I wrote this a few months ago. It was the first assignment on my first day of English 30. We were asked to draw three words from a fishbowl and write something using some form of those words. I drew 'swan,' 'saturate,' and 'lathe.' This is what i ended up with.
I was sitting in my usual spot by the lake, feeding the ducks and dwelling on how horrible my life is, when once again i heard the voices. No, I am not a schizophrenic, the voices were really there. "O my goodness, look at her! What happened to her face?" The young lovers on their afternoon strolls hurried by, angry that I should cast a shadow on their perfect lives.
You see, ever since I was horribly scarred in a lathe accident in my junior high shop class, my life has never been the same.
My friends always say to me, "You look fine! The scars have really faded, you can hardly see them!" but I know they are lying. They never look at me when they say that.
Its not the whispers and the stares that hurt the most. It is the fact that i know that i will never have a boyfriend, never get married, never be loved. No one wants damaged goods. I will always be alone, trapped in my own nightmare. At least the ducks don't judge me.
I sighed and stood up. Time to go home and eat a tub of ice cream. I was just about to turn and leave when something fell out of the sky and landed in the lake, creating an enormous splash and leaving me completely saturated!
I coughed and sputtered, and once i could breathe again, I looked to see what it was that had furthered dampened my day. A swan. The large white bird had righted itself and was swimming in circles in front of me mockingly.
"Thank you very much!" I said sarcastically to the swan.
"Is everyone all right?" came a male voice from behind me.
"It's just me here and I'm fine." I replied and quickly explained what had happened. I didn't turn around. I've frightened too many people and I wasn't in the mood to see another horrified face.
"That's a relief. I thought someone had fallen in."
"Nah, I wasn't in the mood for a swim."
The man behind me chuckled. We fell silent for a while, then he said, "You have a lovely voice, if you don't mind me saying."
I was suprised. That was the first compliment I had received in a very long time. "Thank you," was all I could say.
"You are quite welcome." he replied. His voice was so warm and pleasant. I could listen to it all day. "May I sit with you?"
If I was suprised before, I was now shocked. I did not know what to say.
He noticed my silence."Did I offend you? If you don't want me to stay, I'll understand." His voice was polite, but carried a trace of longing.
It would be so easy to tell him that I wasn't interested, or that I was spoken for and save us both a lot of awkwardness, but I just couldn't do it. I craved contact with another human being, but I didn't want to have to hide my face from him.
"It's not that. I would love to sit here with you. I just don't think it's a good idea." I hated myself for saying that. I hated running away.
"Oh? Why not?" He asked.
"Well, It's this..." I slowly turned around and faced him for the first time. He was a very attractive man, maybe a little older than me, with thick brown hair and a gentle face. He was staring thoughtfully over the lake.
"It's what?" He asked, never even looking my direction.
"It's me." I said. "You really don't want a girl like me."
"Why not? You seem pretty friendly, you obviously want companionship, and you have the lovliest voice I have ever heard." His gaze never left the water.
I was frustrated. Why wouldn't he look at me? Didn't his parents ever teach him to look a person in the eye when he spoke to them? I wanted to walk away but I couldn't bear leave the only person who actually wanted to spend time with me. He would look at me eventually and freak out, but until then, a few minutes of companionship would be really nice. I sat down on the bench and asked him to join me.
The attractive stranger reached into his pocket and pulled out something I didn't recognize. He unfolded it until it became a long, white cane. Tapping it back and forth in the lush, green grass, he easily found the bench and took a seat next to me.
Still staring far out across the lake, he asked "So, do you have a pretty name to go with that voice?"
I was speechless for a moment. When i found my voice I told him "I'm Kate."
"That is a lovely name, Kate. I'm Bryan."
"It's very nice to meet you, Bryan."
We sat together for a long time, enjoying each other's company. I felt more content then than I had in a long time. I mouthed a silent "Thank You" to the swan as it floated gracefully over the calm waters of the lake.
p.s. Is this considered a romance? I wasn't sure because the characters don't meet right away, and this is more about how Kate sees herself then her meeting someone. What do you think?
