"To Live With the Truth" by Zoe Chiang
I remember the day before it happened. It had been a Friday, which meant I didn’t have homework. I had been sitting outside the gymnasium of my school, Camphor Junior High School. There were always the lunch tables, but kids loved to leave their half-empty ketchup packets and mashed bits of food lying on and under the tables, and I didn’t need to go walking through those. There was also the gym itself, but it was always so crowded there. Frankly, I didn’t understand the hype.
As I sat there on the cold pavement, silently chewing on my egg sandwich, I stared up at the sky and watched as a dragon shaped-cloud floated by. After about a minute, it had dissipated and disappeared.
“Hi. What’d I miss?” I remember looking away from the sky to see my best friend, Aria Emerson, sitting down next to me. I remembered later that she didn’t have homework either.
“Nothing much.” Then a thought had occurred to me.
“Wait. I think I have to help Ms. Arnold clean up her classroom. Shoot. Who in this world would have thought edible flubber could get so messy?”
“Um, alright. You should probably get going then.”
As I was about to leave, I looked at my best friend. Aria was rubbing her right index’s knuckle. Again. She’d been doing this for a few weeks now. I hadn’t had the time to ask if Aria was okay, but I knew I should when I got the chance to. Aria didn’t rub her knuckles unless something was wrong.
When I reached Ms. Arnold’s classroom, I noticed that the door was slightly open and I stepped inside. The room smelled like borax, and a few of the lab tables had piles of colorful goop streaming off of their sides. As I walked over to the lab table closest to the door, I felt my shoe step in something gooey. Looking down, I saw that there was flubber on the ground too. Wonder who had the audacity to leave such a mess behind, I thought as I shook my head. I walked over to the box of plastic gloves on Ms. Arnold’s desk, grabbed two, and pulled on a pair of plastic gloves.
“Ah, Louise! There you are,” Ms. Arnold said from behind me. I turned around and faced her, still pulling my gloves on. Wow, they really didn’t feel like being smooth. Or maybe it was my own hands.
“Again, thank you for volunteering to help me. I really appreciate it.”
“No worries. I wanted to,” I replied. The gloves were finally on.
“If you don’t have any questions, let’s get started,” Ms. Arnold said.
***
As I’d been sitting in Mr. Dufort’s history class for fifth period, I couldn’t help wondering what was bothering Aria so much. It was a little hard to focus on what Mr. Dufort was talking about. Something about rats and the plague? I looked around the classroom. The little blue clock hanging on the wall above the whiteboard said the time was 1:16. I could tell that some of my classmates were bored. A kid sitting two seats to my right was busy dismantling a blue pen. Two people in the back of the classroom were passing notes to each other. The person in front of me yawned and put their chin on their desk. I wanted to shake my head.
I knew Aria always had her reasons for doing things, and I knew I wouldn’t want anyone coming up to me and demanding answers about something so I’d stayed quiet. But as I sat there in Mr. Dufort’s class taking notes on a piece of binder paper, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong. If Aria’s secret was so big she couldn't even tell me, well … maybe it actually had to do with me.
***
I was six years old when I met Aria for the first time. I had been sitting on a swing in the park flailing my legs around trying to get the swing moving when a girl around my height approached the side of the swing set. She stopped there and looked at me.
“Hi,” the girl had said. “I’m Aria. I live in that house over there. The blue one.”
I’d stopped kicking for a moment and looked at her. She had bright blue eyes that reminded me of the ocean and black hair that was tied up in a short ponytail.
“I was wondering if you wanted a little help? You’re making swinging really hard for yourself.”
I remember feeling my face burn for a second before saying, “Um, sure.”
Aria sat down on the swing to my right.
“If you need a head start, you put your feet on the ground and straighten your legs, like this,” she showed me.
“Then you let go of the ground and you’re already getting somewhere! My sister taught me,” she explained. I got it around my third try.
“What’s your name?” Aria had asked me while we were swinging up and down.
“Louise,” I replied. “I live in that purple house over there.” I then motioned towards my house with my head.
“That’s nice,” she replied.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on the playground. When we had to go home, we agreed to meet up again tomorrow, then said goodbye to each other.
***
We ended up going to preschool and elementary school together. During that time, we became best friends. We always stuck by each other, always supported each other, even when our other friends either moved away or moved on.
