That Street Only Bares Fangs at Me.
2
The creaks and squeaks of the rusted metal above me, and the somewhat comfortable material beneath me, made what I’d call a perfect swing. And to add to that, a leafy orange, brown, and red background made everything seem perfectly fine. Little kids with huge smiles and red noses were laughing and giggling, their pleasant sounds echoing throughout the large park. With such a light mood, I couldn’t help but immerse myself into the current happy moment. So I picked up speed and began pushing against the air. I was going back and forth, back and forth. The swing began to soar higher into the air. I’m almost there. I kept pushing. Faster, go faster. I stopped focusing on pushing myself after a few minutes and immediately looked up. Pretty. The sky is very pretty today. My body began moving itself, and brought the flying swing to a stop. I was about to start swinging again until someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey Yuna, you’re swinging a bit too much don’t you think?” A boy about my age commented jokingly. Oh. It’s Geo. He had a very slender build, and it almost looked like he was a girl if you’d seen him from behind. His jet-black hair lies on top of his non-framed glasses; he could almost be a Tom Welling, (You know, the one from the series that never plays anymore, Smallville?) without the glasses and less buff but probably just as attractive. All of his features were complimented by a very casual coat that covered a combination of a long-sleeved shirt on top of a dark colored t-shirt and some blue jeans. He tilted his head and asked, “Is anything wrong?” I shook my head slowly. “You still don’t want to talk? Hasn’t it been a few years since you started this game?” He asked with a half smile. I nodded my head once more and smiled back. Geo sighed and asked, “Shouldn’t we go and meet up with Meg at the mall today?” Geo asks a lot of questions. I nodded and hopped off of the swing. While walking out of the park, I looked behind me and felt reluctant to leave the swings. Oh well, they’ll have to wait for another day.
I walked on the short, concrete walls surrounding the abundant patches of flower beds in the park and halted to a stop. I saw the speed limit painted in white, on the black asphalt, the laughing little children, and the street sign. A whole memory flashed in front of my eyes. There was darkness and people were screaming in the background. Then there were those flashing lights. The flashback was all too fast for me to absorb what was going on. Something was wrong. I don’t like this feeling. I crouched down, covering my eyes, and began whimpering. No. No. No. I don’t want to remember this, I don’t want to. Go away. Go away! My body started shivering and it wasn’t because of the cold winds. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and looked up, with watery eyes. “Yuna, let’s cross the street together, okay?” Geo looked down at me with his normal friendly smile and I calmed down a bit. He patted my back and arm-in-arm; he began to lead me across the street. The whole time we crossed, my eyes were closed.
We made it to my house after a minute’s walk and I invited Geo into my home. My house was pretty normal for a suburban home. There was a large couch and television in the living room; the other rooms belonged to my each member of my family. We met my mother on the way in and she drove us to the mall. She seemed thrilled about the fact that I was getting out of the house more often, and didn’t hesitate to ask if we needed a ride. At the mall, we left a bit earlier than expected, so we just walked around for a bit.
The mall was just another symphony of human life. The loud murmurs and laughter combined with smiles or furrowed eyebrows, seemed to fit the scenery perfectly. The ringing of cell phones and the extremely loud music blasting through someone’s earphones; it really was calming somehow. Large groups of people went from teens and their friends to parents and their children. In fact there were even some grandparents there too. All of them complete Life’s long score sheet. Each little piece was contributing to a wonderful, but bittersweet song.
“Meg’s over there at the café, shall we join her?” Geo asked, already knowing the answer. Meg is a nice girl. She never wears too much make-up and her light brown hair was a good length; not too short, not too long. She always wears something fashionable, but she doesn’t like to go along with the fads. Today she was wearing a forest-green turtleneck with jeans and boots. Meg always looked and behaved older than she really was, quite the opposite from me.
“Hey there, kiddies, why don’t you guys sit down?” She joked and prompted us to two chairs beside her. “So what did you two do today?” Geo replied, “We went to the park”. Meg chuckled and turned towards me. “By †˜we went to the park’, I bet he means that you were there and playing until he got there and you both came here afterward”. I nodded and drank some hot cocoa. Both Geo and Meg laughed. After leaving the café, we all started searching stores for early Christmas presents and figured out what to get each other. But we’d probably come back another day and get them.
