I hope this is good for a first chapter. Please, let me know what you think. I'll be using the same ideas for the chapters but slowing down the process and adding to it. Have a wonderful and I love you all so much. Tatty-bye!