Eli was Anya’s one true love, but I was her soul mate.
Anya and I had been friends since third grade when our mother’s sat in the sun room to drink tea; Anya and I played Barbie’s in my playroom. We had almost everything in common. The two of us liked playing with dolls, drawing, reading, and watching scary movies. It was not until junior year of high school that I discovered we were destined for one another.
Anya was dating Eli Greene. He was tall, athletic, and outgoing like Anya. He was pretty much the perfect match for her. I admit I was jealous of Eli, but I had to support my best friend. Eli and Anya were in love, and even I could not get in their way. We were all sitting in the crowded lunch room at a dirty table with over cooked tattor tots. People were running around the school like monkeys in a zoo because the semi-formal was right around the corner. Anya was bringing Eli. I couldn’t find anyone. So, I made up a silly reason for not going.
“I’m going to a church dinner with my parents.” I rolled my eyes to make it seem more believable, “They can be so annoying sometimes.”
Anya tilted her head to the side, “Oh, really? When does it end? Eli has a few friends who still don’t have dates. Maybe they won’t mind showing up late.” She nudged Eli.
He sat up, a little startled at first, “Yeah, Nelly, I know two or three people who are looking for someone to go with.”
I shook my head, “No, there will be games afterwards. My mom wants me to start bonding with the kids at church.” My lie sounded really good to me. As the lies rang back into my ears, I began to believe myself. I suddenly transformed into a pathological liar, believing that there really was a church dinner that my mom was forcing me into. I could picture her alligator teeth and menacing eyes peering down at me saying, “I don’t care what type of dance is happening at school. You are coming with me to church.” If I could convince myself of the lie (and I knew it was false), then I would be able to fool Anya, right?
Not a chance. Anya sat with her back as stiff as a board staring across the table at me. It wasn’t a dirty look, or a sympathetic look, but a philosophical look. She was trying to figure me out. I could always tell.
Eli broke her stare, “Hey, you want to go up and get some-”
“Frozen yogurt?” Anya finished his sentence, “Sure. I’ll call you on Sunday mornings, Nell.” She stood up with Eli by her side, and I watched. I watched my best friend walk off with her other half.
Saturday night went nothing like my lie. The night was cold and windy, dark. A black blanket fell hard over the colonial houses, and the wind howled and blew the tree limbs into the empty street. The moon was obscured by the clouds, one little slither of moon did peek out from the top of the old oak tree near the Jones’ house. The town still had not fixed the broken street lights, it was like someone had flicked off the switch, and the only source of light was peeking through the cracks of the door.
That night, Mom did go to church, but to cry, not eat. Daddy was drinking again, and Mom had had enough. She asked if I wanted to come. I refused. It was bad enough I didn’t have a date to semi; I didn’t feel like listening to Reverend Cooper console my mom. It was always the same song and dance. Mom belittled everything about Daddy, and Reverend Cooper just nodded his head saying things like, “And how does that make you feel? How do you think it affects Nelly?” He’d look over at me for a response, and I’d say nothing because it didn’t affect me.
I sat in my dark bedroom. The only light was the blue glare from the T.V. The movie playing was Home Alone. I felt bad for Kevin, his family left him behind. I felt like my best friend left me behind. I slapped myself across the face for that thought. What type of friend was I, anyway? I needed to be happy for Anya, but the sense of loneliness engulfed within me.
A bottle broke down the hall when Kevin realized the people in the truck that almost ran him over were the robbers. I clicked the T.V. off, and slid under my covers. I wondered when mom was coming home, if she was coming home. She did that a lot, got a hotel room in town, and came back in the morning.
My alarm clock chimed 9:00 which meant the semi was half-way over. I tried to squeeze my eyelids shut to force myself to sleep. It seemed like the only way to pass the night.
A loud crash came from somewhere in the house. Something loud hit flat against the hardwood floor with a thud. It felt like it was in my room, but I just assumed it was Daddy stumbling around in the dark. I kept my eyes nailed shut.
“Nelly...Nelly...Nelly?” My eyes jolted open to the sound of my name. I saw the silhouette of a young girl inches from my face. The silhouette flicked on my bed lamp.
Anya stood over my bed looking down at me. “Nelly are you, alright? Your mom isn’t home, is she?” She was still wearing her princess pink dress with purple, gold, and silver Mardi Gras beads around her neck. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders and tickled my cheeks; her ocean blue eyes starred deep into my mind reading the night I was having.
I nodded my head.
Anya crawled into bed, beside me. She kissed my cheek, “I already asked my mom, I can stay over tonight. You won’t be alone.”
I lifted myself onto my elbows. She was beginning to confuse me, “What about the semi-formal?”
“Well, I already spent two hours with Eli tonight, and you need me.”
“I’m fine.”
