What a Wonderful World

I slowly walked down the ladder and took a few moments to breathe. Climbing down the ladder had been a bit more difficult than I would have expected, and my lack of coordination had not helped. I looked around me and smiled. The sky was so blue with only a few bright white clouds. The day could not have been more perfect.

The blades of bright green grass were tickling my feet through my warm wool socks, which made me realize that I had forgotten to wear shoes. Shoes are not that important, anyways , I thought to myself. I decided to go without them, since it would be too time consuming to go all the way back up the ladder and then come down. Time, in general, was something I never seemed to have enough of; not enough time to get shoes, not even enough time to live to have my own family. That was not important right now, though.

I slowly walked to the front gate instead, a smile plastered on my face. I had yet to see anything, but I just knew that this was going to be so much fun. My home was surrounded by a high wall, and the only entrances were a huge metal gate, which was used to allow cars inside, and a door right next to it, which was where a person could come through. I had the key for the door with me, so that was the way I was going to “escape”. Such an interesting way to phrase it… I’m escaping . I loved how it sounded. It sounded so rebellious, and being a rebel had always sounded like fun. The gate keeper was fast asleep as I walked by his station and unlocked the small door.

Once I stepped out, I took in a deep breath. It had been years since I had been outside the gates of my home. I began walking on the sidewalk, not sure of where I was going. I looked at my watch and saw that I still had an hour and 10 minutes before I had to get home. After skipping along for only 20 minutes, I felt pretty tired. The houses had gone from huge houses with huge walls to smaller houses, most of which had no gate at all.

Then, I spotted a beautiful two-story home, which was surrounded by a short white picket-fence. The latch for the small door that locked the pathway into the house was open, and I couldn’t help going in. The gate creaked a bit as I opened it, but I ignored it and looked at the trees in the front yard. Below one of them was the largest stack of fallen leaves that I had ever seen. Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly walked up to it and turned around and fell into the pile on my back. The leaves cushioned my fall, and I felt like I was lying in a soft bed, as the leaves tickled my cheeks. I threw handfuls of leaves into the air and giggled as they floated down. I listened to the birds sing, as I slowly let my eyes close and imagined myself floating above the world on my own little cloud.

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As I walked I found a small park. The grass was a very bright green and I could tell it was very properly maintained. The swing set and slides looked very new and there were even a couple old fashioned lamps lighting a paved path that went around the park. That was when I noticed the largest pile of leaves I had ever seen next to a large oak tree.

Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly walked up to it and turned around and fell into the pile on my back. The leaves cushioned my fall, and I felt like I was lying in a soft bed, as the leaves tickled my cheeks. I threw handfuls of leaves into the air and giggled as they floated down. I listened to the birds sing, as I slowly let my eyes close and imagined myself floating above the world on my own little cloud.

I heard what sounded like giggling as I slowly opened my eyes to see who or what it was. I rubbed my eyes, realizing that I had fallen asleep on top of the pile of leaves. I sat up and looked at my watch. It was only 8:20, so I had barely slept for about 10 minutes. After settling that, I looked up and saw a girl who looked to be about 14 years old.

“What are you doing?” She said with a giggle. Her dark green eyes watched me with amusement as a cold breeze blew her long light brain hair that reached her hips onto her face, but she quickly pushed it away and continued to smile.

“Hi.” I said excitedly, it had been a while since I had met a new person. “I’m Abby. I live not too far from here and I saw the leaves and… I guess I fell asleep.”

“My name’s Natalie.” She said as she stuck out her hand for me to grab. As soon as I grabbed her hand she helped pull me up. “I love jumping in the pile of leaves, but my brother gets angry.” She smiled as she rolled her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Today’s Tuesday. Don’t you have school?” I said curiously.

He eyes widened. “I almost forgot! I’m hiding!” She said with a huge smile. “I REALLY don’t want to go to school.”

“Why not?” I asked, surprised. “What about your friends? School is a lot of fun isn’t it?”

She laughed as what I said. “Nobody thinks school is fun. I don’t like learning.” She said as she made a funny face.

I laughed and she laughed with me. “Well, where do you live?” I asked.

“Right there.” She said as she pointed at a house at the end of the block. As she did, the front door opened and she pulled me behind the oak tree.

“Nat! We’re already late. Hurry up and get back here!” The guy grumbled as I glanced around the tree to see him walking towards us. He looked to be about my age and was over half a foot taller than me, but that wasn’t much since I was only 5’5”. His brown hair was similar to Natalie’s in color but his green eyes were lighter than hers.

“Wait… why am I hiding?” I laughed but Natalie shushed me. “Come on, you know you have to go to school anyways. Plus we are going to be found pretty quickly.” I whispered to her. She thought about it and then sighed as she stopped hiding and walked away from the tree. I followed behind her as she waved to her brother.

“Alright, alright! I’m coming.” She shouted to him as he jogged to us.

“Nat! You can’t keep doing this every time you have to take a math test.” He growled.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She said and then she glanced at me. “I was just talking to Abby. I met her in the park.”