I remember when our friend Melody moved away in 4th grade. I’d asked Aria if she was going to move away too. I remember what she said.
“No, I'm not moving away Lou. But if I were ever going to, I’d tell you. I’d tell you as soon as I found out, promise.”
I was reassured that day that Aria was going to be around for a long time yet. I was reassured that she would stick around forever.
***
“Alright, what’s wrong?” I asked Aria.
It was after school. We had both decided to go to the library because we carpooled home and our parents were busy after school. My parents would come pick us up in about an hour. Until then, I’d decided I finally needed to know what was bothering Aria.
Those bright blue eyes of hers avoided my green ones, and she twisted the bracelet on her right wrist. I recognized it as the Christmas gift I’d given her two years ago.
We stood there in the graphic novel aisle for what felt like five minutes before she mumbled,
“I guess you wouldn’t believe me if I said nothing, so I’ll tell you. But, we should probably go outside.” She didn't wait for me to agree. She just briskly walked out of the library and I had no choice but to follow her.
***
Standing behind the library, Aria still refused to look me in the eye. She said quietly, “My parents have been discussing with each other for some time, and this morning they told me we’re … moving in a few weeks. Something about my dad finding a better job somewhere in California. I … don’t know what to say, or do really.”
I didn’t know what to say either as I stood there looking at Aria. She looked like she was guilty of murdering a kitten for the expression on her face.
“Is there a particular reason why you didn’t tell me earlier? When you found out the possibility even existed?” My voice, laced with a bit of ice, was too friendly. I knew I wasn’t smiling.
Aria winced. I felt guilty, but my expression remained the same.
“I … I didn’t think we were …” She looked at me. Her eyes were wet.
“ … Actually going to do it,” she murmured to herself, looking away from me again.
“Aria, do you know why I’m upset right now?” I asked her in a voice dripping with sweetness. I felt this arrogant, alien attitude sink into my gut, pushing into my emotions. I wasn’t up for fighting it.
“I … I …” I could tell she was at a real loss for words. She looked ready to cry.
“Aria, it’s not because you’re moving away. There’s … nothing I can do about that.” She looked at me.
“You told me-” I had to stop for a moment. A lump had formed in my throat and I couldn’t let Aria see me cry. After a few seconds, I managed to find my voice again.
“You told me you would tell me if you were moving. As soon as you found out.” I gave her a smile. I knew it only went half way.
Aria looked like she’d gotten punched in the gut.
It was at that moment that my phone vibrated in the pocket of my jeans. I pulled it out.
“My parents will be here soon. We should get ready to leave,” I told Aria, my tone getting colder. I turned around and didn’t bother waiting for her before re-entering the library. The hurt and anger churning around in the pit of my stomach wasn’t lightening.
***
The car ride home was silent. I could feel my parents ignoring the fact that Aria and I weren’t talking to each other. I occupied my thoughts by looking out the window.
When we were about to reach Aria’s house, she asked my parents, “Is it okay if Louise and I hang out in the park for a few hours? We both don’t have any homework.”
“Of course,” my mother replied. “Drop off your stuff, and have fun! Louise, just be sure to be home before dinner.”
“Yeah, I’ll make sure,” I replied while continuing to stare out the window. I felt my eyes narrow, and I knew I wasn’t sure what to anticipate. What Aria decided to let me know today honestly felt like an act of betrayal. However, I was in no position to back out of what my mother just agreed to. It would be strange if I suddenly said I was tired, and anything else … My parents didn’t need to know the details. I decided I would just have to brace myself for whatever happened next, as … inconvenient as that prospect was.
I’d suddenly remembered that I hadn’t been looking at my mother when she’d talked to me. I turned around half a second later and flashed a quick smile so my mother wouldn’t get suspicious.
***
After Aria had quickly dropped off her backpack in her house, she came back outside. I didn’t have the chance to walk away.
“What do you want Aria?” I asked her in an obviously frustrated voice as we walked past the park and towards the neighborhood’s exit. I didn’t look at her, but I could feel her walking next to me.
“Louise, you have every right to be mad at me, but please, hear me out for at least a few minutes,” she pleaded.
“Why should I? You really felt like it was okay not to tell me you might be moving away. Right now, I really feel like not listening to you,” I snapped. I still had my head facing away from Aria.
“Louise please, I know I promised-”
That word must have been a gift from hell. It was that word that set me off.
