All I ever wanted was to be normal. I wanted to have friends and family who loved me and to be known as Lauren instead of the weird girl who doesn’t talk. People think I can’t talk, but in fact I am quite capable. It’s just that when someone talks to me I get shy and can’t think of the right words to put together. The whole process of putting certain words in certain places is confusing to me. The first and only time I have ever talked was in kindergarten four years ago. A little dark haired boy asked me what my favorite color was. In my head I thought “my favorite color is purple” but when I tried to speak it, it sounded like “Favorite my color purple is”. The boy gave me a weird look and walked away. I know it sounds retarded and all, but I was really crushed and from that moment on I decided that silence was far better than humiliation.
Speech wasn’t my only problem. My appearance made me stand out when all I really wanted was to blend. First off, I am shorter than most kids in my class and weigh half the amount they weigh. I don’t look bony, just really small. The doctor says my bones are hollow which worries my mother to death. The doctor says that this is not normal and it’s a wonder I am still alive. Second, I have really long hair and bags under my eyes. For some odd reason my hair wont stay short. Mother is constantly trying to cut it, but to her astonishment, it grows back the very next day. One time, she got so aggravated, she shaved it all off with the hope of it not growing back so quickly. To her dismay, it was well below my shoulders the very next day.
The bags under my eyes are from lack of sleep. I have not had any decent rest since I was four. In fact, I was normal until I was about that age. I remember that day clearly as though it was yesterday. Dad came home early with a birthday present. It was a small lavender stone strung around a small silver chain. It was my most prized possession. I remember staring at the stone carefully as if mesmerized by the swirls that seemed to spiral downward. I remember distinctly letting my dad fasten it around my neck and saying “It looks beautiful on you”. I gave him a quick hug then ran to the backyard where all my friends were playing. “Let’s go swimming!” screamed my cousin Danny as he ripped his shirt off and did a cannonball into the pool. Everyone seemed to like the idea, so in no time we all ran inside to change.
As I finished changing in my upstairs bedroom, I noticed I still had my necklace on. Getting it wet and ruining it in any way was the last thing I wanted. As I felt for the back fastening, it felt as though the metal fused together. There seemed no way to undo it. I looked again in the mirror and surely it was large enough to slip over my small head. As I lifted it, it seemed to shrink and I barely got it over my nose. Now I was kind of frustrated. Asking my mom in front of my friends was definitely not an option. If you needed your moms help in taking off a necklace at my age, then you really were stupid.
I reached for a pair of scissors on my coloring desk. The chain was definitely thin enough to cut off with scissors, but no matter how hard I tried to cut it off, It wouldn’t even scratch. So feeling defeated I wore it in the pool and decided to ask my mom to take it off once my friends had all gone home.
As I ran down stairs I caught my dad just as he was walking out the door. I pointed at the pool and then at the necklace trying to ask if it could get damaged from the water. He turned around and kneeled. “Water will not damage it, and nor will anything else. It is a fine stone indeed and you must promise that no matter what happens you will take good care of it.” I looked at him confused and nodded. “Good” he said looking down. Now it seemed as though he was crying. I was really confused. Had I done something wrong? He seemed to sense my confusion and ruffled my hair with a fake smile. “Bye Lauren. I’ll be back soon” He turned and walked out the door but suddenly came back in and turned to me “Just remember Lauren, it is a blessing, not a curse”With that, he was gone and I had never seen him since.
As if that wasn’t weird, that night was even weirder. I was starting to doze off when I felt a sudden surge of pain throughout my body. The pain was unbearable and it made me squirm all over knocking the sheets off my bed. The room was spinning and there was a loud ringing in my ears. I was feeling dizzy as things started to grow larger all around me. I felt like I was shrinking but yet growing at the same time. After what seemed like hours of pain I opened my eyes that were squeezed shut. The room had definitely grown bigger. I looked around. My pillow was about as big as the dining room table and my bed was the size of the backyard. I reached up towards my face but to my surprise, my small pale arms were black and feathery. At the thought of this, I completely freaked out. I screamed and flapped my wings praying to wake up from this nightmare. But I never did until morning.
From that night on, the same thing happened every night. But eventually the pain stopped and turned to an uncomfortable stomach sinking feeling. It was also the start of my uncontrollable hair growth, shrinking hollow bones, which eventually allowed me to fly and the bags from lack of sleep.
I always remember my father’s last words to me “It is a blessing, not a curse”. But it has been nothing but an omen to me. It was nothing more than a friend loser, nightmare bringer, mom freaker outer and life waster. Throughout the years it has brought me nothing but pain, loneliness and aggravation. But little did I know what the true purpose of the necklace was and what is had in store for me.
