7 seconds. In 7 seconds a person's whole world can change. In 7 seconds a man could be killed. In 7 seconds a train can crash. In 7 seconds a nuclear attack can happen. In 7 seconds a wife can loose her husband to an illness. In 7 seconds a person’s best friend could betray them. In 7 seconds someone could crash their car. In 7 seconds a child could lose their future because of a mistake. In 7 seconds many horrible things could happen. In 7 seconds a person’s whole world can change. In 7 seconds seconds a mother could hold her newborn child for the first time. In 7 seconds a teenage could get behind the wheel for the first time. In 7 seconds a family could get their first real home. In 7 seconds a couple could say I do. In 7 seconds a child can catch a firefly. In 7 seconds a person can watch the sunset over the ocean. In 7 seconds a diploma can be handed to the student who never thought they would make it. Many things could happen in 7 seconds. What could happen to you?
“One! Two! Three!” The little boy, no more than 7 years old stood in front of a willow tree with his hand covering his baby blue eyes. His sandy blonde hair blows softly in the summer breeze. A small grin spread across his face as he counted “Four! Five! Six!” He was playing hide and seek with his best friend, Gwen, in the beautiful garden that was just behind the manor. Gwen’s father owned the place and the boy’s mother was a maid. It was his turn to be the seeker. “Seven! Eight! Nine!” He pulled his hands away from his eyes and turned around, “Ten! Ready or not here I come!!” The boy took off, through the drape of the willows leaves and scanned the garden. Flowers of every color and species lived here. Bushes were carved carefully into different animals. Trees were groomed to perfection. And in the center sat the large willow tree. The boy looked around and ran in the direction of a pink bow sticking out. He saw the bow move and a girls tiny muffled giggle “You can’t find me!!” The boy giggled and ran through a bush. “I found you!” The little girl looked up from her hiding spot, her honey-dew brown eyes glimmer with excitement. She stood and tackled the boy into a hug, not caring that her pink dress was getting dirty. “Let’s play again!!”
The Thaw, most think of the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Some think of something frozen melting, shedding a colder layer. The Thaw can be seen as so much more than just that, it can be seen as the in between, the transition from death to life. The stages of our own lives, childhood to becoming an adult, the thaw can be used to describe the in between years. The years that help shape and mold the adults we will become. The years that cause our innocence to melt away. The Thaw is where I am at now, where all of us seniors in high school are at and we aren’t coming out of it yet. We still are trying new things, making our own mistakes, finding who we are, and do things to become the person we want to be. The Thaw is who we are right now, we are shedding our innocence ;of the world, shedding the childlike thoughts that anything can be at our beck and call. We are learning that reality is hard and life's a struggle, that we have to live it the best we can. The Thaw is showing us that we aren’t invincible and that not everything will go the way we want it to. And yet the thaw also allows us to keep part of the wide-eyed wonder of a child. The I can conquer the world attitude that seems so readily available to every human being. This is what the thaw is, a small part of our rather large story, but a part so important that without it our lives have no structure.
……..The fall began to quicken but she was then set gently down and in front of her, once more, stood the Beast. His scythe out, it’s sharp blade pointing towards her. His watery voice washed over her, sending chills down her spin. “Time to Face the Beast.” She stared with wide eyes, almost frozen in her spot. With a shaky voice she spoke “What do you mean?” The Beast chuckled and stepped closer to her. “It is time for you to face the Expectations laid out for you.” The Beast raised his scythe and started to charge towards the girl. In her panic she raised her arm to protect her from the deadly blade “I know what they want out of me but I can only do so much! I will do what I can and achieve what I wish even if I have to disappoint some people. It’s my life and I will do what makes me happy!” The blade came down on her arm and shattered. The Beast nods its hooded head “ Very good. Now it time to wake up.” The world around the girl began to fade. Moments later the girl bolted out of bed and looked around. She was back home and it was all a crazy dream. But sometimes it’s the crazy dreams that give you a new outlook on life.
