6. Young Fate (part 1)
Serene
Kimberley cursed at her phone. Surely she wasn't doing anything important enough to not pick up her calls. Once again the call was sent to voicemail. She was just about to pocket it when she saw it ringing with Anime's caller ID.
"Um, hello!" Kimberley answered in an annoyed voice. "I've been trying to call you for like, a hundred decades!"
"I'm sorry," replied the meek mouse. "I was out riding with Murry and--"
Kim rolled her eyes. "Ann, when. Are. You gonna. Stop. Wasting your time. With. The little leagues?"
"Little leagues? Who? Murry? But he's so sweet, Kimberley, and a huge gentleman. The other guys act so stupid and pervy!"
"And he's also some nerdy math-lete!" Kimberley shook her head at the girl. Did this chick not know how to spot quality goods? Such low standards. "Dump him and date Connie. He has the hots for you and he's worth your time."
"But, I don't like him."
Kim stopped in her tracks. "So you would pick a nerd, before a jock? Don't kid me, Anime! These are the things that you use to build up your status. You'll get nowhere being with him. All he'll do is just bring you down and in the end he'll leave you with nothing."
A soft sigh could be heard on the other side of the line.
"Okay," Anime mumbled.
"Sorry darling, but that's just how the world works!"
Kimberley was not too preoccupied on the phone to realise someone had emerged from the trees in front of her. The strong rays of sunlight shined down on a girl in a white dress decorated with blue flowers, as well as blue cutesy pumps that covered her feet. Her hair seemed dark brown, almost black, and was tied with a single blue ribbon into a ponytail. The young girl lifted her head and Kimberley saw bright blue eyes and slightly bushy yet styled eyebrows.
"Anime, I'll call you back in time to help you get dressed for the dance."
"Huh? But Kim--"
She hung up on Anime before she could utter another word, then took in the sight of the girl.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Kimberley asked. "Where are your parents?"
Instead of answering the girl did something else; she took out a little notebook out of nowhere and begun to write on it with a pencil. Kimberley rolled her eyes.
"Hello kid, I'm talking to you!"
After a few seconds the girl ripped off the page and handed it to her. Kim snatched the paper away and read it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
You ask about my parents, but where are yours?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Seriously kid, you could've just said that."
She crippled the note and threw it over her shoulders. "And, secondly, I am an adult. I don't need parents to hover over me like you do."
The girl just smirked and simply wrote on the notebook at a much faster pace. Kim read the second note, but not without glaring at the child.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Well, that explains a lot about you. The girls of this world are really silly. I sure hope I don't look or act like you when I grow older. You seem like the kind of person they would call a bitch.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Her face was captured by a speechless expression, then she quickly recovered and the young girl received another death glare.
"Well, excuse me, Madam Blue, but I rather be a bitch than the girl that's about to be some guy's trash toy. And to think that I was trying to save you from that. Humph!"
Kim threw that one into the bushes and continued to walk down the deserted road. That was supposed to be it for her. But, sadly, no matter how far she walked, the girl managed to keep moving a couple steps ahead of her, all the time walking backwards. Kimberley groaned in frustration.
"Kid, for the last time, go find your parents!"
A piece of paper replied to her.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
You'll need them more than me.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The younger girl ignored her and proceeded again to write in the notebook. For a time, Kimberley felt the once warm afternoon breeze strengthen and grew cold.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
What's in the bag?
She frowned at the sudden question but answered anyway. "A red ball dress. Why?"
The young girl smiled, writing and handing Kimberley the piece of paper...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Perfect.
...that happened to be the last thing she saw that day.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
'Okay. So I've done the floors, the windows, made the beds, took care of the dust bunnies, cleaned the silverware, what else? Oh yeah, the table cloth!'
When she finished everything, Serene took a step back and looked at the place. Everything was set.
The red curtains were drawn and Christmas decorations littered the house. The jingle bells and red ribbon were attached to a plastic green vine that winded its bushy way along every wall. The floor was spotless. Decorative plates and cups were set out on the table and the food was sealed away, waiting to be served and heated up later.
Everything seemed to be in order. Serene sighed after a long day's work, relieved that Jenifer was far too proud to have outside decorated with Christmas cheers.
Oh well, her loss.
And less work for Serene.
The clock over the piano read 7:30pm. Seeing as she had free time, she removed her apron, grabbed her jacket, locked the front door behind her and strolled down the road.
Most of her neighbors were out and the children ran around in the grass. Their town didn't receive a lot of snow, but with a child's imagination there were tons of it. Even Hilda was out on the grass creating make-believe snow angels with her grandchildren. Serene waved at her and she waved back.
While during so, Serene unintentionally caught bits of a conversation between two teenage girls as they walked by.
"...Caramel told me when the setup..."
"...he'll notice we've left for the Vampire Mascarade Christmas party? The queen will look so gor..."
Serene gazed at them as they walked on, talking and laughing, before shoving her cold hands into her pockets and turning around.
They had to have been chatting about the mascarade party tonight, but where did the "dressing up as a vampire" part come in? That wasn't on the poster last time she checked.
Sigh.
Donya will have to confront Lance all alone tonight.
'I know Mom wouldn't want me here, so why do I stay?'
'It's not like I have much of a family to hold on to, they all left.'
But Serene never understood why.
Minutes later she was back at her starting point. The dog on the other side of the street barked at some unknown pedestrian. Her body relaxed as she sat down on the three foot wall in front of her gate, the same wall that held dirt, weeds and ferns. There she remained in silence, gazing out into the street and trying not to think too much. Something that she can never seem to do.
So there she was, gazing up at the stars every few minutes. Someone tapped on her shoulder and she jumped but the adrenaline cooled down when she saw that it was a girl of probably ten or eight years old. The young girl smiled at her, carrying a notebook, pencil, and a small package.
"Hey there," Serene greeted, brushing a wavy dark lock of hair out of her face. "What's up with you?"
The young girl, still smiling, shook her head causing her ponytail to bounce joyously. She took a seat beside Serene and together the two of them stared into nothingness.