“Aria, that’s exactly why I don’t want to talk to you. You promised me you would tell me about this if it ever happened. YOU FREAKING PROMISED ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL?” I had turned my head around to face her again.
Her face had gone pale. Then, one perfect little tear rolled down her left cheek. A nearly identical one rolled down her right cheek.
I gasped. I hadn’t meant for it to sound like that. My mind went over the last words I’d said. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT MADE ME FEEL? Oh my god, that sentence sounded like guilt-tripping immediately after I’d said it. Of course she knew how I felt. Aria always seemed to know how I felt. All of a sudden, it felt like my chest weighed more than a hundred pounds. I started crying as well. I wanted to slap myself. I felt terrible. I couldn’t face her. I couldn’t face myself. So I did the next most impulsive thing I could think of: I ran.
I ran past the neighborhood exit, past the roads lining the nearby neighborhoods, past the local Target, past the Intersection sign that said “Welcome to Seattle” on it. I didn’t notice any of it. My feet felt so light as they pounded across sidewalk after sidewalk in my black sneakers. They felt so light because anything felt lighter than the guilt I was feeling. I hardly even noticed my lungs burning because I hadn’t stopped to take a breath
“LOUISE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
I turned around to see Aria a little ways behind me. My tears grew thicker with each step she took towards me. She was out of breath as well, her face flushed red. She was crying too, but not as hard as me.
I stepped away from her. “A-Aria, I-I, I-”
“LOUISE PLEASE STOP. LOUISE PLEASE STOP RUNNING. PLEASE.” She looked even more desperate than she was when I refused to listen to her.
I kept backing up. I could barely see anything anymore. Tears made for a great vision impairment.
My vision cleared up for one second. Aria’s face was pale, and her eyes were wide. I didn’t know why.
When she jumped, I understood. I was standing in the middle of the road. I got one second to comprehend that. Then I had the wind knocked out of me.
***
When I regained consciousness, I was lying next to a very dinged-up blue Tesla on the side of an intersection road. I felt a little bad for whoever owned it.
I tried moving but a burst of pain exploded from both my right leg and my left arm. There was a dull throbbing in the back of my head. I sucked in a sharp breath.
“Lou?” Aria’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Aria?” I turned my head to the right and saw her lying on the road a few feet away from me. I gasped. She looked terrible.
Her face, her arms, her clothes, everything was covered in blood. She was turned away from me, and I knew she couldn’t move.
“You know I’d … save you … faster … than I’d … save myself … right?” Aria painfully reassured me before I felt something warm, sticky, and wet drip from my head down my arm and onto the black concrete of the road. Drip drop, drip drop, drip, drop.
“I … I … really … don’t …” But I never finished that sentence because the pain coming from the back of my head suddenly spiked. I could feel myself breathing faster and faster, trying so hard not to cry. Why was I even trying? I couldn’t move, I could barely breathe, and all I could see was torn up metal and blood. Blood, oh my god there was so much blood, Aria was coughing up blood, there was blood coming from my head. I could see it, dark and red, on my light brown hair. There was too much blood but I couldn’t shut my eyes.
I couldn’t stop myself from crying. The tears formed without me even trying. They streamed down my face and I screamed. I hurt so bad. Aria wasn’t even conscious anymore. I screamed and I cried and I kept screaming and crying because how had this even happened? I was so wide awake and I hated every second I spent lying there on the side of Intersection 65 not knowing what was going to happen to me. I don’t remember when the paramedics arrived.
***
I generally don’t have dreams, and when I do, I hardly remember them. But today’s was different. Today’s was a reminder to me that my subconscious is evil and that my life will never be the same. I don’t know how I didn’t have déjà vu while I was dreaming.
It started when I was at school. The school day was over and I had decided to go to the library for a few minutes. When I got there, I spent what felt like 2 minutes choosing a book and then getting in line to check it out. For some reason, the line took forever and by the time I was done, an hour had gone by already. I started panicking until I remembered that I was supposed to walk home, rather than take the bus. The walk home was taking surprisingly long, and I was wondering if I should just go to my grandmother’s house, even though my grandmother’s house was nowhere near my home, because that was the first random thing my brain was able to think of. Then out of literally nowhere a hole opens up in front of me, and I walk straight through it because the hole gave me no time to react.
