Lost
There are so many different types of ways that someone can be lost. They can be lost: in the woods, past away, gone missing, etc. There’s one way that someone can be lost that many if not, most people don’t think about. A young girl named Shelby is lost: not in the woods nor is she missing, and she’s definitely not dead; no she’s alive and well, but she’s lost in life. How is Shelby lost? Well Shelby is lost in life because she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Shelby grew up with a childhood that haunts her, and she still doesn’t understand what to expect, and is very confused with no clue what to do. People that are lost in life can still be saved by someone it may just take someone to listen to hear what they have to say, and then help them find their way back onto the path.
Shelby lives in an apartment on 5th floor, and the building is very old. Shelby doesn’t have all kinds of money to spend on things so new clothes are the last thing on her mind. Shelby has a couple of dogs named Angel, and Demon who she starts to think are her only true friends in the world because not one of her friends at school ever try to see past the façade she puts up. Shelby gets up for school at 5:30A.M every morning, and she gets up to feed Angel and Demon before she gets herself ready. At 6:00 A.M she gets dressed, and heads off to the bathroom to finish getting ready, but after she’s done getting ready she stands there looking at herself in the mirror.
“Who am I? What am I supposed to do in life? Why doesn’t anyone question my façade I put up?” she asks to the mirror. She didn’t move from that spot for 30 minutes until her alarm on her phone goes off.
“Oh no, I’m going to miss the bus if I don’t hurry up!” she exclaims. She bolts it out of the bathroom, and grabs her bag for school faster than the cars in a race that go over 100mph. She runs down the stairs, and hurries along in a dead run to the bus stop. When she arrives her neighbor is still there waiting for the bus.
“Good. I made it, and just in time too.” She thought as the bus pulls up to her bus stop. After taking her seat on the bus the questions that she asked herself in the bathroom start to resurface. Why is it that no one bothers to ask her if she ever means it when they ask her how she is, and she says she’s fine? she thought. Why is it that none of my friends can see through this façade I’m putting up? Do they not care enough to? She thought about these things for a very long time. When she finally arrives at school she puts on a smile, and a happy façade, but on the inside she’s lost, and confused. No one questions her façade at any point in the school year at all. They all truly believe that she is happy when the truth is that after school when she goes to sleep memories of her childhood will flood back up until she starts to cry. On her last day of school her best friend Sara pulls her aside on her way to math.
“What’s wrong?” Sara asks.
“Nothing’s wrong why would you ask such a silly question?” Shelby tries to blow off the question with her façade thinking Sara will just believe her lie, and move on with her life.
“Yea, no I don’t believe that anymore. No one on this Earth can pass off that they are always happy all the time, or most of the time. I’m not buying that anymore so stop hiding behind that façade, and tell me what you’ve wanted to tell someone for a long time. I’m your best friend Shelby, and I will always be your best friend no matter what happens.” Sara told her.
Shelby couldn’t believe her ears when Sara was done speaking. Someone actually saw through her façade? Someone actually wants to help her understand all this confusion around her? Wow, she thought each of these, and she wanted to cry because she was so happy that someone wants to help her. So she tells Sara to meet her at lunch, and then she’ll tell her everything, and Sara agrees too.
After class Shelby, and Sara meet up for lunch outside of the cafeteria, and wait for everyone to go inside before they start talking.
“Okay let’s hear what you keep behind this façade of yours shall we?” Sara calmly states.
Shelby takes a deep breath, and thinks finally someone is actually going to listen to me, and it’s Sara my best friend now I know she can help me out at least a little bit. So Shelby talks about her past, how she’s lost, and confused, etc. Throughout the whole story Sara would just listen, nod, asks questions that Shelby was ecstatic to answer because some can help her out a little.
When the story was done Sara looks at Shelby, and calmly states, “I don’t know what most of that must feel like, but I do know that I will help you out in any way I can. We’re best friends, and I want to make sure that you don’t hurt from this anymore on the inside. I’ll always be here to listen to you if you ever need someone to talk to. If you ever want to go somewhere just to get away from it all you just have to call me, and we can find somewhere to hangout away from everything. I want to help you, and I’m going to help you get back on the path so you can see that you can be anything you want in life, and that it’s not already planned out for you. You have big dreams, and I know for a fact that you believe in them. I believe that you can pursue those big dreams of yours, and make them a reality.” Sara wanted to just cry not because she was sad, but because she was so happy that there aren’t enough words in the English language to describe it.
“Thank you,” was all Shelby could reply to that before the tears came.
“You’re welcome,” Sara replied.
People that are lost in life can still be saved by someone it may just take someone to listen to hear what they have to say, and then help them find their way back onto the path. People that are lost in life like Shelby here just need someone to insist that they tell them the truth. They need to know that someone actually cares enough to see past their façade, and wants to know who they really are. They want someone like Sara because Sara wants to help, and realizes that Shelby is using a façade and wants to know the truth. When Sara does find out she doesn’t give her sympathy, but her kindness, openness, and willingness to always be there to listen when Shelby wants someone to listen to her, and to help Shelby no matter what. People who are lost in life like Shelby often look at people like Sara as their own personal guardian angels.
