A Fulfilling Short Story

Born in the cold winter night of December was a little daddy’s princess, Sarika. Yes, it’s me. I am Sarika. That’s the name I was given by my father. The meaning of name Sarika is a bird, a beautiful thing or a princess. Like every father, he chose this name for me because he already knew someday I’ll become independent and soar higher like a bird. From the moment he first held me in his arms and stared into my eyes, he knew that I was very special and had lots of hopes and dreams for the future. On the other hand, my mom was very disappointed that she gave birth to a girl again. She wanted a boy. She had already given birth to four girls. She hoped that fifth one would be a boy. But unfortunately, it was a girl again. In dismay, she even forgot to breastfed me. She wanted to adopt a boy but my father did not agree. My father explained to her that I was the gift of the God and no matter what gender I was, I am his child.

My name is Stella. My parents gave me this name because they thought I would be the light of there lives. They could not have been more wrong.

A year had already passed since then, but I couldn’t help but be drawn towards those shoes. The closer I got to them the more familiar they seemed. The scuff marks on the sides of the shoe peaked through strands of the woman’s hair, and a surge of nostalgia flowed through me as I saw them. I remembered Leila’s endeavors at Six Flags that resulted in similar bruisings on her shoes. An icy breeze whisked away the woman’s hair to reveal an engraving on the side of the shoe. It was of a speckled flower, the same one Leila had drawn on. She said the speckles were tiny flaws in the seemingly perfect rose. As soon as I saw it I knew they were hers. I couldn’t fathom the fact that I arbitrarily found them over a year after she went missing. I needed those shoes, but I they belonged to the woman. I gingerly shook the woman awake and she slowly opened her eyes. I was surprised she could even sleep through the noise of the city. She arose with a vexed expression and stared at me with cold eyes. After a few moments she processed her environment. I was bent forward and had a hand already inching towards her shoes, she got the impression that I wanted to steal them- I guess I did want to. In response, the old woman shrieked and her lament attracted the attention of nearby pedestrians. My attempts to calm her down were futile as she began to fling her possessions at me. I didn’t want to have to steal them, but it was my only option. She reached for her red blanket to chuck at me, which I

I squinted my eyes as the ray of the sun blinded me. I took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh air. Tears of joy and laughter filled the atmosphere. I looked back as a familiar voice rung in my ears. "Hey, you excited your up going up next." It was Lacey Zamarai. Her divine black hair seemed lighter in the sun. Her eyes were tainted darker than usual revealing how on edge she felt.

Roan was spending the night on the roof of his house, alone. He had a cigarette hanging out his mouth as he stared up at the dark sky, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time. Music was playing through his Walkman, and he swayed along to the rhythm.

Everything was all good November 12th. It was a cold day outside where I wasn’t in my best mood to get up for school so my mom thought it was ok for me to stay home with her, I wanted to look forward to spending the day with my brother deundre and my sister kyala once she got home from school. However, that day I had planned ahead of us didn’t go so good everything went the way I didn’t want it to go.

It’s the year 125 T.E., and it was a pleasant day in the small town of Rieux, France. The sun was shining behind scattered clouds, as they slowly drifted across the bright blue sky. As Riya made her way down the busy streets of the Rieux market district, she couldn’t help but notice the inquisitive looks the shop owners and customers gave her. Though she was used to people staring at her shiny metal appendages, it always made her feel very self-conscious. She averted her eyes to the ground as she pulled the sleeves of her ebony black hoodie down over her forearms, and shoved her metal hands into the pockets of her dark wash jeans. After turning down an alley way, she made her way across the street to her apartment which was above her mother’s small café. Riya stepped into the café and was immediately hit with the scent of coffee and blueberry muffins, along with the quiet chatter of the customers. As she entered the kitchen in the back of the café, she was greeted by her mother with a big hug.

“Yeah,” she shook her head in agreement, “I believe you are right. Though I truly believe that everyone needs to start focusing on surviving as a team. There is no way in hell that we can do this without each other, Everyone needs someone to rely.” She stated with a slight, the hair she had pulled back bounced around wildly. Her dark brown hues stared at her. “There isn’t anything wrong with thinking about the long wrong as long you don’t forget about the here and now,” lifting her hand she gestured to everything around them. “Don’t wanna get too caught up thinking about the future and forget that the dead is wandering around eating the living. Stick with your group and you’ll survive.” Laurel spoke in a soft voice, a smile forming on her lips. “Even though the poor girls end up saving the men who want to protect them in the end.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. She hated men like that before the end of the world and she hated them even more now.

“You told me that once you decided not to go back even if Syd didn’t keep her word. We stand a much better chance together than if we go it alone. I told Donovan that I knew and he told me to get out. I am not going back.”

“NO” was the first word that she uttered when he was enjoying squeezing the nectar of her purity. He was the same person who fought against the whole world only to marry her three months ago. He was the same person who took a vow to protect her from the outer world, but he forgot to mention that one day he won’t be able to control his inner demon. Today, two months after their marriage, he came back late from the office and starts unbuttoning his shirt and she is not ready for what he wants. She is on her period. He was tired and jaded and wanted that pleasure which he hasn’t felt from the last two days because of his busy schedule.

“Thanks for rocking my world. I can’t wait to see you again in a few days. Don’t miss me too much.” He even sent a wink emoji.

This is a story that the old ones have been telling to children for hundreds of years. It is a sad Mexican tale, but it lives strong in the memories of the people, and there are many who hear her cries at night and swear that it is true.

“Not it” we all get to our right knee and put our finger on our nose trying not to be last. I didn’t want to be it but I didn’t want to get dirt all over my knee, It was worth it though. We all immediately point to Tessa because she was obviously last (like always). She is also the fastest one and we can never outrun her.

I woke up to my alarm clock playing a random song from my playlist, like it does on any typical school morning. Just like any other typical school morning, I hit the snooze button four or five times before my Mom has to come and drag me out of bed. Her way of waking me up is turning on my desk lamp so that it shines right in my face. I get up, dragging half of my blankets along draped over my back. I slip on my fuzzy slippers and slowing stomp down the stairs.

I was tired of my parents telling me what to do. I couldn’t live like that. Not anymore. As I sat on my bed, I heard a knock on the door. My parents came in, and they told me to get in bed. It was the last time I was being ordered around. They tucked me in.