The hole must have been a portal of sorts because it took me to an intersection close to home. Thinking it over, my brain was probably too lazy to have me keep dreaming about walking so slowly, which is why the portal appeared. It inconveniently dropped me off in the middle of the road. The second I finished walking out of that portal, I heard it close behind me with a whoosh. I barely had a second to look around when I heard Aria scream from behind me, “LOUISE GET OUT OF THE FREAKING WAY!!!” I turned around and the world went into slow motion.
I watched the rain dance around me slowly as my best friend slowly leaped into the air, arms extended, a wide-eyed, panicked expression on her face fueled by adrenaline, her long black hair slowly flying up around her face. I couldn’t move normally either. I don’t know exactly how to say this, but dang, everything moving so slowly was honestly so weird.
I turned back around slowly, and when I finished, time seemed to snap back into place. Aria’s flying body rammed into mine and so did someone’s fancy blue Tesla before the world went black.
That’s the thing about dreams. They like to incorporate the random things and the worst things in your life to create a nightmare of a made up experience. Dreams are the best, are they not?
***
“It’ll be okay, I promise. It’ll be okay. You will be okay. You just have to hang on for a few hours. Please Aria. Please … ”
The voice speaking was barely familiar. I somehow managed to register it as the voice of Claire Emerson, Aria’s older sister. Nothing else was familiar. I couldn’t open my eyes, and my whole body hurt. My chest felt like it was half smothered, and I could feel my right leg twitching slightly. There was a dull throbbing in the back of my head. The air smelled like cleaning chemicals and there were voices everywhere.
“Your daughter Aria Emerson is currently undergoing immediate craniotomy. Her X-rays showed that she has bone fractures in her arms, legs, rib cages, and pelvis. She also suffered from several severe burns and will likely have to get her feet amputated. We’re doing everything we can. We now have to ask you to please wait in the visitors area until further notice.”
I listened to everything in silent shock. The events of yesterday came back to me in a rush. Had it even been yesterday? Who knew how long I’d spent obviously conked out in a hospital bed? And if Aria was that bad …
“Mr. and Mrs. Brendall, your daughter Louise Brendall has a torn ligament in her right leg, numerous minor and major burns along her left arm, two broken rib bones, and internal bleeding in her abdomen. However, we have analyzed her and her prognosis is good. She is expected to make a full recovery.”
How? The word rattled around in my head. How was I doing better than Aria? Then I remembered, and I thought I might just want to cry again.
***
I remember the day I wound up in the hospital. I remember the doctors had to do so many things, but I can’t remember any of them anymore. I remember feeling so, so tired, but not wanting to give in. I wanted to see Aria, to make sure she was alright, to know that she was going to be okay, even if she had to get her feet amputated.
The next day, I heard her mother hysterically crying. I peeked through the open door from my bed and I could see her whole family. Her father looked so sad, and Claire looked like she might just die from the internal pain that had painted itself across her face. I knew then that Aria wasn’t okay, and she never would be. She was dead and she wasn’t coming back. I felt like I’d been slapped across the face by a metal ruler. I would never be able to apologize for the stupid argument that we had. I’d never be able to talk to her again.
She’s gone, a voice in my head whispered. At that moment, I thought back to all the things we’d been through together. Birthday parties, aquarium visits, little things about life that we would point out to each other. I started to cry, and I didn’t try to stop myself. It took all of my respect for the other patients in the hospital not to scream and scream and scream until my voice cracked.
***
I couldn’t attend Aria’s funeral. It would have set back my recovery. I remember feeling so angry, so frustrated, so desperate to go, like a child who would do anything to have their favorite stuffed animal back as I was forced to stay in my cursed hospital bed.
“I don’t care if it sets back my recovery!” I seethed at my mom. “I’m going because it’s in my best interest to do so. I might as well be there when they finish burning up her remnants! She would have come to my funeral! I have to! Please …” At that point I was crying.
“I’m sorry Lou, but you have to get better. You can’t.” My mother was crying a little as she told me this, so that there were tears coming out of her eyes but the rims of her eyes weren’t red and splotchy.
“Please …” I begged her.
But the doctors said I still couldn’t leave the hospital, my parents were too worried about me, and even Aria’s parents told me she would have wanted me to stay where I was. When I was supposed to sleep that night, I cried instead. My brain still hadn’t fully comprehended the fact that she was gone. Surely this was a bad dream as well. Surely I would wake up and everything would still be the same.
I heard the doctors recommending a therapist to my parents.