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An Old Family Photo
An old picture speaks the partial truth of a past that has been purposely long forgotten, but has the deceiving appearance of a happier time. The old aphorism, “A picture says 1,000 words,” could never be further from the truth for this picture. This old family photo shows a family that appears to be happy beyond all doubt without any problems, and no need to scream and shout. This appearance is phonier than the people that Holden Caulfield from J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye says are phony. The old family photo has a hidden story that’s not all happy, and full of laughter like fairy tales. Life isn’t a fairy tale, and for people who think it is then this picture’s story is a backwards fairy tale.
Growing up with parents who don’t always scream and shout at each other is hard, but growing up with parents who do that, and more is even harder. Looking at a picture like this now people think that this little girl grew up with a great, wonderful, and happy family; well Mr. Scontra’s favorite saying “Don’t believe your lying eyes” couldn’t possibly be more true than it is in math. People’s eyes are lying to them when they think they see a happy family. This little girl didn’t grow up with a great, wonderful, and happy family; that’s the furthest description of my family possible
Growing up was like being in the middle of World War III except that the weapons were words, and other things that should never be done in front of a child’s eyes such as hurting someone on purpose especially someone that you claim to love. Hidden behind the mother’s eyes are actual hurt, pain, and a call for help. The little girl is oblivious to what goes on when she’s asleep. While she’s sleeping like a little angel on a soft comfortable cloud. The little girl’s father has issues with his temper, and the mother is scared to speak out for help. The mother doesn’t know that while she’s away at work the father is sneaking around with another girl, and is lying by telling her he’s working. He calls up his daughter when he’s “working” late to tell her goodnight, and he’ll see her in the morning. Other times when he’s actually home the daughter being a daddy’s girl refuses to acknowledge that her dad is hurting her, and her mother. She believes that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and it’s all an accident. She only thinks of her dad as the way he is on holidays like on Christmas Day.
On Christmas that year the little girl woke up early excited to see how many presents Santa left under the tree. She jumps out of bed quick as cheetah, and hurries to her parents’ bedroom. She jumps on the bed, and screams, “Wake up, wake up! It’s Christmas, time to wake up!” until they finally get up, and out of bed. Presents being passed around; a smile lighting up this little girls’ face never knowing that the smile her mother has is nothing, but fake. This moment of opening up presents with fresh white snow covering the ground, sipping hot chocolate, with both of her parents with her smiling, the pets laying down on the rug next to her calm, and quiet awaiting for the noise of the newly opened toys to begin. This moment is what she wants her whole life to be like; this happiness she feels, and having everyone in her family with her here, together as one, and in her mind like a princess story. She can't imagine her life any other way because to her this is her palace, and the outside world is her kingdom just like in the stories she's told at night. To her she doesn't need a prince because having her parents here with her together is her happily ever after. Sadly not all princesses get to keep their happily ever after, and this little girl is going to find that out the hard way.
With reality finally here this little girls’ world as she knows it starts to disappear. A few months later her parents argue even more than normal, and her mother can't take it any longer. She called the cops on this little girls' father, and they took him away. The little girl stayed up for nights on end crying because she wants her father back, and doesn't want her fairy tale shattered to pieces like Cinderella's glass slipper being thrown against a wall. Time goes by for this little girl slower than molasses in the middle of winter. Her parents are no longer together, and this new girl is now with her father. This new girl comes with two kids a boy, and a girl. Never before has she seen them, but now when she goes to see her dad they’re always there. Her father, and this new girl tell her that they are engaged, and are going to get married. The little girl can't think, breathe, or say anything because she is in shock; this isn't how fairy tales were in the books so her fairy tale shouldn't end up like this. She realizes that her family is a shattered mirror, and her dad has a new family now so she thinks that she's not important to him anymore. Even in the future at least up until she’s ten she still refuses to see her dad as an evil man even though she found out the truth. When she turns eleven the little girl realizes that her father did everything he did to her mother, and even hitting her for no reason, or for doing something accidently was all on purpose. She then starts to resent her father not only for what he did, but for mostly shattering her fairy tale into tiny pieces, and for starting a new one with some other family that doesn’t include her. She spends her nights filled with sorrow, but learns to never let it show, or hardly any emotions show at all. She keeps all the pain and hurt inside, and so that no one can see how she feels she also learns how to hide everything; however she still wants to remember her childhood, but only the happier times. So now she clings to this old family photo to keep a memory of happier times close by, but not without the price of remembering this sad time. This little girl has had a rude awakening to life, and the cruelty of it. Life isn’t a fairy tale, and for people who think it is then this picture’s story is a backwards fairy tale.
