The Grim~ The memorial of Jamie Anderson

The Library

As the clouds move forward revealing the blue skies, leaving peace as the warm last-days of summer breeze brushes the skin of my face. Birds chirp as they fly over to a small tree and sit on one of the branches. I've always wondered, if I were a bird, I wouldn't have to worry about school, homework, assignments and things, I worry about as a human. I would be a free creature, going around interacting with nature. Life would've been so much easier. ¨Lucille, would you mind repeating what I just said?¨ Mrs. Brown asks. I stand up in my seat. ¨Could you repeat what I just said?¨ She asks again but this time with a tone of intimidation. From her expression, I knew she wasn't asking me if I wanted to answer her question. My face feels warm and my cheeks turn red. I gulp, realizing I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Suddenly, the bell goes off. I let out a sigh of relief. ¨Okay, class remember to read chapters one to four in your novel! Have a great weekend, and I will see you on Monday.¨ I start to pack my things as fast as I can. I notice a silhouette of someone walking toward me. I look back up from packing my stuff- It's Mrs. Brown. ¨Lucille, what were you doing, while I was teaching the class?¨ Mrs. Brown asks while furrowing her eyebrows. I take a moment to think. ¨Um...Sorry, Mrs. Brown. I...uh..I got distracted.¨ I say while making an apologetic expression, still maintaining eye contact with her. ¨Hm. Well Lucille, I expect my students to pay all of their attention to me while I teach.¨ She says while pursing her lips. ¨I do not want this to happen again. Is that clear?¨ I nod. ¨Sorry, Mrs. Brown. That wouldn't happen again.¨ She walks to her front desk, as I finish up packing. ¨Don't forget to read chapters one to four from The Invisible¨ She says before I could leave. I nod swifting and run down the stairs of my school as I make my way to the school parking lot. I start the car and make my way to St. Barneys. The Library to pick a copy of The Invisible for class. I am a high school junior with a bunch of responsibilities. I live with my mom in Atlanta, Georgia. My dad is a very busy person. He travels a lot because of work, so much that I barely get to see him. I have insomnia and surviving High School with only one friend all the way from freshman year. My Middle School friends left me to be with the popular kids, and I am not like other kids. I don't like attention to be drawn towards me. When I was in Middle School, I thought High School would be cooler. I'd have so many friends. Not to mention, I have social anxiety. I wouldn't have to worry about school that much and live the best time of my life. Well, that turned out to be way different than what I expected it to be. I am very grateful that I have already finished two years, and now there are only two more to go. After that, I go to college, maybe then life would be easier.

I take a left, and I am here. I make my way inside of the library as the door slides open. I walk over to the Fantasy books' section and look for The Invisible. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it. I grab it and walk over to the counter to check it out. As I am walking, I notice on one of the tables, there is an old black journal. I ignore it once, but it grabs my attention, it feels like it's... calling out to me. I look around the store to notice if it belongs to someone, who is looking for it. I see a middle-aged lady, but she seems to enjoy looking for things in the fashion magasine area. I look back at the table. I finally let go of my thoughts and walk over to the table. ¨Someone must've forgotten it. I should leave it at the checkout counter.¨ I say to myself. I grab the journal and settle it down on the counter. After leaving the journal on the counter, I make my way to the self-checkout. Since, I don't see any employees working at this moment. I checked-out the book and put it in my bookbag.

I go back to where I parked my car and leave for home. As I drive, I can't stop thinking about that diary. I flashback to when I was at the library, I heard a deep voice. I assume it was a man's voice, maybe not too old. The voice called ¨Paterson¨. It was more like a whisper, but it kept repeating. When I said that I felt like it was calling out to me, my full name is Lucille Paterson. The moment I looked at the diary for the second time, I heard that voice. It didn't startle me but my mind kept drawing to it. Maybe I am just overthinking. I might'be having a moment of hallucination. It was just an ordinary old diary. Someone must've forgotten it there, before leaving the library. I shake my thoughts out of my exhausted, sleep-deprived mind and focus on the road.