***
The road to recovery was hard for me. When I went back to school, everywhere I went, I heard whispers. I could feel everyone staring at me in my classes. I was “that girl who’s best friend didn’t survive the car crash.” I pretended I didn’t notice.
No one asked me why it happened. Not my parents, not Aria’s. They all left me alone, as if sensing that I needed a little space.
In the weeks that followed, I dreamed of Aria. In some dreams, we did things together, like going to the beach, or riding our bikes. In some dreams, I accepted the fact that she was moving without mentioning the promise she made me. In some dreams, we’d had homework. In others, I died instead of Aria. In those dreams, I felt like everything was okay.
Eventually, a new girl came to our school. Her name was Ruby Leon. She had dark blonde hair and hazel eyes, and she was in the three classes I used to have with Aria. She told us in Ms. Arnold’s class that she was still twelve. I winced when I heard that. Aria was only thirteen when she died. I was thirteen.
Ruby sat next to me in science, and she asked me if she could sit with me at lunch. I told her sure. She’s eaten lunch with me everyday ever since.
Ruby will never replace Aria, but she’s helped me more than any therapist ever could. She’s made me laugh about silly little things on days that were otherwise terrible. If I give our friendship time, maybe she’ll be my new best friend. Maybe I’ll feel okay again. Maybe someday I’ll be able to visit Aria’s grave and say goodbye. For now, I still feel guilt when I think of Aria. I only hope she forgave me in the hours before she passed away.
"Life of a Lucky Penny" by Aashil Gupta
“Hello, I’m Jason, a penny, not a normal one. I’m usually known for a coin that is made of copper. I was born in Philadelphia with about a million of my brothers and sisters. We were all separated and I was sent to California with many others I didn’t recognize and some I recognized. I’ve been through at least a hundred owners that have taken me everywhere; such as to the mountains, deserts, beaches and valleys. The last place I seem to remember is “Sunny San Diego” before I was dropped in the parking lot of the border mall. I thought my life was over, until a five year old boy picked me up and put me in his pocket.”
“I thought I had spent over a decade in an orange-blue colored wood box, until the splinter-full lid was lifted over, and the young boy said, “Good morning lucky coin.” This statement gave me the shivers as I thought I was in the blue-orange box for decades; yet it had only been a night in the wooden box. I wonder if I will feel like this for the rest of my life? The boy picked me up gently like I was Gold or something valuable.”
The affectionate five year old boy started to run frantically up the stairs and back down for some reason! He suddenly stopped behind a tall female who was watching over sizzling pieces of bacon and eggs. The boy quickly tapped her shoulder as if it were a nest of spikes rising and falling. “What happened Jason?” the mother asked. Jason stopped the rapid tapping and quickly said, “ I found a lucky penny on the floor in the border mall parking lot.” “Oh really young man, is that why you weren’t by my shoulder while I was walking to the Converse store for YOUR shoes?” the mom inquired. I started to feel an emotion that I had never felt before, fear for someone and only in this household.
I’ve stayed in many houses in my life, but none were a family home. Most of them were one bedroom and bathroom houses with only one person living there. This house was different because it was bigger and had a somewhat functional government system or a system of power! It was almost like the Mom had most of the power, then it was the Dad, and then the least power was awarded to Jason. I’ve felt happiness, sadness, disgust, anger and surprise before but not fear. This emotion was like a Tsunami rolling over me endlessly pounding against my back. But once Jason's Mom said, “It’s alright, just stay with me next time we go outside,” the emotion disappeared and I felt normal again.
Although the feeling of fear is a great experience, I never want to experience it again. The normal feeling didn’t last long. Jason dropped me and right after that, a furry beast with four legs came running towards me. He grabbed me with his mouth, which was full of drool and ran towards an oddly small door in a normal door. Once he dropped me on the table, the world looked different. It looked blue, green and heavenly with small buildings with doors half their size.
Jason came running outside and started screaming “My lucky penny! Frosty, give it back!” He called the furry beast Frosty, maybe because it had white fur. It almost looked like the snow I saw on Mount Whitney while I was warm in my older owner’s pocket. I did not know these furry beasts existed until I came to this household and I was insecure of their existence on this planet.