He turned to me and smiled slightly. “Hi, nice to meet you.” He then proceeded to grab Natalie’s arm and turned towards their home, but she pulled back.

“Abby, this is my brother, Ethan. He’s not very friendly.” She grumbled as she stuck out her tongue. He turned back towards us and rustled Natalie’s hair as she tried to push his hand away.

“You’re one to talk.” He said sarcastically with a smile. “Sorry for being a bit rude. I haven’t seen you here before… Did you just move here?” He asked.

“Umm no, I live several blocks that way.” I said as I pointed toward the direction I had come from. “ I decided to go for a walk and happened to see this park.” I said with a smile.

“Where do you go to school?” Natalie asked. “Is it that public school, Strawberry Park High School? My school, St. Paul’s High School. It’s not far from Strawberry Park either.” She said without pausing as I realized for the first time that both of them were wearing uniforms. Natalie was wearing a white button up short-sleeve shirt with a loose blue tie and a gray pleated skirt. On her shirt there was a logo and above it, there were the words St. Paul’s High. Ethan was wearing a similar shirt and a blue tie with grey pants.

I had gone to a private school when I was younger, but it felt like a really far away time. “No… actually, um, I am homeschooled. I have teachers that come to my house every day.” I smiled. I wished I could go to school like a normal kid my age.

“Oh. That must be really cool!” She giggled. “So, you can just stay in your pajamas ALL day!”

“I guess, but my mom doesn’t let me.” I laughed.

“Well, you might actually like going to school.” She smiled. “You should go to Ethan’s school! I bet you would like it.”

“I’m sure I would.” I said as I nodded and actually pictured myself going to school and actually making friends! It would be A LOT of fun.

I looked at Ethan just as he looked down at my feet and then looked back at my face. “Why aren’t you wearing any shoes?” He said with a smile.

“Oh, well, it’s a funny story.” I smiled. I left my shoes at home since I didn’t want to climb back up the ladder dangling from my window that I had used to sneak out. Of course that wasn’t believable, but I couldn’t lie. “I just completely forgot to put them on before I left my room.” I hadn’t lied, since I had forgotten… till I went down the ladder and exited my room.

Ethan looked at me as if I were crazy. “So, it didn’t hit you that you weren’t wearing shoes once you were outside…”

I decided to go with the plain and simple truth. “No, it did.” I smiled back at him. He stared at me and then just shook his head.

“Anyone ever told you you’re a bit strange.” He said as he laughed.

“No actually.” I smiled back. People were very careful around me. None ever said anything except for how amazing I was.

“Well, our house is right over there. We could find you a pair of flip flops or something.” He said as he pointed at their house.

“Yeah, come on! We’ll definitely find you a pair.” Natalie said excitedly as she grabbed my arm.

“Are you sure?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course. We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

I felt my cheeks burn as I looked at her and Ethan. “We’re friends?”

Ethan laughed when he looked at my face and it looked natural, unlike his previous smiles, which just didn’t feel as authentic. He rustled my hair lightly. “You don’t have to look so surprised.”

As I smiled, I had no doubt my cheeks were still red and I could feel my heart beating more rapidly than usual as we walked back to their house.

They found me a pair of flips flops and we began walking in the direction of my home and their school. Natalie insisted that I come with them to see the school, but I told them I couldn’t and so about halfway we parted ways as they turned left onto a street that led to their school. Apparently Ethan normally drove them to school, but his car needed some sort of repair so they had to walk.

Once they were gone, I kept walking but a huge smile was plastered on my face. It had been so long since I had talked to people close to my age and it was the first time I had actually made friends.

Friends…

Abigail Moore was no longer friendless! I never noticed how fun the word ‘friends’ was to say. “Friends.” I smiled to myself as I walked. I glanced at the time and my eyes widened. It was already 8:45. I only had ten minutes!

Suddenly I began sprinting. It didn’t take long for my lungs to start burning and my chest ached, but I kept going. Finally, I was in front of my house as I quickly snuck through the door I had gone through earlier and closed it quietly behind me.

I quickly ran across the yard to where the ladder was as I glanced at the time. 8:55. I had made it with enough time, but my clothes stuck to me because of my sweat and my breathing was uneven. I began climbing the ladder, which was far more difficult than coming down. I was really tired. My heart was still beating really fast and I was starting to feel a bit dizzy.

I barely made it back into my room. Quickly I pulled the ladder up and put it back in my closet, but it was getting really hard to breathe. I sat down on the bed and tried to take a deep breath but I couldn’t. Breath, Abby I kept trying but my head was just getting foggier. My chest started hurting more and more but as I tried to call for help, I couldn’t. My breathing was extremely shallow and I felt a couple tears roll down my cheeks as I grabbed my throat. I looked at the clock on my wall. In less than a minute, one of the maids will come into my room. All I had to do was hold on till then. My vision kept blurring until I could barely see the hands on the clock.

I kept gasping for air as I fell to the floor and onto my knees. I didn’t want to die. I WASN’T going to die. NOT yet. Please, not now. I tried to say but nothing came out. Nobody could hear me. My breathing got even more shallow, but I kept my eyes open long enough to see my room door open slightly.

