The Diary of a Secret.

They began to hit me.

Another blow to my cheek…I felt his nails scrape against my dirty face, and blood began to trickle. The biggest boy picked me up, and threw me against the other side of the alley. Pain was shot throughout my body, and I shrieked.

“Shut up!” The boy with the red eyes screamed.

“Why…please…” I trailed off, sobbing.

“What are you, a little witch? Is that what you are?” the red-eyed boy asked me. His was kneeling down, and his face was just inches away from mine. His breathe reeked of garbage, and his teeth were crooked and yellow.

“Stop it! Please, just stop it! I’ll do what you want…please…just stop,” I whimpered.

His red eyes narrowed.

“No.”

Ariana shot up, into a sitting position, and felt tears began to flow. Her nightmares were beginning to grow worse.

She pushed the dream away from her mind, and she rose from her bed. In her nightgown and barefoot, she made her way out into the hall, and down the wooden stairs. The autumn air was beginning to arrive; she could feel the way it blew through the open window.

Ariana did a double-take. Why in the world is a window open? She thought. She made her way to it, shut it, and then proceeded to step into the kitchen. She noticed a note lying upon the wooden table, she picked it up. It said:

Ariana,

Had work today, won’t be home until late. There is bread in the cupboards, and water in the bucket just outside the back door. Please note that other than to fetch water, you musn’t linger outdoors.

Love and Kisses,
Mother.

Ariana read over the note, and set it down. Emotions of frustration and neglect shot through her.

I’m…I’m sick of Mother abandoning me, and then not letting me fend for myself. Ariana thought.

She decided to do disregard her mother’s wishes. After all, what she didn’t know couldn’t possibly hurt her. Ariana would simply gather her tools, and garden, making sure not to speak with the neighbors…and, if one of them said hello to her, what was the harm of waving back?

Ariana, filled with the rush of disobeying, scurried up the steps of her home, and into her bedroom. She threw off her gown, and on her sundress from the day before, cleaned magically by her mother. She ran a comb through her thin blond hair, and slipped on her leather boots. She raced back down the stairs, into the kitchen, and to the back door. She cracked the door, and saw the bucket sitting there, full with clear, clean water. She picked it up, though gently, as not to spill the water. Ariana realized that her frail arms would not be able to carry the water up the stairs, so she hurried into her mother’s room, and set the bucket down before the sink and mirror, and splashed her face with the water.

When Ariana looked up, she saw a fresh, bright-eyed Ariana, something she wasn’t used to seeing. She smiled at herself, and then carried the bucket back into the kitchen. She dipped a small glass into it, filling it with water, and set it on the table, then opened the cabinet. There was only a small loaf of bread, and some jam.

Perfect, Ariana smiled. She opened a drawer, and pulled out a small butter knife, and, with much struggle, cut the bread into several slices. Then, with the same knife, she scraped the jam out of its jar, and smeared it onto the bread. She sat down at the table, and ate her breakfast quickly and happily, for the first time in months. She then rushed to her mother’s room to snatch the basket with all of the gardening tools…and beside it, she saw her mother’s sunhat laying on the ground. She gently grasped it and set it on her head, tying the ribbon under her chin. She grabbed the basket, and looked at herself in the mirror.

I…look almost…almost…normal. Ariana breathlessly thought the words, fearing they would slip away, like in a dream. A sweet calamity came over her, and she danced through her living area, and to the front door. She grasped the knob with shaking hands, slowly turned it slowly, and lightly pushed the door open, and sunlight poured in, making her shield her eyes.

For that moment, Ariana felt normal.

That was all she wanted.