Jason came running outside for no reason, I was gently placed on the table by Frosty’s mouth. Jason found me and said “Let’s wash you up!” I wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen. He took a cup then poured something called Vinegar in the cup and put me inside the cup. I have never heard of this substance before. It seemed to have a strong smell, not the good kind but the awful kind. Right after Jason put me in the cup my rounded and smooth edges started to fill up with bubbles, until I couldn’t feel them. The bubbles started to fizz up Abraham Lincoln's face too. Once Jason took me out of the cup, my edges and Abraham Linccoln’s face were shinier than before. Before I was put into the cup the Vinegar was clear, after Jason took me out, the Vinegar was murky.
Once I was wiped up, Jason took me to his room and told me an exceptionally long story about what was in the cup after he picked me out. I only recall a few terms, rust, and iron. Although I don’t know what any of them are.
***
I am in the pocket of Jason’s jeans, and we are going to San Francisco. I’m not sure whether it’s a nice place like the city where we live, Eureka. Suddenly I felt two forces hitting our car! The next thing I know I’m out of Jason’s pocket laying on a piece of glass with blood on my edges and the date on my top layer. Jason’s foot moved and he started yelling and crying for his mom, but she didn’t respond. Once Jason gave up, his mom moved his hand and yelled in pain. Losing Jason would have left Jason’s mom and I feeling lost and depressed. I would personally feel normal, not special. The way Jason treated me was like no other owner (In a good way).
I knew one of them was bleeding as I had blood on my edges, but I had to look around for a long time to find who was bleeding as my head was spinning. Then I found it, Jason’s knee was bleeding. He had something shiny in it. After a few hours, we were in a white room with health monitors and vital sign monitors. Jason was in one corner of the room and his mom in the other. I was placed on a table by Jason’s bed . Jason’s mom was awake and talking to the doctor but Jason seemed to be sleeping. I overheard Jason’s mom’s discussion with the doctor.
“Hi Janet, we have some news to tell you.” the doctor said. “ Jason’s knee was stabbed by a nail that popped out of place when the other two cars hit your car, but a penny lucky stopped it a little bit,” the doctor mentioned. I now know that Jason’s mom’s name is Janet from overhearing their conversation. Ms. Janet reacted by rapidly getting off the bed and going to see Jason’s knee but all she saw was a gigantic bandaid. The doctor helped Ms.Janet back on the bed and explained to her that the treatment would be cost free.
***
It’s been about a year since the accident, and Jason has moved on. But he is Jason, and he says that the lucky penny I was carrying saved me! Technically I did, but I don’t deserve the fame, Jason’s mom does because he was strong and she still supported Jason more than ever even when she was in pain. Jason made new friends, one of them is over right now. His name is Frank, he has been searching for something for over an hour, like a detective, which is ironic because he is 6 and he wants to be a detective in the future.
Frank found a quarter, a nickel and a dime for something! That is concerning to me because I have seen Jason use forty-one cents to buy an Ice pop. Frank needs a penny and I seem to be the only one around! Once he finds me, my heart starts racing as fast as a car going 100 mph. I don’t want to be taken away from Jason but there is nothing I can do. Frank and Jason start walking towards a white truck that says “Ice cream, Ice cream, come and get it for 40 cents only.” The fact that the price is one cent less than how much Frank and Jason are carrying is relieving because Frank won’t need to use me and he will just give me back to Jason I hope! I was sitting in the pocket of Frank’s jeans and then suddenly I felt the coldest thing ever. Frank screamed right after I silently screamed in pain from the cold. Frank started to wipe his fingers on the pocket, warming it up.
After about an hour Jason’s friend Frank left with me in his pocket! I was yelling at the top of my lungs, but of course he couldn’t hear me; I’m a penny. Once Frank reached his home, he went directly to his room. Comparing Frank’s room to Jason’s room was much messier and filled with coin boxes which were covered and some were clear. Frank had about one-hundred boxes filled to the brink with coins, and all of them were neatly separated by type. Quarters with quarters, dimes with dimes and so on. He had one box that was half filled with pennies and I suspected that's where I would go, but it took a while to get there
***
After a week of me being in Frank’s jeans, his mom finally told him he left a coin in his jeans and Frank came running down the stairs for me. Once he picked me up, ran straight to his room and put me in the half filled box of pennies. I got to know a few of the pennies because of their indentations. Some had the Union shield, ears of wheat and the Lincoln memorial building. Also the pennies I got to know had different dates written on them.