…….She ran through the faded Beast and to the gates but the ground opened up beneath her and she fell. A child’s voice whispers into her mind, “Welcome to the Lost you.” The girl screamed as she fell. Around her nothing but darkness. The child’s voice whispers, “Calm down miss. The fear is causing you to fall faster.” She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to calm down. A few more deep breaths and her descent was now a slow crawl. The child’s voice returned, “ Open your eyes, look around. These are your memories, things you forgot or things that happened when you were a child. These are the past you, the you you lost.” The girl opened her eyes, not knowing when she closed them in the first place. All around in the darkness small orbs of different colors lit up. She reached out and held one ball in her hand. The child whispers, “Peer inside.” The more the girl stared the more she saw images flash into the orb. This one held a memory of when she got her puppy when she was a little girl. She smiled, that dog was her best friend. Looking around she smiled and said “I have changed a lot but each of these things are a part of me. Building me into the person I am today. I may have Lost who I was but I took what I could and became the new me. The past me helped shape the present me. And the me right now will help shape the future me.” The child’s gleeful laugh filled air around her. “You are correct!” The fall began to quicken but she was then set gentle down and in front of her, once more, stood the Beast. His scythe out, it’s sharp blade pointing towards her. His watery voice washed over her, sending chills down her spin. “Time to Face the Beast”.......
…..….What she saw when her pupils dilated to adjust to the light she wished she was still blinded. For the dirt highway home lead straight past a gate that was guarded by a Beast. She stared in horror at the figure sitting on a rock. It was cloaked in a dark grey cloak, it’s face hidden in the shadows of the hood. In it’s glove covered hand it was holding a black scythe. On the metal, carved in black was the word ‘Expectations’ Behind the Beast was a iron gate, with the word Future shaped into the delicate art of the iron, where the pathway lead on. The girl was terrified and confused. The Beast lifted its hood clad head and said in a voice that sound like it was underwater “You will go to the school your father wants. You will study what your parents want you too. You are expected to be the person you family wants you to be.” Her hands shook as she stared at the Beast. “N-no! I don’t want to!! I want to be a musician! I’m my own person!” Her voice trembled, tears welling in her eyes. The beast shook it’s head “No, your parents will be disappointed. They will be ashamed. You must do as they expect you to do. The pressure is too much. You’ll cave in.” The girl balls her hands into fists and marches up to the Beast, “NO! I am my own person and I will do and become the person I want to be! It’s not anyones decision to make but my own! They don’t have to live it I do!” The watery voice laughed and the Beast began to fade, “You pass. Never be who others want you to be. Be who you want to be.” The creak of the gates signaled them opening. She ran through the faded Beast and to the gates but the ground opened up beneath her and she fell. A child’s voice whispers into her mind, “Welcome to the Lost you”.......
She awoke to pink smoke filling her room. Her blurry vision from sleep trying to focus on anything in this smoke. Realization hit her when she no longer felt the warmth of her sheets or the comfort of her blankets. Instead she found herself on a brown dirt path. Confused, the girl stood and noticed that on both sides of the path dropped off into deep chasms. The road lead only straight, straight to a single brick wall with a blue and gold French Door in the middle. Pink and Purple clouds filled the air around her and danced at her bare feet. She rushed towards the door, perhaps it’ll take her home, back to the known and where she feels safe. Touching the golden handles she began to pull the stubborn doors open. Pink smoke began to swirl at her feet and ingulf her in it’s cold embrace. Desperate the girl yanked the doors open and was blinded by a white light. She could see nothing but ventured forth into the Portal. It took her to a place she didn’t recognize. A place she didn’t know if she wanted to be in. What she saw when her pupils dilated to adjust to the light she wished she was still blinded. For the dirt highway home lead straight past a gate the was guarded by a Beast……..
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AuthorEmma Schroeder is 17 years old, a senior at Taylorsville High School, and lives in Taylorsville, UT. Archives
November 2015
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