“No you’re not. I could tell you were upset about not having a date to semi in the cafeteria, and I could sense you were sitting in your room depressed while I was getting ready for the dance. And do you know why?” She used her delicate fingers to lift up my chin, so I could look into her eyes. “Because you are my soul mate, yes, I love Eli, he is my one true love, but you and I know each other so well. We are soul mate.”
Anya told me I was her soul mate. And she was mine.
A soul mate does not have to be a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Or even someone you love in that sort of way. A soul mate is the ultimate best friend who knows you more than you know yourself and vise verse. I think every person has a soul mate; it’s whether you are a good enough friend to really show this person how much you care. Like Anya did for me.
A Scream, Scar and Miracle
by Alixandra Wilens
I felt a cool breeze come in and encase the room. My grandma took Sabrina, my three year-old Shih Tzu, right outside the waiting room in the veterinary office. Though many dogs are afraid of the vet, I was excited. It was just another reminder that I really had a dog, now. I really couldn’t have been happier.
The chairs felt a little hard, but I didn’t mind. Behind the chairs was a river of magazines that ended next to a giant scale. Bobbing up on the river were both stacks of business cards and bowls of dog biscuits. The dog biscuits smelled like liver and gravy mixed with something like mud, or worse. I’ve never really understood a dog’s eating habits. A stairwell scaled across the bright-yellow walls and near the one window closer to the ceiling. It was covered in black fabric. On the bottom was a mat of a white tiger. I wondered if it scared Sabrina. I figured they probably stored supplies on the second floor. It was so quiet that you could hear the scribbling of the pen the lady at the front desk was using.
You could also hear the flipping of pages from magazines.
The sunlight from the sun setting found its way through the glass of the door and window. It even hurt a tiny bit to look out. I saw my cute little dog. She seemed nervous and tense, but I thought nothing of it at the time. I should have. I wish I had. I could tell my grandma was getting frustrated with Sabrina. What happened next still haunts me to this day.
I had noticed how the leash, up my dog’s head until it was at her eyes, was pulling the collar. Suddenly, the collar had gotten over her head. Instead of a dog, there was only a collar. It was as if she had been carried away by the wind. It was official. My dog was on the run.
My grandma screamed, “ Noooooooooo!” Everyone jumped up. They saw what had happened. The cry was just audible through the glass of the door, but the sound seemed to pierce through my heart and the scar is still there.
* * *
Perhaps my mind went blank from the shock of it all, because all I remember is one second I was in the vet’s office, and the next, I was outside, screaming my dog’s name. I remember watching as everyone crowded to get through the doorway. In a flash we were all outside. I screamed until a head nurse told me that only made Sabrina even more scared. There were blurs of the purplish-blue uniforms of the nurses. They all flew through the sidewalk. Even my grandparents were on the chase. I could only see my grandma. I had no idea how far my grandfather had gotten. I heard the car horns honk their endless-seeming song. I breathed in fresh air, but it just seemed too sour to enjoy.
Sabrina was a blur. I knew I couldn’t run as fast as she could. I just stood at the front step of the office, helpless to someone I thought of as my furry sister. The only thing I could do was to make sure a nurse was still in the building to watch over my grandma’s pocketbook. I wanted to know that nobody would try to steal it while all of our backs were turned. At least it was something. I pinched myself, but this was no dream. It was a nightmare.
* * *
Sabrina tried to lose the nurses in the street. She dodged through gaps in cars. The horns just honked their engines out. I couldn’t go out to the streets, so I stayed there, watching, waiting for it all to end.
I could see it in my mind: the entire life I thought I would have with Sabrina was flying before my eyes. The little fluff-ball would watch me grow up, as I would do the same for her. Everyday, when I came home, I would arrive to her and we would be happy together. It all faded away, a memory never to be made.
Shortly, Sabrina made her way back to the sidewalk. The breath I didn’t even know I was holding was freed. I silently said good-bye when she turned a corner and I couldn’t see her anymore. I never thought I would see her again. I didn’t realize that some of the nurses had followed, along with my grandpa, who I still couldn’t find. My grandma was only a few yards ahead of me, standing, watching and waiting for a miracle, just like I was. All I wanted was just another everyday little miracle, and that was exactly what I got.
In the distance, I saw a woman coming towards me. I immediately knew she was a nurse from the purplish-blue outfit. That wasn’t the miracle. The miracle was the little white with a patch of dull-gold fur-ball curled up in the lady’s arms. I ran to my furry sister at full speed. I took her from the woman’s arms, ushered a quick thank you, and then I buried my face in Sabrina’s fur. It was very soft. I rubbed my cheek against her as we all walked inside. I couldn’t have been happier. The fluff ball didn’t seem to think anything of it, but the rest of the room was packed to the brim with celebration and relief. Relief that there were still memories to be made, still greetings of wet licks on the nose, still able to be there for each other and I still had a furry sister.