While walking with them, I noticed a familiar face. Dad? He was sitting at a bench near a fountain. His hair was blond a bit like mine (Mom is a brunette so I have sort of a dirty blond hair, I guess? Or it could be light-brown) and he was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a jacket, with jeans. Dad and Mom divorced a while back, so it was just Mom and I. Dad was pretty handsome and I bet that he was a riot, back when he was my age. I’m surprised that Mom chose him and he chose Mom. Not that my mother isn’t pretty or anything, but they were a pretty odd couple.
My thoughts were interrupted with, “Shouldn’t we be getting home? Don’t we have some essays and a project due sometime soon?” “Aw jeez Geo, you’re such a goody-goody two shoes”. I chuckled a bit at Meg and Geo’s short conversation. They both turned to me with looks of embarrassment and just laughed.
Mom picked us up and drove the each of the two back to their homes. I left a note telling Mom that I’d be at the park. Of course, I went my usual way, but there was always difficulty getting across that certain street. As I walked on the crumbly sidewalk, I kicked an acorn back and forth, that’s when I reached the street. I looked left and right to make sure nothing was coming, closed my eyes and tried walking across. I heard cars coming but didn’t want to open my eyes. Walk faster! I squeezed my eyes and tried walking a bit faster. I heard cars honk and I suddenly opened my eyes.
To see that same street that I almost got run over at, years ago, I was scared. My mind rejected everything from that street. Every time I tried walking with my eyes opened, I’d get too afraid and couldn’t cross. As I sat there in the middle of the street I feared the most, helpless, I heard someone shout, “Look out!” And then I was rolling; someone had pushed me out of the way. I looked up to find my dad nervously smiling at me. “Are you alright, sweetie?” He asked me, brushing off all of the pebbles and grass that clung to my clothes. I was a bit shocked to see him but nodded and averted my eyes. He sighed. “Is your mom home?” I shook my head. “Okay”. After a moment’s worth of awkward silence, Dad cut in with, “Do you know what, Yuna? I’m going to help you cross the street. It’s the least I can do as a father”.
My eyes opened wide and I immediately shook my head; it looked like I was trying to dry my hair. “Aw, Let’s do it honey!” Dad exclaimed. He nudged me and asked, “You’re going to have to cross the street someday, you know? Why not just beat fate to the punch?” He laughed. Before I knew it I was being dragged to the street.
I felt that same remorseful feeling I’d always felt with my eyes open on the street. “Hop on my back, Yuna”. I shook my head. There was no way, I a teen, would hop onto my father’s back. It’s too embarrassing. He looked at me and frowned in a silly manner. With my eyes closed, I didn’t even notice that he brought me onto the street, nearly halfway across to the other side. I froze and crouched down. My watery eyes made everything blurry and I couldn’t move. I thought I heard a car coming and once again Dad said, “Hop onto my back” with a smile. I began to hear honking and drivers cursing and got scared. I nearly leaped onto him as he said “Whoa there!” and walked across the street. We made it to the other side and sat down on the curb. “Phew! That was fun wasn’t it?” He asked smiling all goofy-like. I shook my head, with big, watery eyes I turned the opposite way and ignored him for a few minutes. Those few minutes of his only child ignoring him, caused him to go into depression.
Feeling guilty, I tapped his shoulder and he turned around. With my best effort and tears falling from my eyes, I shouted, “DAD CAN YOU HELP ME CROSS THE STREET?!” I sound like a little kid again…! Urgh… He was shocked for a second, considering he hadn’t heard me talk for a couple of years, and smiled. We stood up and he asked, “Want me to hold your hand, Yuna?” I nodded. I… I have to do this! I gripped my father’s hand and started walking. But I’m still a bit scared. Even though I so badly wanted to close my eyes, I kept them open. Droplets of salty tears rolled down my cheek each second. I had to watch as my feet walked across this damned street that my mind could never come to like or even tolerate to look at. Step by step was torture, it felt like my whole body was on fire, like I was burning alive, even though it was nearly winter.
While my mind was elsewhere, my body moved forward, and my father whispered, “You’ve crossed the street, Yuna”. I looked up at him, practically silently sobbing, and smiled. “Thank you Dad. I love you”. He was a little embarrassed and gave me a tender smile. “I love you too sweetie”. We began walking back home. Dad knew he wasn’t going to be that welcomed, but still walked with me anyway. “Hey… Yuna… I’m scared of your mother… Do I really have to go with you?” He asked nervously. I puffed my cheeks and shouted, “Yes! Face your fears Dad!”
