INTRUDER

NOW

"I have noticed you have not been focusing in class lately, is that true?" Wanda asks me.
"Yeah, I guess I have just ben tired." This is a semi-lie. I am tired, but that's not the reason why I'm not focusing. The main reason is because of the thought that that man might still be out there looking for me, and that no one is doing anything. I am constantly looking around to see if anyone is there. I'm even to the point where I can't go to the bathroom because no one believes me that the man was there. I know he was there, I can still feel the pain when he hit me against the stall. 
"H-He hit me," I finally manage to say. 

 
"Who, sweetie?" She said grabbing my hand.


"The man, he is still out there."

 I grab her arm, tears streaming down my face.


"Claire, have you taken your medicine?" She asks nervously.


"In reality, no. I threw them away in the sink."


She gets up and shakes her head. She tells me how I need to be taking my pills. She exaggerates on the need, telling me that I really need to take the pills.
 I get up too and run towards the door.
"Wanda, I want to find out what happened! I want to find who did this to my family! Ok? I don't want to be taking pills that make me wonder if anything I really see is real! And I think it's enough already!" As I scream, I race out of he room and she catches up to me.


"Claire, I want you to be well. It's only a few days that you will need to take them, ok?"


"Fine." I lie.


We walk back to the office and she prescribes me the pills again. She then guides me to Susanne.
"We'll see you on Thursday. Have a nice day, Claire. Oh, and take care."
She then pats me on the back and proceeds to talk to Susanne in the back. I wonder what they are talking about.
I walk to the car and get in, then I smell something. Something very familiar.
It smells like food. I know this place because I was here 12 months ago. Before the intrusion, we used to go out and get something to eat. Well not all the time, we mostly went out to eat when Garred was late for work and when he wasn't around. It was better to not be eating with him after he... No. After he.. I can't say it. It's difficult for me to talk about him because he's dead now and it's sort of wrong to be talking about him this way. I should be talking about how he was a super nice dad and that he spoiled me with everything and that I was really sad when I saw him dead, but that's not the truth: the truth is that he was an abusive dad and that he didn't really care about anything and that Maggie had to do everything. She was working two jobs because Garred didn't do a thing and he wasn't helping at all, do you think that's fair. It's not, at least in my eyes. Sometimes we tell ourselves stories and lies to cover up the truth. It's just how our lives are. It's a part of surviving.
I finally snap back into reality and I realize the place is Albee's Ny Gyros and that Susanne knew that I liked that place. It was probably in my file that that was my favorite restaurant since I was maybe six. I slowly open the bag, smelling the delicious food and then I quickly grab my food. The deliciously juicy tomato clings on from the perfect tasting hamburger patty. Then there is the mouth- watering melted cheese... And last but not least: the angelic fried onions with their special sauce. This brings back memories of Maggie feeding it to me when I was 6, we would always order the same thing. So many memories flash across my face and then one of the sudden flashes is the knife slashing across hot light of the house and stabbing into my mom's stomach. I can see the blood oozing out as she tries to fight back, then I see the man look at me and (I see this in slow motion) the man coming towards me and pushing me down the stairs. I fall and slam my head on the floor... And that's all I remember until I woke up to look for Ellie. 
Susanne starts the car and I open my eyes. I notice that I have the cheeseburger in my hand. I start eating the delicious burger, and Susanne smiles all the way home. 
When we arrive, I thank her for the delicious lunch and walk inside to finish my fries. Johnny greets us inside and Ellie starts poking around at the food. I glance at her wrist, looking for anything unusual.... She was doing some things before.
"Claire, how did it go?" Asks Johnny, I guess he is trying to be polite. 
"Fine, I guess," I shrug and smile at him. 
Susanne starts talking to Johnny, so I leave to my room. 
While I'm in my room, I call Ellie over. I can tell something is wrong with her, she has some sort of trauma where she can't talk that much. She has become sort of just mute. I can sometimes here her constantly crying in the other bedroom and it just breaks my heart. So, in order to make her feel maybe a little happier: I tell stories to her. I make up the stories.
 Ellie comes over and sits on my lap and I begin:
"There once was two ducklings and a mom. They would always live happy together and nothing bad ever happened. Then, on one sunny day, the ducklings got lost from their mother. They couldn't find her anywhere and they looked all through town looking for her. Still, she was no where to be seen. They looked for her for days and days and they never found her. Finally, after months of looking for their mother, they realized that their mother was chasing behind them the whole time, the mother was trying to catch them. It turns out that the mother had thought her kids had escaped their house but in reality they had lost their mom; this goes to show that sometimes we don't really know what a person is going through or what they are doing, you always need to understand the person before judging or saying something to them," I smile at Ellie and she hugs me tightly. She doesn't say anything but I can tell that she wants to say "thank you." I feel really bad for Ellie, but I know she will get better and eventually move on, because that's a part of life: you have to move on and not live in the past. 
I hope Ellie understands that.