***
After being in the box for many days I got to know the millions of pennies living inside of it. We named each other by the dates imprinted on us, and if many of us had the same date we would put a number beside. For example, my best friend Jack 1989 #9 was the 9th penny with 1989 imprinted on himself. I am Jason 2010 #1, I am the very first penny with 2010 imprinted on me! No other penny in the box has 2010 imprinted on themselves.
By the time we were done introducing ourselves it had been one week in the box. I wonder what the other coins were talking about, maybe about getting deposited into coins to bill exchangers. I deeply despair about those machines. The other pennies at the bottom of the box were saying that about some million of their brothers and sisters were deposited and made into one hundred dollar bills. Frank was picking up the box of quarters and putting them into a bag. He had about twenty-five left to do. Why was he putting them into a bag if they were so neatly organized? Time passed on and on, and my edges were getting sweaty to the point that the other pennies were yelling “Ah my edges are rusting, where is this moisture coming from.” I was afraid that they would get mad at me, so I didn’t say anything.
***
A few weeks later, Frank was almost done with putting all the coins into a big blue Ikea bag. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you he put all the coins into different bags. There were only 2 boxes of coins left and they were a box of quarters and our box of pennies. By now, every single penny was worried about what was about to happen. Jordan 1876 #1 yelled “We're getting deposited, Ah.” After he said that every single penny yelled at him because that was our worst nightmare. The bills took away our power after 1862. A man named Abraham Lincoln, was the one that invented them. Frank had finished putting the second to last box in the bag and it was now our turn. Frank firmly grabbed our box, as if it were a bear trying to not let go of its dinner. He opened the box and dropped all of us in the Ikea bag.
***
A few hours later, Frank's mom came into the room and picked the 3 Ikea bags up and put them in the trunk of the car. She was driving for about 30 minutes, the only reason I know is because I was on the top and I could see a clock on the top of the car. Once the car came to a stop, I knew my life was over. We were at Chase bank. She picked up all three bags and went inside one by one. When it was my bag's turn, I read a sign stating “ Coins to Bills!” So Jordan 1862 #1 was correct about what was going to happen to us. All of the coins in the last Ikea bag were dropped and converted to bills. But I was lucky to be knocked out by the force of the other coins trying to get into the white deposit box. Lying on the floor made me remember my time at the border mall parking lot. I wonder if I will be picked up by another child and be called a lucky coin. Although I wasn’t desperate to be a lucky coin for someone else I started to yell at the top of my lungs, “I’m the Luckiest coin ever, pick me up.”
"Ms. Fateful Day" by Laasya Kyabarsi
I woke up with the bright sun shining on my face. I realized that today was the fateful day, it was the day I had been waiting nervously for over a month. It was my appointment with a psychologist. Let me narrate a back-story about my life to understand what I have gone through.
***
When I was 10 years old, my grandmother Jo was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, after years of chemotherapy my grandmother beat cancer. My family and I thought that we didn't have to worry about losing grandma Jo, but only one month later grandma Jo died of a heart attack. I cried and cried about losing my grandmother as we had a really close bond, we were practically inseparable. I consoled me“ I can’t mourn over grandma, she is not gonna come back”. After that I started focusing more on school and started to get good grades. But then the next disaster struck me. My parents split up but not legally, they decided to take some time off from living together. Needless to say, I was sad about this news as I missed how my family always spent our time together. Fortunately in December of last year my parents went back to living together. I was again filled with joy. But as always good things don’t last forever.
***
“Nicolette, Earth to Nicolette, are you there?” said Mom.
“Yes I am here, I am just nervous about my appointment with the psychologist” I said.
“It’s okay, they won’t put you into some mental asylum or anything.” said Mom gently.
“But why do I have to do this? I am perfectly fine.” I said with a wide smile on my face.
“You forcing a smile upon your face isn’t going to convince me, and every night your dad and I hear you crying yourself to sleep” Mom said.
