Starless Sky

As I sat at the red light, I had a choice. I could turn left onto Main Street and pull into the church parking lot, or I could keep going straight towards Dean’s Creek. My conscience pulled me left but my choice no longer existed. I was in the wrong lane and the red light had changed to green so I was forced to go straight. I looked over at the church and saw them all standing there in the parking lot. There were at least twenty people from school crying their eyes out and I was positive that half of them didn’t even know her. It was amazing to me how some people would do anything they could to turn the attention back to themselves. Instead of having people focus on the reason why they attended the funeral in the first place, they would cry their eyes out so other people would spend their time comforting them instead. I parked the car on the street before getting out and being blinded by the unusually hot April sun. I slammed the door hard and walked around the winding creek all the way to the front. I realized that anyone that might see me would think I was absolutely insane. I was in a black dress and black heels wandering around in an old abandoned creek. With the next step I took, my right heel sunk into the dirt. My body lost balance and I fell down hard to the ground before starting to roll down the steep hill towards the water quickly. My body rolled and rolled and then finally hit something hard that felt like a leg. I was so stunned by everything that had just happened that I didn’t have time to think, stop, or scream. I was breathing hard as I laid flat on the ground and not only had my dress flown up about five inches above my thighs, but I also realized I had lost another heel in the process. “You know, I may not know a whole lot about heels but I’m pretty sure that walking on the grass isn’t such a good idea.” My rescuer extended his arm and held out his hand. “Thanks for the tip,” I mumbled. I looked up at his upside down body feeling a little dazed and disoriented. I stood up by myself, ignoring his hand then smoothed out my dress and made sure my messy bun was still intact. “I’m Kennley.” He offered a hand shake. I chuckled a little to myself. Kennley? What kind of a name was Kennley? The image of a Ken Barbie doll kept popping up in my mind. Once again, I ignored his hand and walked away from him towards the creek to sit down on the grass and stick my feet in the lukewarm water. Who was this so called Kennley anyhow and what was he doing at my Creek. No one ever came here. The creek was practically abandoned but I liked it that way. I loved the tall tree that created the perfect amount of shade and the long, winding creek that disappeared in the forest. He felt like an intruder and I couldn’t help but be rude to him. He seemed nice and maybe a little overly friendly, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t looking for any new friends or acquaintances. I was looking for some place peaceful and that place had just been robbed from me. “What are you doing here?” I asked, staring at my reflection in the creek. I wanted my words to sound more curious than accusatory but they didn’t come out that way. Kennley walked over to sit next to me but I immediately scooted away from him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I needed a reason be here. Next time I’ll call you first to get your blessing.” I rolled my eyes. Even though I could feel him staring at me I ignored it. His cell phone began to ring to Barbie Girl and he looked at his phone before swearing underneath his breath. “Well… um…,” Kennley paused like he was about to say my name, but then realized he didn’t know it. “I’m guessing your name is Dean since you seem to own this Creek. So Dean, it’s been nice bumping into you today, but I gotta run. Oh, and by the way, I’m pretty sure my little sister changed my ring-tone.” He quickly stood up and left and part of me wanted to say goodbye to him but instead I just ignored him completely. I picked up my scattered heels, got into my car, and left because I didn’t want to stay at the creek. It didn’t feel like mine anymore. By the time I made it back to my car, I realized I was being stupid. I couldn’t go home just yet, I had made up my mind not to go back to the creek, and the funeral wasn’t even an option, so where else was I going to go? I sat in my car trying to come up with a plan but I barely had five bucks on me so I was considering going to McDonald’s. My thoughts were all distracted when I saw Kennley speed walking across the street and dodging cars while he was talking on his cell phone. He looked like he was unusually angry. Although I didn’t know what his usual behavior was, he seemed much too friendly and jovial to have a look like that on his face. He screamed something I couldn’t hear— partly because my window was up— before he slammed the phone shut, and took off in a fully fledged sprint down the street. I pushed aside my curiosity, turned the key in the ignition, and pulled off down the street to the closest McDonald’s. I was learning to accept adapt to the world I had been thrown so viciously in. The past was well… the past. As for the future, that was a mystery. But as for the present…the present held power. The present could be whatever I wanted it to be… And that alone created my future. I had never felt so powerful and yet so weak in all my life.