“Hey Yuna, you’re swinging a bit too much don’t you think?” A boy about my age commented jokingly. Oh. It’s Geo. He had a very slender build, and it almost looked like he was a girl if you’d seen him from behind. His jet-black hair lies on top of his non-framed glasses; he could almost be a Tom Welling, (You know, the one from the series that never plays anymore, Smallville?) without the glasses and less buff but probably just as attractive. All of his features were complimented by a very casual coat that covered a combination of a long-sleeved shirt on top of a dark colored t-shirt and some blue jeans. He tilted his head and asked, “Is anything wrong?” I shook my head slowly. “You still don’t want to talk? Hasn’t it been a few years since you started this game?” He asked with a half smile. I nodded my head once more and smiled back. Geo sighed and asked, “Shouldn’t we go and meet up with Meg at the mall today?” Geo asks a lot of questions. I nodded and hopped off of the swing. While walking out of the park, I looked behind me and felt reluctant to leave the swings. Oh well, they’ll have to wait for another day.
I walked on the short, concrete walls surrounding the abundant patches of flower beds in the park and halted to a stop. I saw the speed limit painted in white, on the black asphalt, the laughing little children, and the street sign. A whole memory flashed in front of my eyes. There was darkness and people were screaming in the background. Then there were those flashing lights. The flashback was all too fast for me to absorb what was going on. Something was wrong. I don’t like this feeling. I crouched down, covering my eyes, and began whimpering. No. No. No. I don’t want to remember this, I don’t want to. Go away. Go away! My body started shivering and it wasn’t because of the cold winds. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and looked up, with watery eyes. “Yuna, let’s cross the street together, okay?” Geo looked down at me with his normal friendly smile and I calmed down a bit. He patted my back and arm-in-arm; he began to lead me across the street. The whole time we crossed, my eyes were closed.
We made it to my house after a minute’s walk and I invited Geo into my home. My house was pretty normal for a suburban home. There was a large couch and television in the living room; the other rooms belonged to my each member of my family. We met my mother on the way in and she drove us to the mall. She seemed thrilled about the fact that I was getting out of the house more often, and didn’t hesitate to ask if we needed a ride. At the mall, we left a bit earlier than expected, so we just walked around for a bit.
The mall was just another symphony of human life. The loud murmurs and laughter combined with smiles or furrowed eyebrows, seemed to fit the scenery perfectly. The ringing of cell phones and the extremely loud music blasting through someone’s earphones; it really was calming somehow. Large groups of people went from teens and their friends to parents and their children. In fact there were even some grandparents there too. All of them complete Life’s long score sheet. Each little piece was contributing to a wonderful, but bittersweet song.
“Meg’s over there at the café, shall we join her?” Geo asked, already knowing the answer. Meg is a nice girl. She never wears too much make-up and her light brown hair was a good length; not too short, not too long. She always wears something fashionable, but she doesn’t like to go along with the fads. Today she was wearing a forest-green turtleneck with jeans and boots. Meg always looked and behaved older than she really was, quite the opposite from me.
“Hey there, kiddies, why don’t you guys sit down?” She joked and prompted us to two chairs beside her. “So what did you two do today?” Geo replied, “We went to the park”. Meg chuckled and turned towards me. “By †˜we went to the park’, I bet he means that you were there and playing until he got there and you both came here afterward”. I nodded and drank some hot cocoa. Both Geo and Meg laughed. After leaving the café, we all started searching stores for early Christmas presents and figured out what to get each other. But we’d probably come back another day and get them.
While walking with them, I noticed a familiar face. Dad? He was sitting at a bench near a fountain. His hair was blond a bit like mine (Mom is a brunette so I have sort of a dirty blond hair, I guess? Or it could be light-brown) and he was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a jacket, with jeans. Dad and Mom divorced a while back, so it was just Mom and I. Dad was pretty handsome and I bet that he was a riot, back when he was my age. I’m surprised that Mom chose him and he chose Mom. Not that my mother isn’t pretty or anything, but they were a pretty odd couple.
My thoughts were interrupted with, “Shouldn’t we be getting home? Don’t we have some essays and a project due sometime soon?” “Aw jeez Geo, you’re such a goody-goody two shoes”. I chuckled a bit at Meg and Geo’s short conversation. They both turned to me with looks of embarrassment and just laughed.
Mom picked us up and drove the each of the two back to their homes. I left a note telling Mom that I’d be at the park. Of course, I went my usual way, but there was always difficulty getting across that certain street. As I walked on the crumbly sidewalk, I kicked an acorn back and forth, that’s when I reached the street. I looked left and right to make sure nothing was coming, closed my eyes and tried walking across. I heard cars coming but didn’t want to open my eyes. Walk faster! I squeezed my eyes and tried walking a bit faster. I heard cars honk and I suddenly opened my eyes.
