Trails of Secrets

1. The Girl with Red Hair

Nineteen blue and twenty-three red cars have driven by the library in the past hour. That woman is still staring at the ice-cream stand. Toss the salad, lady; get the ice-cream. Good grief, where is that child's mother? 

These were the random thoughts of Annalise Guthrie. 

Though it may not seem like it, she was hard at work on her very first book. So far, she had written four hundred and ninety-two words. The reason why she knew this, was because she had counted all the words three times. 

Yes, she was getting much work done. 

Annalise snapped her laptop shut. This is pointless. The sound of the laptop abruptly closing resulted in a cold, harsh stare from the librarian. 

She needs some nice, cold ice-cream. Can't she hear the children in the library screaming? Can't she see them running around the tables, throwing books at people, and dancing on the ceiling? But no, she is distressed with me. Just smile, Annalise. Smile...

Annalise smiled, inwardly rolled her eyes, and packed up her stuff. As she excited the library, her eyes wandered over to the ice-cream stand. 

"Hello, Steve," Annalise greeted the man who ran the ice-cream stand. 

He gave her a cheerful smile. "Hello, Annalise. How did the writing go today?"

"Sixty-two more words than yesterday."

"Sounds like you are improving." Steve served Annalise her usual two scoops of chocolate ice-cream and waved to her good-bye as she walked away. 

She didn't live far from the library, so she walked. Besides, she loved to take her time and watch people as they lived their daily lives. Watching people also inspired her. One can never truly know what a person's story is just by looking at them. Everyone has a story waiting to be told. 

She saw a man holding a briefcase as he walked very quickly to some important place. Two teenage girls were sitting on a bench and laughing about something on their phones. A mother and her two children were walking to the park. A little boy was carefully dodging all the cracks in the sidewalk. 

She looked down at her feet and saw that she had been doing the same thing as the little boy without realizing it. Must be a habit. 

Soon, the middle of town turned into neighborhoods, which turned into her street. She strolled through her neighborhood and smiled at all the children she saw playing in their yards. 

Annalise remembered what it was like to be that age. Everyone got along with everyone. Didn't matter who you were or what you were like; you could always pretend to be something else when you were playing. 

She finished her ice-cream cone and licked her fingers clean. Then she stopped in front of her small house. 

Annalise hadn't lived there long. She was fresh out of college, and decided to follow her dream of becoming an author. So here she was. In a small town, with new things and new people all around her. She was here for inspiration. She just needed to look in the right places. 

Annalise sighed as she looked at her house. It needed some major work done. 

She climbed up the unnecessary steps that were built into the ground leading to the door and unlocked her house. Annalise walked inside, and as she always did, stopped in front of the hallway mirror to observe herself. 

She started at her feet. One sock was pink; the other was brown. There was a small hole in her jeans right where the knee was. Nothing was wrong with her shirt, except for the fact that she didn't like it. And on the tip of her nose was a chocolate ice-cream stain. Annalise scrunched up her nose, and frustrated, she rubbed it off with the back of her hand. How many people had seen her like this? She shrugged it off and finished her observation. The last thing left was her hair.

Annalise quickly undid her messy bun without a second thought and walked away as her long red hair fell against her back.