Always Known As the Strange One
Cecilia Lisbon was always known as the strange one. This was a title that would haunt her until her dying day, and stuck even as she was lowered into the ground. She never fell in love, never married, never reproduced. She would make us think she didn't want to.
Cecilia had that air of mystery all of the girls had. But hers was something deeper. Cecilia was...different. She was gorgeous, but she didn't like boys. She had no friends except for her own sisters. She was more poetic than book smart.
It was a shock to the neighborhood when she slit her wrists with her own father's razor. It was a shock to the city when she plummeted from her bedroom to her death. And only a year later, it was a shock to the world when her sister's followed in her footsteps.
But who was Cecilia Lisbon? We have found out little about her sisters. We know virtually nothing about the youngest. The strange one.
Before the quadruple suicides that took place a year after Cecilia's death, the four sisters denied they would do what their sister did. They said she was different, strange. We, being so gullible, believed them. That was before they stopped coming to school, stopped leaving the house all together.
She filled our memories before her sisters died. We could only think of her, what little we knew about her. We remember the party. The first and last party of her life. Of any of the Lisbon girls' lives.
Lux flirted with a few of us. Mary and Therese were playing a game, Dominoes we think, in the corner. But we mostly stayed on different sides of the room. Cecilia had taped bracelets onto her wrists so the scars wouldn't show. Her sister's wrists were bare, and we got the impression they gave Cecilia all of their bracelets to cover the scars.
Joe the Retard showed up, and we had fun showing the Lisbon girls what we could make him sing and do. We were having a great time until Cecilia asked if she could be excused. She picked at the tape that held her bracelets until they became loose. She froze for a minute. Her mom then let her leave the party.
Everything after that is sort of blurred in our minds. We remember hearing her footsteps up the stairs. Then the sound of air filling up that wedding dress she always wore. Then the worst sound of all. The thud as one of the spikes in the fence plunged through her heart.
We left silently as Mrs. Lisbon covered the other four's eyes. Or tried to, anyway. That night changed our young lives forever, and we were never going to be the same again.
________________________
Cecilia still haunted our minds months after her suicide. We would see her everywhere we went and many times had to convince ourselves she was dead. The theories of why she had done that to herself began immediately following the news.
Tim Winer, the brain, tried to tell us that she was out of touch with reality and thought she would fly when she jumped. Somewhere in our minds or hearts, we knew this was just an excuse. If that had been the case, she wouldn't have cut her wrists. She desperately needed to leave. And suicide was her only escape.
Somehow, over the years, the little memories we had of Cecilia faded. We know we will never figure out why she did it. Our parents figured if they couldn't figure it out, they would just forget it all. But we couldn't. We were desperate then. We are desperate now. Desperate for answers.
________________________
We have many reasons to blame Trip Fontaine, but many reasons to thank him, also. He reached in to the Lisbon house and pulled out Lux. For some time, he saved her from a depression. She was his world.
But then he stomped on her heart when he left her on the football field. Alone. We are sure he had his reasons, but we never drew the courage to ask until today. He said he really did love her. And we believe him. Hell, we all loved her.
He couldn't be more to blame for them being captive, though, if he had put the locks on the doors himself. Lux tried to get over him. Every night on her roof she tried to get over him. But she was just as lost as anyone.
Why did Trip chase her for so long? We know it wasn't just to have sex with her then leave. He must've been just as stunned by her as we were. We have come to the conclusion it wasn't love. He wanted what he couldn't have. Then we he got it, and it wasn't unattainable, the attraction ceased.
________________________
We were such fools to think that we could stop the inevitable. To stop them from committing suicide. They had it all planned. They wanted everything to happen exactly the way it did. Will we ever know why? No, we will not. So we will continue to talk about it when we meet at parties or other social gatherings. And we have all come to the same conclusion on what we are to do.
So today marks the twentieth anniversary of Cecilia's departure from this world. And at midnight, we will be the next group transported to the next world by means of suicide. Our families may find it selfish. But we are all single or divorced. Our lives have focused on these girls for the last twenty years. It only seems right.
So we will all have the same suicide note.
For the Lisbon girls. Twenty years today.
And we will all go the same way. I have chosen to die like Mary. It will all happen at midnight. We never did understand Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, or Therese. Now we plan to understand everything they did and why they did it.