To see that same street that I almost got run over at, years ago, I was scared. My mind rejected everything from that street. Every time I tried walking with my eyes opened, I’d get too afraid and couldn’t cross. As I sat there in the middle of the street I feared the most, helpless, I heard someone shout, “Look out!” And then I was rolling; someone had pushed me out of the way. I looked up to find my dad nervously smiling at me. “Are you alright, sweetie?” He asked me, brushing off all of the pebbles and grass that clung to my clothes. I was a bit shocked to see him but nodded and averted my eyes. He sighed. “Is your mom home?” I shook my head. “Okay”. After a moment’s worth of awkward silence, Dad cut in with, “Do you know what, Yuna? I’m going to help you cross the street. It’s the least I can do as a father”.
My eyes opened wide and I immediately shook my head; it looked like I was trying to dry my hair. “Aw, Let’s do it honey!” Dad exclaimed. He nudged me and asked, “You’re going to have to cross the street someday, you know? Why not just beat fate to the punch?” He laughed. Before I knew it I was being dragged to the street.
I felt that same remorseful feeling I’d always felt with my eyes open on the street. “Hop on my back, Yuna”. I shook my head. There was no way, I a teen, would hop onto my father’s back. It’s too embarrassing. He looked at me and frowned in a silly manner. With my eyes closed, I didn’t even notice that he brought me onto the street, nearly halfway across to the other side. I froze and crouched down. My watery eyes made everything blurry and I couldn’t move. I thought I heard a car coming and once again Dad said, “Hop onto my back” with a smile. I began to hear honking and drivers cursing and got scared. I nearly leaped onto him as he said “Whoa there!” and walked across the street. We made it to the other side and sat down on the curb. “Phew! That was fun wasn’t it?” He asked smiling all goofy-like. I shook my head, with big, watery eyes I turned the opposite way and ignored him for a few minutes. Those few minutes of his only child ignoring him, caused him to go into depression.
Feeling guilty, I tapped his shoulder and he turned around. With my best effort and tears falling from my eyes, I shouted, “DAD CAN YOU HELP ME CROSS THE STREET?!” I sound like a little kid again…! Urgh… He was shocked for a second, considering he hadn’t heard me talk for a couple of years, and smiled. We stood up and he asked, “Want me to hold your hand, Yuna?” I nodded. I… I have to do this! I gripped my father’s hand and started walking. But I’m still a bit scared. Even though I so badly wanted to close my eyes, I kept them open. Droplets of salty tears rolled down my cheek each second. I had to watch as my feet walked across this damned street that my mind could never come to like or even tolerate to look at. Step by step was torture, it felt like my whole body was on fire, like I was burning alive, even though it was nearly winter.
While my mind was elsewhere, my body moved forward, and my father whispered, “You’ve crossed the street, Yuna”. I looked up at him, practically silently sobbing, and smiled. “Thank you Dad. I love you”. He was a little embarrassed and gave me a tender smile. “I love you too sweetie”. We began walking back home. Dad knew he wasn’t going to be that welcomed, but still walked with me anyway. “Hey… Yuna… I’m scared of your mother… Do I really have to go with you?” He asked nervously. I puffed my cheeks and shouted, “Yes! Face your fears Dad!”
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Is this story about some anti-social person? This story really got me, I could feel the fears of the main character, the enivornment she's in by reading your text. Good delivery with an easy-to-understand narrative form.
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high_time wrote...
Is this story about some anti-social person? This story really got me, I could feel the fears of the main character, the enivornment she's in by reading your text. Good delivery with an easy-to-understand narrative form.Yuna is somewhat anti-social, not too much though. She's a girl with childish mannerisms. Her mind has not grown since the first time she got into the car accident, years ago. She's a sweet girl at heart, and she really does try hard to overcome her fears. She just needs a push, whether it be big or small.
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It's a trauma? Well you did add some realistic psychological conflict in here. Reading some the basic psychology teories worsks well for me on creating realistic characters too.
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high_time wrote...
It's a trauma? Well you did add some realistic psychological conflict in here. Reading some the basic psychology teories worsks well for me on creating realistic characters too.I guess it is. My sister told me to write about a car crash. A REALLY descriptive car crash. I ended up writing this story.