“Happy birthday to you!”
A woman entered the room, carrying a big cake inside. The little girl at the top of the table smiled.
“Happy birthday to you!”
The woman slowly moved towards the table, where her daughter was sitting. As her mother places the cake on the table, the little girl smiles.
Maybe she was just nervous because of the unusually high amount of attention that she got, but she was most likely smiling about the icing on the cake.
“Happy Birthday, dear Evelyn!”
The icing on the cake was an image of her favourite cartoon character: Rainbow Dash. The drawn Pegasus was Evelyn her biggest role-model: tough, high self-esteem and a pure representation of awesomeness. RD was everything that Evelyn wasn’t or could be.
Evelyn prepared for her moment supreme of the day: blowing out the 12 candles on the cake. Evelyn felt that she was short-winded because of excitement and nerves. She inhaled as much air as she possibly could. She tried to ignore everyone.
“Happy Birthday to you!”
She closed her eyes and blew as hard as she possibly could. Over the course of 2 seconds everybody watched, wondering if she would be able to extinguish every candle.
Evelyn her lungs were hurting when the last breeze of air escaped her lungs. The room filled with the sound of applause. Evelyn opened her eyes. 12 Smoldering candles filled the room with the fragrance of smoke. The birthday girl smiled uncomfortably , glad the weight on her shoulder had been lifted.
During the applause somebody asked Evelyn what she wished for. Evelyn hesitated for a moment. Evelyn thought that it would be a little childish to tell everybody that she wanted to meet somebody who is used as frosted cake illustration.
Another voice interrupted her thoughts: “Don’t tell, don’t tell! Otherwise it will never come true!”
She had wished for something impossible, she knew it was not going to happen, but “That is what wishes are for” her mom once said. And besides, nobody would ever know what she wished for.
~~~
Everybody finished their piece of cake, the kitchen was a mess and Evelyn’s mother had gotten a headache during the day, so she had sent all the children outside to play. The lady heard a faint scream from the forest, nothing special on a birthday party, but “you can never be too sure” she thought. She reassured herself that everything was fine while she looked outside.
She is already 12 and so are some of her friends, they probably know what’s save and what’s not. I’m sure she knows her own limits by now, I mean, she had had these conditions for her entire life. And there are always other people in the woods, like that retired couple from down the street. Everything will be fine.
The children were playing tag. Although it can become dangerous in the heat of action, it’s a generally safe and harmless game.
As the game progressed, the players inevitably became more fanatic and fierce. The taggers became consistently more aggressive and Evelyn grew ever so tired: Her legs felt heavier with every step she took, the soles of her feet felt battered & swollen and sweat dripped from her forehead.
A faint scream could be heard in the distance, Evelyn forced herself to focus. The wind shook the shrubberies around her and offered a welcome breeze through Evelyn her blonde hair. Seconds passed, nothing happened.
Evelyn noticed the rhythmic cracking of twigs and leaves coming from her left. Before she knew it her tired legs had to carry her as fast as possible. A boy had emerged from the forest and had set his sights on tagging the exhausted girl. She scanned her surroundings whilst running, there was nothing see could use to her advantage. Her tired legs signaled that she would last that much longer against her hunter, so she decided to slow down, allowing him to catch up.
“giving up already?” he teased her. “Well your tagged!” he said as he ran off again. Evelyn paused for a minute, she was to fatigued. She closed her eyes and tried to hear if anybody was around her. She was breathing heavily, so she first focused on calming down her breath. Then she closed her eyes again and listened. Birds were singing, the wind rattled the leaves and she could hear children laughing everywhere.
“Come on, are you too tried to tag somebody?” A voice mockingly shouted towards Evelyn. “I bet you can’t catch me!” Though Evelyn wasn’t the type who would accept every challenge she faced, she still accelerated as fast as she could towards the voice.
Branches and leaves slapped her as she ran through them while she tried to hunt down her prey. The thrill of the hunt was thriving her forward, one step at a time. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins , her heart started to pump even faster than before and her lungs demanded more oxygen. This is where it usually takes a turn for the worst. Evelyn started to breath uncontrollably. Her sight became blurred and her lungs felt like they were stabbed by a hundred daggers. She felt the sudden drop of sugar and oxygen in her blood. Her limbs started to feel like strange, alien attachments, her head became too heavy to bear. Evelyn her body gave up, like a corpse she fell down. Not conscious about what just happened, she rolled further through the leaves, aboveground roots and the occasional rock that the forest held. Her momentum decreased until she finally stopped.
The birds were still singing, the wind still sang it’s beautiful song through the forest and the children were still laughing, unaware of the situation. The sky was blue and the clouds were peacefully floating around. The leaves around Evelyn her head colored red. A faint scream for help could be heard in the distance.
~~~
Nothing, no song from the birds, nor from the wind whistling between the trees. Absolute silence and pure darkness.
Evelyn was conscious, grasping for breath. She tried to scream for help, but couldn’t. She tried to lift herself of the ground, but she failed; her limbs were numb.
The unsettling nothingness captivated her.
She felt like she was being watched, as if the darkness surrounding her was alive. Evelyn felt chills down her spine, the touch of the void caressing her skin, no man’s eyes burning on her back.
Sweat tried to break out, but couldn’t. She saw a faint silhouette of… something, or at least, she thought she did.
The weight of car on her body, the indescribable pain that assaulted her being. The distance figure seemed to come closer, or Evelyn came closer to it. It’s stare was gazing right into her soul. She was forced to stare back it, at nothing. She felt the cold grip of evil wrapping around her.
It was a soft, gentle voice that loosened the grip. It spoke words that she couldn't understand, but the words reassured her. A second voice kicked in – it sounded much rougher– and strengthened the force that was setting her free. The words slowly freed her from the dark force, like she was being submerged in a warm bath of compassion and safety.
The darkness was slowly beginning to withdraw, and bright light was taking its place. Evelyn’s eyes were hurting, but because of the good kind of pain. The pain you feel after digging within yourself, the pain you feel because you held on. The voices raised in volume, the light consumed her.