Laura

• Rasa Islam, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2014

Adrien was just a usual teenage boy.
As is the notorious trademark of his age, tonight he thought to do something adventurous alone. And so there was the good boy Adrien saying ‘good night’ to his parents locking the door and moving in to his bed.But instead of himself he placed his pillows to form his silhouette. ‘God must have made me on a Saturday,with all the looks and brains!’,Adrien thought and chuckled at his marvel.And then Adrien sneaked his way out of the house without much trouble.
And there Adrien was.Wearing his khaki shorts and soccer jersey,with earphones bringing his most favourite melodies to his ears.In this town of Penguin on such a summer night filled with stars and a soothing breeze that made his ginger hair brush against his forehead,Adrien felt liked the king of the world.Nothing remained alive at 12 pm at night except for the full moon and the stillness.But it was not scary to him,infact the bouts of adrenaline in his blood helped him get the perfect mood for this adventure.
As Adrien was walking down the road with the view of a dark sea in the horizon,he saw something.’Hmmm,strange enough’,he murmured with immense curiosity.It took him a few more steps to confirm his sight of a girl,sitting on the bench beside the road.All alone.Her white chiffon dress played with the wind,so did her hair.Adrien stopped at a distance from the bench and called out,
‘Excuse me?’
She turned.Her blonde hair brushed against her eyes and her rosy cheeks.Her eyes were twinkling in the moonlight .Her face was innocent and sweet-her smile refreshing.She was glittering in the moonlight like silver.Adrien thought it was the greek goddess Aphrodite in front of him.He could not help smiling.Immediately his adrenaline gave place to a rush of testosterone.But he controlled.’Not so soon’ said the boy to himself.
After a moment of silence Adrien composed himself back.
‘Hey,I am Adrien….mmmmm…What are you doing here,if you don’t mind me asking?’
She did not answer.She just looked at the moon, as if with hope and faith.
‘Whats your name?’ Adrien asked ,raising his volume.
She looked at him again and gave a smile.Adrien felt being swayed into another micro cosmic world.He remembered how John Dalton had described one.
‘Laura’ the girl,hardly 14,answered in a melodious voice.
‘So Laura, what are you doing here at this hour?’
‘Why? Searching for freedom.’
‘Pardon me,searching for what?’
She did not reply.
‘Anyways,I study at McKenzie College.Grade 11.Its a cool college you see.what do you study?
She smiled again but this time had an answer,just a word,’Freedom’
‘Looks like you want a career in human rights sector.You know all those NGOs and stuffs.I bet you will be one pretty activist.I want to……’
And he continued to talk.Adrien felt a weird connection between them.The aura was romantic,and here was a teen age couple.What else was expected?

Suddenly Laura stood up and started walking,gesturing Adrien to follow as well.

They walked and talked.Adrien looked at this beauty by his side,his lady in white.Her smile,her contour,her eyes,her hair-everything had a fragrance of life, innocence and beauty.Her image of Aphrodite strengthened when she walked-graciously and lady like.All in all, she was impressive.

Suddenly Adrien stumbled over something.he looked down at what it was.Surely this was Adrien’s biggest mistake in life.
Below him lay a girl on this end of the lane,bleeding badly from her abdomen from where a knife stood protruding.As Adrien quickly moved away from the girl in shock and tremor,the moon light radiated the girl’s face and body,making it look very similar to someone.
There was Laura.Her white dress became red of blood,her hair brushing the roads,her eyes looking lifelessly at an angle,possibly at her murderer.Adrien stood startled,his limbs quivering and his heart frozen.
‘LLLLL…AAURA? ‘
He looked up beside him,away from the lifeless corpse beneath him.And there stood Laura,with the heavenly smile.Adrien was petrified.He screamed at this lonesome lane,of course in vain.He closed his eyes and rubbed them hard.He opened them.He did not know what he was watching.What he saw was the same bloody dead body in front of him.But there was no other Laura-the one with whom he had walked and talked for the last half an hour,with whom he sew the threads of romance.No one.Nothing

‘LLLLL…AAAAUUUUURRA?’ He yelled out again with blood shot eyes and trembling limbs.
There was no Laura.No one.Nothing.Only a bloody corpse, ,the moon , the silence and Adrien.