Short Stories

It was just the New Year’s Eve, and most of the school was there. With the exceptions of those, who loved family traditions.

Teenagers had littered the long castle’s hall. That castle we loved in Disneyland, was booked for tonight. For it was a special night indeed.

Ameilia, the host for tonight, had been preparing her special night months before. From the Lavender curtains that were drawn back, to the silent flickering of the candle lights. everything was perfect. Even her zodiac sign -Virgo- would have been proud of her.

Four hours. That’s how long Ameilia had to wait. In just four hours, she would have been crowned the ‘Birthday Queen’. Only after four hours, she would be the first to toast, and mark the beginning of the year. Like the way she had always done.

Another two hours passed, and Ameilia still hadn’t shown up. Hadn’t she gone back to change? Her presence held the utmost importance, for she was the host after all.

Hours turned down to minutes, but no sign of her. All the security had ran up and down, out and further ahead, but could Ameilia disappear into the crispy air? Minutes soon turned down to the last ten seconds of the year.

No-one could understand why she failed to turn up.

Just then, Amanda’s -Ameilia’s mother- phone rung. Not bothering to check the caller’s ID, she picked it up, thinking -wishing- it was Ameilia. But to her dismay, it had been Officer Warren.

‘I wish, I wasn’t the barrier of such tragic news’, he said. But the hesitation layered underneath the calm and controlled voice, was enough to throw Amanda on the ground. Clutching her phone so hard that her knuckles turned white, she tried scolding the Officer for such a hideous joke. But her shaky voice suggested otherwise.

Every word from his mouth, stabbed her heart harder and deeper than before. There was nothing to sugarcoat the venom on the blade, which shone like the last star in the endless sky. But Amanda had focused on four little words.

Four little words, with a huge impact.

Car.

Crash.

Drunk.

And the word she despised the most, Death.

That expensive mascara and the branded foundation, turned into disgust, something that was plastered on the by-stander’s faces. To them, the host ruined all her doll-face. To her, she ruined her husband’s last wish.

First her husband two years ago, and now her daughter. Didn’t the universe had enough of her surviving ever single pain inflicted on her?

So when everyone shouted of joy and excitement at midnight, Amanda screamed of agony and despair.

Pain, that mirrored the wound in her heart that couldn’t be fixed by any surgery. So maybe a physical assault on her body might dull the emotion. So moving her hand with all her energy, she found the knife near the cake.

Was it sharp? Yes.

Was it reliable? Yes.

Was it worth it? Oh, so very much.

Maybe, it was the fate of the Vitale family. Maybe they were cursed. but that day, the grass was bathing in blood, slightly swaying away to the hushed rhythm of the wind. Only in a different place, a different timeline.