«An Unfortunate Lie»

 Thunder crashes loudly in the depths of night. The lightning lights up the deep navy sky, showing a claw of purple light. The wind blows immensely, threatening to take down small, weak trees. A young adult sits there, overwhelmed, waiting for the rain to stop. She cowers in fear as nature’s war goes on. Her light auburn hair falling in front of her face. She grabs a little bear, an old, beaten stuffed animal with one eye and hugs it.

“The sky is in misery tonight, Mr. Bowtie.” her voice is brittle, about to snap. She whispers to the bear. Silly to some, comforting to her. She turns on the small, old T.V. in the corner of her room. A rerun of an old kid’s show turns on, filling the silent room.

A subtle knock sounds through her door. The door opens slightly and an older man’s head slowly peeks in. “Kenna, you need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is a long day.” The man says to her gently, knowing the storm frightens her. “You can keep the T.V. on to help block the storm out if you want.”

“Thank you, Fowler. Will I make new friends tomorrow?” Kenna’s voice holds a tone of innocence.

“Of course, Little Flame.”

Kenna smiles at the nickname he used. Dr. Fowler had raised her like she was his own.

Fowler closes the door gently. Kenna can hear his footsteps slowly fade. She turns the volume up to the T.V. and lays down, ready for sleep. After lying for some time, the darkness grabs a hold of her conscious and she falls into a deep slumber…

╾┄┈┄╼

Kenna opens her eyes in a start while she springs upwards. She breathes heavily, her thoughts dark and cold. She tries to calm her breathing. In and out, in and out, she repeatedly tells herself. She finally calms herself down and looks over at the clock on her wall. 6:27 AM. Kenna throws the sheets off of her.

As soon as the clock hit 6:30 AM, she hears a knock on her door, just like she expected. She opens the door expecting it to be Fowler. A grouchy looking lady, her blonde hair tied in a bun, stands in his place, instead.

“Kenna Harlow? I am Doctor Rachel. Dr. Fowler is sick today so I will be filling in for him,” she says as she scowls at her.

“Oh! Oki! How are you, Miss Rachel?” Kenna says enthusiastically, her aura radiating light.

Rachel sighs, trying to keep her facade up. Kenna shines positivity, a needed trait in this lonesome building. “Kenna, I should be asking you that question. But… since you asked, I am doing decent.”

Kenna nods her head in satisfaction, happy that she made a bad day better. She could tell Rachel was in a crappy mood, it’s one of her best traits.

“Alright Kenna, I am sure you know the drill. Come on,” Rachel fiats her.

Kenna bounces towards Rachel, her early morning energy waking the doctor up some. The walk was the same, Kenna greeted two of the security guards, smiled at a crying patient. Kenna loves making people feel better, for she can’t make herself happy, why not make others happy?

The usual routine is simple: Wake up at and be ready by 6:30 AM (not much to do for clothing, just a white tee, and leggings). Go to the common room (a simple trip down the hallway, down 3 flights of stairs and into an even smaller hall that eventually leads to the common room). There in the common room, get food cooked by the lovely chef, hang out or make new friends. They are usually there until 8 AM. Once they do that, they all go to their doctor's rooms or group sessions. Usually, the kids go to a special school for them.

Kenna bounces on her heel, ready to get the day going. Today, there are going to be new patients. The young adult loves the idea of new people, which means she gets to learn more about people and the world.

Dr. Rachel stops Kenna before they entered the common room. “I need you to listen very closely,” she said sternly. “In there- they are scared, new people. They need some space and not be overwhelmed. I know meeting others brings great joy,” she breathes in sharply, “but you need to tone it down.”

Kenna stares at her, slowly taking it in. About a minute after what she said, Kenna fully processed it. “Ohhhhh. Okay. But why are they scared? They can make new friends as well!” Kenna jumps a little, hoping that she can go talk to her heart's content.

Something that they weren’t informed of was that the “new” people were only “special” visitors here to find “special” people.

Kenna enters the room to see the same ol’ people there. The room is chattery as ever. The groups organized the same. The smell of cinnamon and strong cleaning products is palpable.

Kenna drops her smile. But she instantly puts it back up, making a happy exterior for the others. They are quite used to her happiness, they would pester her immensely if she didn’t even have a small smile.

Something that Kenna learned while going through excessive therapy, is that even if you don’t have a smile in your eyes, the fake smile on your face is enough to make others feel at ease. So, with that in mind, Kenna marched in there with her head held high and a bright fake smile, ready to greet others.

Of course, she did everything that she usually does every morning. After that, she got to Fowler’s office and sat down, her throat tight. She wanted to cry. She sniffles some but ignores it. She sits up and looks around. No one’s in there. She laughs a little, a sour note. I have never been lied to before! So why do the staff, the ones that have practically raised me, lie to me about new people? Especially when they know I love new people and new friends! She thinks, the flame of anger starting to heat her insides.

“Stop!” She mutters angrily. “I am better than this! Did my years of therapy not help my anger? I learned and now I’m better but not when I grit my teeth and bite my thumb at the staff.” She sighs, slowly trying to calm herself. As a consequence, she feels the urge to cry again. Tears slowly started to fall down her face, soon sobs echoed in the empty office. She sinks onto the floor, her back against Fowler’s desk. Was it too much for this lonely girl to make at least one friend in this cursed building?

She lays her head on the floor, her body shaking. She cries and cries until she feels calmer, her thoughts falling blank. It wasn’t soon until she let the hands of her soul bring her mind to a state of unconsciousness.