a short story starring addie
...by Ariel Gross
Once upon a time there was a girl named Addie. She was driving her little car through a little wooded area in a little state in the US. She was listening to music, singing along, and bobbing her head in time. She was wearing a pink scarf, a light blue puffy jacket, and had her blonde hair made into pigtails. She was absolutely adorable. If there had been anybody nearby, and they had laid their eyes upon her, they would have been unable to suppress their own smiles. But nobody was nearby.
The road turned to dirt. Addie’s eyebrows crinkled in. She didn’t remember there being a dirt road here. “Must be construction,” she rationalized out loud. But why would there be construction on a little shortcut through the woods? She kept driving. It was starting to get dark out, and she didn’t want to spend the night in another hotel. She wanted to be home, cuddled in her puffy little covers on her comfy little bed. So she kept driving, and the night fell above her, and the road continued to be dirt.
Suddenly there was a crash of thunder, and rain started pouring all around her. Addie turned her music down a little bit so that she could focus on driving. The rain came harder and harder, until Addie was forced to drive at a crawl. She turned on her high beams and pushed onward into the rain, but eventually the rain was coming down so hard that she couldn’t see anything through her windshield. Addie’s little car rolled to a stop on the side of what she imagined was a dirt road in a little wooded shortcut.
As she began to roll down her windows, water began to blast into the car. She quickly rolled it back up. She was starting to panic. The water was shooting in as if she was underwater. Had she crashed into a lake and not realized it? Was this some kind of flood? Addie’s mind raced, when suddenly the car lurched forward without her even pressing on the gas pedal. She slammed her foot onto the brake pedal, but the car continued forward. She could feel the momentum, gravity pushing her gently into her seat as the car steadily accelerated. She reached for the steering wheel and pulled to the right, but it would not move.
Then, the rain cleared, and Addie looked through her windshield and saw nothing but gentle hues of blue and black. She decided to try the windows again, but water began blasting through the crack as soon as the window had barely been moved. She quickly rolled it back up. She couldn’t tell now if she was moving at all. Maybe she was dropping. She felt weightless.
Then she blinked, and there was no car. Just like that, nothing, no car, just Addie, floating in space, infinite blackness. Was this the abyss? Addie blinked as she hung there in space, suspended, feet touching nothing but without the sensation of falling. Then in the distance, a speck of light moving towards her from so far away that she doubted that she even saw it. But it was there, and it was getting bigger. Was it approaching?
It was. Addie squinted and looked out into the dark at the speck of light headed towards her. It was shaped like a person, she thought. It was moving very slowly. As it came closer, it became clear that it was a person. She wanted to call out to it, but she didn’t. There was no sound, absolute silence, and she noticed the silence at this moment. She closed her eyes, listened hard, heard nothing.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a face. It was smiling at her. She no longer had any concept of distance, and the face was at the same time right in front of her eyes and yet very far away. Then she felt like she was spinning, but the face was still in front of her. Was the face spinning her around? She closed her eyes, but she could still see the face. She recognized it. It was smiling at her, and she smiled back with her heart. She felt arms fold around her in a big hug, still spinning in space. She felt a cheek against hers, then lips kissing her cheek. She smiled and spun, and suddenly there was sound again.
The rustling of wind through the trees and voices singing and waterfalls and birds chirping… She was looking into his eyes, still spinning, all she could see was the eyes, and the feeling of kisses on her lips and the sound of rain and feeling of warmth and love embracing her. She was being held tight against him, she could feel fingers running through her hair, and she felt safe.
Then she woke up, cuddled up in her puffy covers on her cozy little bed, and lying on the pillow in front of her was the sleeping face of the love of her life, and she remembered the face in her dream. It was his face, and his eyes parted slightly to see her looking at him. He smiled, pulled his hand up to her cheek, leaned forward and kissed her in a sleepy daze. She kissed him back and drifted back to sleep.
The end.
Once upon a time there was a girl named Addie. She was driving her little car through a little wooded area in a little state in the US. She was listening to music, singing along, and bobbing her head in time. She was wearing a pink scarf, a light blue puffy jacket, and had her blonde hair made into pigtails. She was absolutely adorable. If there had been anybody nearby, and they had laid their eyes upon her, they would have been unable to suppress their own smiles. But nobody was nearby.
The road turned to dirt. Addie’s eyebrows crinkled in. She didn’t remember there being a dirt road here. “Must be construction,” she rationalized out loud. But why would there be construction on a little shortcut through the woods? She kept driving. It was starting to get dark out, and she didn’t want to spend the night in another hotel. She wanted to be home, cuddled in her puffy little covers on her comfy little bed. So she kept driving, and the night fell above her, and the road continued to be dirt.
Suddenly there was a crash of thunder, and rain started pouring all around her. Addie turned her music down a little bit so that she could focus on driving. The rain came harder and harder, until Addie was forced to drive at a crawl. She turned on her high beams and pushed onward into the rain, but eventually the rain was coming down so hard that she couldn’t see anything through her windshield. Addie’s little car rolled to a stop on the side of what she imagined was a dirt road in a little wooded shortcut.
As she began to roll down her windows, water began to blast into the car. She quickly rolled it back up. She was starting to panic. The water was shooting in as if she was underwater. Had she crashed into a lake and not realized it? Was this some kind of flood? Addie’s mind raced, when suddenly the car lurched forward without her even pressing on the gas pedal. She slammed her foot onto the brake pedal, but the car continued forward. She could feel the momentum, gravity pushing her gently into her seat as the car steadily accelerated. She reached for the steering wheel and pulled to the right, but it would not move.
Then, the rain cleared, and Addie looked through her windshield and saw nothing but gentle hues of blue and black. She decided to try the windows again, but water began blasting through the crack as soon as the window had barely been moved. She quickly rolled it back up. She couldn’t tell now if she was moving at all. Maybe she was dropping. She felt weightless.
Then she blinked, and there was no car. Just like that, nothing, no car, just Addie, floating in space, infinite blackness. Was this the abyss? Addie blinked as she hung there in space, suspended, feet touching nothing but without the sensation of falling. Then in the distance, a speck of light moving towards her from so far away that she doubted that she even saw it. But it was there, and it was getting bigger. Was it approaching?
It was. Addie squinted and looked out into the dark at the speck of light headed towards her. It was shaped like a person, she thought. It was moving very slowly. As it came closer, it became clear that it was a person. She wanted to call out to it, but she didn’t. There was no sound, absolute silence, and she noticed the silence at this moment. She closed her eyes, listened hard, heard nothing.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a face. It was smiling at her. She no longer had any concept of distance, and the face was at the same time right in front of her eyes and yet very far away. Then she felt like she was spinning, but the face was still in front of her. Was the face spinning her around? She closed her eyes, but she could still see the face. She recognized it. It was smiling at her, and she smiled back with her heart. She felt arms fold around her in a big hug, still spinning in space. She felt a cheek against hers, then lips kissing her cheek. She smiled and spun, and suddenly there was sound again.
The rustling of wind through the trees and voices singing and waterfalls and birds chirping… She was looking into his eyes, still spinning, all she could see was the eyes, and the feeling of kisses on her lips and the sound of rain and feeling of warmth and love embracing her. She was being held tight against him, she could feel fingers running through her hair, and she felt safe.
Then she woke up, cuddled up in her puffy covers on her cozy little bed, and lying on the pillow in front of her was the sleeping face of the love of her life, and she remembered the face in her dream. It was his face, and his eyes parted slightly to see her looking at him. He smiled, pulled his hand up to her cheek, leaned forward and kissed her in a sleepy daze. She kissed him back and drifted back to sleep.
The end.