And then, I stopped fighting and the blackness quickly swallowed me up. I heard someone calling my name, but soon that was gone as well, and I was all alone. All alone in the dark…

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I heard a slight beeping sound in the background as I felt the haze being lifted. Though it took some time, I managed to slowly open my eyes.

I was in my bed, with an oxygen mask on. There was an IV in my right arm and I could hear the steady beeping of the ECG monitor to my left. I tried to move, but my body felt really weak. Slowly, however, I found the strength to slowly sit up. It was only then that I noticed that my room door was slightly open. I could see my mom with one arm around her stomach and another in front of her mouth.

I couldn’t see my doctor, Dr. Harrison, but I could hear his voice. He wasn’t talking very loudly, but I heard him say arrhythmia before my mom spoke.

“How bad is it?” she choked, and I saw several tears fall down the cheek that I could see.

“I don’t believe she will be able to survive another one.” I heard Dr. Harrison say in a solemn tone. “She … but O negative blood is rare and… I am so sorry Mr. and Mrs. Moore… I do not think she will…Even if she does… I am so sorry.” I said catching fragments of what he said as Mom tried to hold herself together, but unsuccessfully. I saw Dad’s arm around her shoulders and caught a glimpse of him as well as Mom buried herself into his chest. There were tears in his eyes as well. “I would make best of the time she has left.” I heard Dr. Harrison say clearly, but it felt so far away. Everything felt so far away.

I felt my eyes get watery, but I took a deep breath and they went away. I looked at my parents, who were unable to mask the pain they were feeling. I couldn’t cry, because I couldn’t hurt them like that. I wouldn’t hurt them like that. They were great parents who didn’t need to suffer because of me.

“Thank you, Dr. Harrison.” Dad said as he wiped his eyes and shook Dr. Harrison’s hand. “I’ll escort you to the door.” He said and they walked away. Mom wiped her tears as she slowly turned towards my door with a smile, which fell when she saw that I was looking right at her through the small crack. I slowly pulled the oxygen mask off, as she opened the door completely and walked to me.

“I shouldn’t have left that door open.” She smiled as she cleared her throat. She sat down in the chair that she had previously placed next to my bed.

“Mom.” I smiled and she leaned towards me slightly so that I didn’t have to speak so loud. Quickly, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders so her head was resting on my shoulders. “It’s okay. I know already. It’s okay.” I whispered as I felt drops of water hit soak the sleeve of my t-shirt.

We stayed like that for several minutes as she hugged me tightly and sobbed. But she finally pulled herself back together and pulled away. She took a tissue and dried her face and smiled. “Sorry about that, Dear.” She said, back to her normal self.

“I bet you’re hungry what would you like?” She said as she got up, but I grabbed the sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt, just as Dr. Harrison walked into my room.

“Sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. Moore, Abby.” He said to me with a smile. “I forgot a folder here.” He said as he grabbed it off of my desk. He turned to leave, but I called out to him.

“Dr. Harrison! Actually could you stay for a minute? I would like for you to hear this as well.” I said with a smile and he looked at me, confused.

“Of course, Abby.” He responded as he came closer.

“Umm. I just wanted to say… I would like to go to school.” I finally managed to blurt out.

“Abby!” Mom said after a gasp. “No, you can’t!”

“Actually, Mrs. Moore,” Dr. Harrison said, cutting her off, “maybe it would not be such a bad idea.”

“But-“ Mom tried to say.

“At this point, it would be best if you left Abby enjoy herself a bit.” Dr. Harrison said, trying to keep a smile on his face. Mom eyes got watery once more as she bit her lip.

“Are you… sure?”

“Yes, as long as Abby is willing to take several precautions and we make sure that she doesn’t overwork her body, it is fine. If Abby wants to go to school, I think we should let her. I think it’s time she is given the chance to have a bit of a normal teenage life.”

“What about what just happened?” Mom said loudly as Dad walked in.

“Dad I-“ I said, trying to explain what we were talking about.

“Don’t worry, I heard.” He said with a soothing smile. “Emily, I agree with Dr. Harrison on this.”

“And as long as Abby is careful, we can prevent what happened today.” Dr. Harrison said confidently.

Mom kept glancing at him and then Dad. “Em…” Dad said as he smiled at her.

Finally she sighed. “Alright.”

“Wait… so I can go to school!” I said, about to jump out of bed.

“ONLY if you do EVERYTHING that I ask.” Mom smiled as she rubbed my arm.

“Thanks Mom!” I giggled as she leaned down and I hugged her tightly. Dad came over to my other side and kissed my forehead and then I hugged him tightly as well. The both rubbed each of my shoulders as I smiled as Dr. Harrison. “Thanks Doc.” I smiled and I felt my eyes get watery.

He quietly nodded. “I’ll escort myself out, Mr. and Mrs. Moore. See you later, Abby.”

“Yeah…” I said as I glanced out my window.

So much to see! But...

So little time…