I knew I couldn’t argue with that because whatever Mom said was true, I needed help but I guess I couldn’t just accept that I needed help. Mom told me to brush my teeth,take a shower, and come down for breakfast. I quickly brushed my teeth and took a nice warm shower. I put on this really cute outfit and I decided to curl my hair as I wanted to try something new on this new day. As I hurried down the stairs, the sweet smell of waffles hit my nose. Mom said that I could have some nice blueberry yogurt or chocolate chip waffles. I can never resist some good old waffles. She told me to finish my breakfast a bit early as it is currently 9:34 and our appointment is at 10:20. I chugged down the waffles and drank some water afterwards. I decided to put on my favorite pair of shoes. I went to the garage and sat in the front seat of the car. As we were exiting our garage, The pastel pink blossoms on the trees in my neighborhood cheered me up and took out all of the butterflies in my stomach. Before we knew it we were a few minutes away from our destination. Looking at the red light by the doctor’s office made me a bit gloomy as a cloudy day. Mom took a left turn right into the parking lot and we finally arrived at our destination after about what felt like an hour. We entered the doctor’s office and she had to fill out some paperwork. Meanwhile I quietly sat in the lobby and I could hear the heartbeats pounding against my chest. At that moment I wanted to spring out of my seat and sprint to the door.
“Nicolette Webster, it's time for your appointment” boomed the Nurse’s voice that popped out of nowhere.
I could see from the corner of my eye that Mom was a bundle of nerves; her fingers were twitching, her eyes were tense, and her heart was beating more heavily than mine. I slowly forced myself to get up and my mom and I headed to Dr. Lee’s room. Trembling, I opened the door with my shaky hands.
“Nicolette, what a delight to see you on this fine day” said Dr.Lee with her calming voice.
I could feel her voice soothing my nervousness.
“Hello Dr.Lee” I said softly, practically whispering.
I sat down in a satisfying cushiony chair, and started looking around the room. Mom started a conversation with Dr.Lee and talked about my current situation with my personal life as I am more of an introvert than an extrovert.
“Although your mother is explaining everything happening with you, I need your personal insight on this situation.” said Dr.Lee
“Well I don’t really know what has been going on with me.I can’t put it in exact words, sometimes I am hungry but I lose my appetite to eat very quickly. I sometimes get suicide thoughts.” I said.
“Oh, why don’t you guys go wait in the lobby while I see what diagnosis matches what you're feeling, by the way it might take some time so feel free to scroll in our garden” said Dr.Lee.
“Ok, it sounds good.” I said.
Mom and I made our way out the office room and back into the lobby. We sat back down and there was an awkward period of silence between us. As I turned around I saw my friend from school and I saw her headed to the garden. I turned back around and told Mom that I was going to go to the garden by myself.
She just said “Okay”.
I scurried myself to where my friend Phoebe Lau was.
“Hey Phoebe,” I said.
“Oh hi Nicolette! Long time no see, how are you doing?” said Phoebe.
“I am actually doing okay for the time being. I am just really worried about my grades dropping down. My parents are already mad about the C+ I have in Mr.Ferguson's math class, it can’t go any lower.” I said.
“Tell me about it, I also have a C+ and my parents are a bit disappointed in me.” said Phobe.
I was taken aback by what Phoebe said, she never anything below a 90, I guess she was also dealing with issues.
“Oh I think my mom is calling me Phoebe, it was nice talking to you. Bye!” I said.
“Bye!” said Phoebe.
After saying our goodbyes I headed back to the lobby and arrived just in time before the nurse called out “Nicolette Webster Dr.Lee is ready to see you.” While Mom and I were heading down the hallway into the room, I felt different from before, I actually felt better than when I came here the first time. I guess I knew that I was going to benefit from this. The door creaked very dramatically as I walked in.
“After reviewing your symptoms, I have diagnosed you with clinical depression. It seems like you have been dealing with this for a long time, I recommend getting an emotional support dog or any other kind of animal.” said Dr.Lee
Mom and I were quiet for a bit, but then Mom started talking to Dr.Lee about me. I just told Mom that I will be waiting outside in the lobby again.
***
We were back home and Mom told me to come downstairs to talk. Mom said that she was actually going to get me a dog for my 13th birthday and it was supposed to be a surprise. I was really happy when Mom was going to get a dog for me, I have been begging for one ever since I was 8. She showed me the puppy she was thinking of getting me. I loved the dog.We went to go pick up the puppy a few days later. I decided to name him Milo and he has the cutest face ever. He rarely barks and loves some nice cuddles. I took him to Starbucks to get a puppuccino, he LOVED it! My dad came back from his business trip and got to meet Milo in person, they both have a really special bond. Me and Phoebe got really close because I asked her for some tips because she had a dog, but her dog was a golden retriever. Who would have guessed that an appointment with a psychologist will help you.
Comments