Athazagoraphobia

Forgotten: Ethel Anderson

The sun made its routine journey slower than usual, lingering in the sky at various locations chosen at whim, and thus the atmosphere in many cities that day was hot and humid, only made bearable by the gentle wind that came scarcely, but still managed to elicit sighs of relief from everyone upon its arrival. Citizens of Alexandria, Virginia were used to such climate and so they walked to and fro, from their jobs to their schools to their welcoming home, living their normal lives.

School was about to end its year long journey and the atmosphere was filled with elated laughter, good-humored teasing, and cheery smiles. Students, of all ages, from young children to adolescents, were generally excited to end the school year on a good note and were anxious to move on to the more exciting part of the year - summer vacation.

It was expected for these kids to look forward to the two months of relaxation and fun after a year filled with hard work and many of them had brilliant plans for the summer. Nothing could have drained their energy and no life on earth could have taken their joy away from them. However as the school bell rang, signaling the end of the period and the school year, and as the swarm of students ran home, to pack for their vacation and to dream of their future, not one person on the ground noticed the black clouds inching towards them, ready to destroy happiness and life itself.

Ethel, a girl of twelve years, with an exceptionally bright smile and an affable nature, ran on the sidewalks, dogging the other pedestrians, eliciting both smiles and groans from them, and with a burst of energy, which only a young child unharmed by worldly problems could possess, jumped on the black, wrought iron gate that separated her house from the street.

She ran up the cobblestone walkway, ducking when the drooping branches, covered with vibrant green leaves, came in her path, and, without losing any of her energy, climbed the front steps, two at a time, and jumped onto the white porch.

To an outsider, she would seem as an overexcited child, who had one foot in the realm of childhood and the other in adolescence, but when one entered her thoughts, they knew that her mind was brimming with ideas and questions, which were neither black nor white, that were grey in nature.

Ethel was eager to prove Julian Tedder, a young boy of her age, wrong and was desperate to show the world that, despite her changing body, she still possessed vigorous energy that was untamable.

The bounce in her step and the smile on her face were not a false illusion created to deceive others, but was rather an exaggeration of the truth. She was happy with her life and seemed to have a bright future, but she wanted something better, something more. Such was the plight of the young and the carefree; they always wanted more than what they already possessed and had an insatiable appetite for new things.

Taking off her necklace, one that she always wore and kept close to her heart, Ethel unlocked the door with the key.

"I'm home," she said, in a loud, boisterous voice, not losing her dazzling smile, but her infectious happiness dimmed and faltered when no one responded.

Her house was as silent as it had been when she left for school in the morning. The walls were blank, white, and freshly painted as if to hide scars and tears. The smell of the paint tickled her nose, Ethel made a face, and walked into her living room.

"Mom," she said, half whispering, half shouting, only a noise away from crumbling to the ground. No middle-aged woman responded back, but her mother's melodious voice still rung in her mind. Ethel could still hear her mother in the back of her mind, as if she was there in the same room as her, but it grew faint, like a whisper, only taunting her mind.

The empty walls, the plastic on top of the sofas and the chairs, the rug less floor, and the silence terrified her and a single tear fell from her brown eyes. Her pink, flowery, backpack fell to the ground with a thud and that one minuscule sound, which wouldn't have been heard if her house was filled with her family, bounced on the walls and entered her heart.