The Box

Chapter I

“So, The Olympics are starting soon huh”, "How are you feeling about that?”

“I don't really know, I'm excited but my mental health isn't as great as I need it to be.” “That's alright just let me know as it happens, and I'm terribly sorry to say that ends our time for today, Rachel”.”That's alright Mrs. Owenson I have things to do too .”She forced out a fake laugh. Rachel packed her stuff and began to walk out. She was stopped before she made it out. “Goodluck if you decide to participate”. Thanks Mrs. Owenson.” With that Rachel left the cold, gray and somewhat bland office. Its shudders collecting dust every second. The carpet that desperately needed a washing. She walked out to her car and got in but didn't start it. “Breath Rachel, everythings ok”. Tears begin to fill her eyes at the thought of her parents. “They'd want me to be happy”, she thought to herself. “So why am I still so upset, it happened years ago”.

Nine years ago 

Rachel arrived home from school to her very distraught father. “Rachel, sit down ok hun, I have some news.” She gives a confused and worried look but sits anyway. The sight of her father with tears in his eyes was a worrying sight. The way they slowly creeped down his gruff face and disappeared in his beard, but promptly became visible again at the end of his beard as they fell. “You…your mother…she.” He could barely finish his sentence without breaking up. “Your mother has overdosed on pain killers”. “She's gone Rachel.” Heavy tears began to fill her soft eyes. M-mom? Her father nods and begins to cry. She begins to cry and hug her father. Her father hugged her as tightly as he could without hurting her, desperately not wanting to lose her. The next few weeks were very difficult for her. Her grades dropped and everyday life was filled with thoughts of her mother. This was very upsetting for her each time she thought about it at such a young age. Her father was called eventually letting him know how she was doing academically. Her father pulled her aside after school and the two of them had another talk about her mother. They both ended up in tears once again but they had figured out a way to move on, even a little bit. Life went on for Rachel but she wasnt really living. The loss of her mother was too much so she shut down. She shoved people she cared about deeply, away. The only exception was her father who went into an extreme depression and seemed to be happy only when Rachel was around. She passed every class with ease. It seemed she had focused on her grades to avoid thoughts about her mother’s death. She ultimately passed highschool with flying colors but this unfortunately did nothing for her mood. Her feelings were shoved into running to avoid them if she wasn’t at school. She partook in running 5k’s wherever they were held as well. A few years later as she worked to find a house more disaster struck. She arrived home to her fathers lifeless body on the ground. A pool of blood crept across the floor. In his hand was a small nine millimeter pistol still smoking from the shot. His face was still wet with tears but it was now lifeless. She had just missed her fathers last moments. She shook and began to weep. She blamed herself for not being there soon enough. This sent her into a deep depression and she found a house for herself. She made no friends and simply worked and went home. She began to use antidepressants and always looked forward to the olympics.

Current Day

She did her best not to weep in her car as the thoughts of her past flooded her mind. With each memory passing in front of her eyes it became increasingly difficult to prevent this. She had to cry, so she did. After ten minutes of crying she wiped her make-up strewn face and went to the store to do some grocery shopping and maybe get some comfortable clothes. Maybe that could lighten her mood. She drove in silence for 30 minutes as where she lived most stores and places were spread across wide distances. She decided to turn on the radio but after hearing its poor selection of songs decided to sit alone with her thoughts to keep her company. She arrived about 45 minutes later at the nearest store. She was still silent as she shopped, her parents still a very vivid image in her mind. Almost as if it had all happened the day before. As she shopped she was approached by a woman and her kid. “Hey you're that athlete woman right?” She simply nodded politely. “Well? Aren't you gonna take a picture with my kid”? “I'm sorry, Rachel said, I’d rather not right now”. “Sorry’s not gonna cut it lady, either take a picture with my kid or i'll get you kicked out of those olympics you love so much”. Rachel knew this was impossible due to the time between each olympic game but as she was starting to feel stressed as the olympics were still very important to her. She gave up and took a picture with Karen's kid. “You know, you could smile better, just because you're some hotshot athlete doesn't mean you can deny my kids happiness”. Rachel was beginning to feel annoyed. Yet she just didn't want to deal with it so she put on the best smile she could muster and took another picture. The kid didn't seem like he wanted this picture either. A part of Rachel felt bad but the thought was immediately pushed away. She left after a few more of Karen’s remarks about her smile and her looks and went to check out. At the cash register she simply let the cashier do his job and she stayed silent as he rang her groceries up. She paid and left. As she got back to her car she sat down with an exasperated sigh. “Maybe I won't do it this year, '' she thought. “No, it's the one time of year I can get excited for”. With that she pulled away almost hitting another truck and drove to her home.