Short Story Excerpt - Kylie's Reality

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I can’t say where each element of Kylie’s Reality came from or what inspired me to write this story. I do remember that Julia’s part of the story was inspired by a local urban legend in my WNY state hometown. Briefly, the legend involves a couple of 20-something men who pick up a hitchhiking coed. She asks them to drop her off just outside of a cemetery and, as she flees from their vehicle, she leaves her purse behind. Seeking to return the girl’s purse, the driver looks for her driver’s license and returns the purse to the address on the license. Upon knocking on the door, an elderly woman answers the door and claims the purse as belonging to her daughter who was killed in a hit and run accident on that very highway 25 years earlier.

Otherwise, I would have to say the rest of the story is entirely a figment of my imagination. I will say that Kylie’s part of the story was challenging to write. While I can usually throw myself into any character, I found it difficult to form the dialogue of a gay, black, teenage girl. I rewrote her journal entries several times before I ended up with prose that I could be happy with in completing the story.

Here’s a brief look into Kylie’s Reality:

     Halfway up to the fourteenth floor, the cabin lights flickered. It had been barely noticeable and happened only that one time, but, after all she’d seen lately, that little disturbance unnerved her just a bit. She tried to pay it little attention…until her senses peaked. The stoic stare at her reflection straight ahead was now the only shred of reality she had left to grasp. Chills ran up her spine and spread to every inch of her flesh, she shook with fear and confusion so intense that it almost drove her into a fugue, and she could already feel her bladder threatening to release its contents. All of this before her mind had even registered what her eyes were seeing. Just behind her reflection, she saw a second image; the image of a person.

     It was her.

     The same girl she’d seen last night. The same dark skin, the same dreadlocks, the same face…the same scars on that face and neck. It was definitely her.

     Julia wanted to turn. She wanted to either confront her or prove to herself that the girl wasn’t really there. She wasn’t sure which option would have been more relieving. Her mind fought her body’s resistance, turning in one quick motion. She’d hoped the spasmodic turn would have startled her visitor, but what Julia saw shocked her. The vision terrified her down to the deepest depths of her soul. She’d turned completely around -180 degrees- yet the reflections in the mirror told her that the girl still stood directly behind her. The worst part of it was how clearly the reflection appeared; this was no hallucination. She could see the anger in the girl’s eyes and she could feel her hot breath against the nape of her neck. It didn’t matter which direction she turned. That girl always stood behind her, like a guardian…or a stalker. Too frightened to carry through with the scream she felt building up in her throat, she swung around to face the doors. She looked unnervingly at the girl’s reflection, both anger and fear swelling up within; her fists were clenched so tightly that she could feel her fingernails digging into the soft flesh of her palms. “Leave me alone!”

     The bell chimed and the doors swung open. She found herself greeted with the befuddled stares of the secretary, her fellow paralegal, and the two lawyers that headed the office. Everyone in the office had heard the scream. There was no hiding her shame, either; she felt her face grow hot and her mirrored image told her she’d turned three shades of red. She walked onto the floor, carrying herself as professionally as the situation would allow, and smiled. “Bad break-up.” She quickly produced her cell phone. “Sorry.”

 

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