Cecilia Lisbon was always known as the strange one. This was a title that would haunt her until her dying day, and stuck even as she was lowered into the ground. She never fell in love, never married, never reproduced. She would make us think she didn't want to.
Cecilia had that air of mystery all of the girls had. But hers was something deeper. Cecilia was...different. She was gorgeous, but she didn't like boys. She had no friends except for her own sisters. She was more poetic than book smart.
It was a shock to the neighborhood when she slit her wrists with her own father's razor. It was a shock to the city when she plummeted from her bedroom to her death. And only a year later, it was a shock to the world when her sister's followed in her footsteps.
But who was Cecilia Lisbon? We have found out little about her sisters. We know virtually nothing about the youngest. The strange one.
Before the quadruple suicides that took place a year after Cecilia's death, the four sisters denied they would do what their sister did. They said she was different, strange. We, being so gullible, believed them. That was before they stopped coming to school, stopped leaving the house all together.
She filled our memories before her sisters died. We could only think of her, what little we knew about her. We remember the party. The first and last party of her life. Of any of the Lisbon girls' lives.
Lux flirted with a few of us. Mary and Therese were playing a game, Dominoes we think, in the corner. But we mostly stayed on different sides of the room. Cecilia had taped bracelets onto her wrists so the scars wouldn't show. Her sister's wrists were bare, and we got the impression they gave Cecilia all of their bracelets to cover the scars.
Joe the Retard showed up, and we had fun showing the Lisbon girls what we could make him sing and do. We were having a great time until Cecilia asked if she could be excused. She picked at the tape that held her bracelets until they became loose. She froze for a minute. Her mom then let her leave the party.
Everything after that is sort of blurred in our minds. We remember hearing her footsteps up the stairs. Then the sound of air filling up that wedding dress she always wore. Then the worst sound of all. The thud as one of the spikes in the fence plunged through her heart.
We left silently as Mrs. Lisbon covered the other four's eyes. Or tried to, anyway. That night changed our young lives forever, and we were never going to be the same again.
________________________
Cecilia still haunted our minds months after her suicide. We would see her everywhere we went and many times had to convince ourselves she was dead. The theories of why she had done that to herself began immediately following the news.
Tim Winer, the brain, tried to tell us that she was out of touch with reality and thought she would fly when she jumped. Somewhere in our minds or hearts, we knew this was just an excuse. If that had been the case, she wouldn't have cut her wrists. She desperately needed to leave. And suicide was her only escape.
Somehow, over the years, the little memories we had of Cecilia faded. We know we will never figure out why she did it. Our parents figured if they couldn't figure it out, they would just forget it all. But we couldn't. We were desperate then. We are desperate now. Desperate for answers.
________________________
We have many reasons to blame Trip Fontaine, but many reasons to thank him, also. He reached in to the Lisbon house and pulled out Lux. For some time, he saved her from a depression. She was his world.
But then he stomped on her heart when he left her on the football field. Alone. We are sure he had his reasons, but we never drew the courage to ask until today. He said he really did love her. And we believe him. Hell, we all loved her.
He couldn't be more to blame for them being captive, though, if he had put the locks on the doors himself. Lux tried to get over him. Every night on her roof she tried to get over him. But she was just as lost as anyone.
Why did Trip chase her for so long? We know it wasn't just to have sex with her then leave. He must've been just as stunned by her as we were. We have come to the conclusion it wasn't love. He wanted what he couldn't have. Then we he got it, and it wasn't unattainable, the attraction ceased.
________________________
We were such fools to think that we could stop the inevitable. To stop them from committing suicide. They had it all planned. They wanted everything to happen exactly the way it did. Will we ever know why? No, we will not. So we will continue to talk about it when we meet at parties or other social gatherings. And we have all come to the same conclusion on what we are to do.
So today marks the twentieth anniversary of Cecilia's departure from this world. And at midnight, we will be the next group transported to the next world by means of suicide. Our families may find it selfish. But we are all single or divorced. Our lives have focused on these girls for the last twenty years. It only seems right.
So we will all have the same suicide note.
For the Lisbon girls. Twenty years today.
And we will all go the same way. I have chosen to die like Mary. It will all happen at midnight. We never did understand Cecilia, Lux, Bonnie, Mary, or Therese. Now we plan to understand everything they did and why they did it.