• Soulful

    Chapter One
    The Boy
    When I was younger, my grandmother would tell me a wonderful story, the story of the Soulfuls. Soulfuls are people who died before the age of sixteen and still had young souls, and the reason they died was because they didn’t receive their ‘talent’ at birth. And to me the story would never get old, for each time she told it, the more it was a mystery as if she were leaving something out.
    So forth, the more and more I heard it, the more and more I thought I was a Soulful myself. I would think that I could see everyone’s Tellaphlock, the solid shapes on a human body that mark their talents. The thing was, only Soulfuls can see them. Because if the persons Tellaphlock changes from their natural color, the infectious beasts will make them sick, so the Soulful prevents that from happening. So the idea of my being a Soulful came from me seeing Tellaphlock and knowing that I didn’t have my own, too. What that meant was, I was going to die early.
    That was when I was six, though. I know now that my being a Soulful was a part of my imagination, because I wasn’t scared of my life ending early. I actually became scared when I turned eight, but not because of life and death, because I was alone.
    My grandmother died and so did the story. Sadly, my mom tried to tell me the story, but her words kept changing. Then she started coming home rarely and my dad basically wasted two whole months raising me and my five year old sister. Finally the day came where my mom told my dad she wanted a divorce because she fell in love with a married man. They were both going to leave their spouses to be together. My little sister, Martha, was sent with her, and I stayed with my dad.
    I didn’t know why I was having flashbacks of my past wile dreaming, but all I could see now was my sleeping self. The alarm clock next to me said 12:01, which meant that exactly at this minute, I was fifteen. And as I looked at myself, two white butterflies flew down to me.
    Each of them landed on one of my eyes. And even though this was a dream, I could feel them, they were burning. It took me a while but I finally woke up, and the pain that lingered in my eyes lasted a few seconds as I rolled off my bed and hit the ground, hard.


    When I opened my eyes, things were blurry to the point I couldn’t read small letters. That meant glasses. It wasn’t even light out but I didn’t feel tired. I knew that even if I go back to sleep, it wouldn’t feel like enough, so I just laid there, not bothering to get back up, and soon enough, it was morning.
    “Nikky, what are you doing on the floor?” I heard my dad ask from above. I opened one eye. Damn, still blurry. “Sorry, but my eye sight is a bit hazy.” I quietly spoke as I pulled myself into a sitting position. He hummed and ran his wrinkles hand threw his graying brown hair then answered “Well, if it doesn’t clear up after school I’ll take you to an eye doctor, but for now get ready to go.” I ran my eyes over his unwashed arms and hair and laughed “Same goes to you, dad.”
    After I got my dad out of my room, I threw on a pair of faded jeans and a blue t-shirt. Then I brushed my hair, tied my shoes and ran to the kitchen. The floor was wet, but little did it occur to me I would slip. First, I tried to use the counter to hold me up, but I just washed my hands and they were still damp, so I fell flat.
    My dad walked over and held out his hand to help me up. I reached out to grab it, but when he turned it over, I saw an orange leaf. I started to remember when I sat in front of my grandmother’s chair. Another part of the story came to me.


    The Tellaphlock shapes were the orange leaf, it attaches to the hands of artists, writers, chefs, and designers. Another was the blue ankle wings that were a part of the ankles of athletes and dancers. And finally the red ring that wraps around the heads of genius’s, singers, presidents of anything, and fortune tellers. And there stood my dad, the writer, with an orange leaf on his hand.
    I came to the conclusion that it was because my blurry eyes were playing nasty tricks on me to get me to see these, but for some reason, it looked so clear. So I closed my eyes as hard as I could and opened them quickly. Good, it was gone, but I still couldn’t see clearly. I finally took his hand and he heaved me up. “You alright? You seemed kind of out of it.” He asked full of concern. Nodding, I look at his hand again and smiled in relief.
    When we were both done eating breakfast, we went to the parking lot to get into the pick-up truck my dad rents. I got in first and I did it in a hurry. The faster I get to school the faster I could tell Louis, my only friend, what I was seeing today. But the truck didn’t agree. It took a very long time to actually get it running. And the usually calming sounds of the engine couldn’t stop my leg from shaking as fast as it could.
    It took around forty-five minutes to get to Columbus Pride High. And I tried to leave without any interruptions but unfortunately my dad called out “Have a nice birthday, Nikky!” I turned with my biggest fake smile and instead of saying “I will,” like most, I said, “I’ll try,” And walked off.

    The school’s main hall was packed with sweaty teenagers and looked hard to go through. But for how confused I was right now, I charged straight forwards. At some places I had to walk sideways in order to get passed two different social groups pressed tightly together. And then I was safely in the sophomore hallway where there was only about twenty or so people.
    I walked over to my locker and place my head gently against it, eyes closed. I saw them again. Blue wings, red rings, orange leafs everywhere! My head is throbbing; my eyes feel worse, what’s going on? And while I was trying to figure out what was happening and wondering if I was hallucinating, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
    I snapped my head up and flipped my body to where my back was against the lockers this time and saw Louis. “The happy birthday girl doesn’t look so happy.” He said, holding me at arm’s length. I smiled and answered “Well today isn’t making me very happy.” That was true, but when I look at him, I become happy.
    Louis Daniels has deep chocolate brown eyes that go well with his sandy hair. His skin was flawless and his teeth were like pearls. He was tall, he was thin, and he was everyone’s idol. Nobody but me hangs out with him, though, because how we are friends. But everyone wants to talk to him.


    I used to tell him once that having a lot of friends is better than having one, but he opposed otherwise saying I was enough. I have to admit, though, probably the only reason he hangs out with me is because I was the only girl who doesn’t have a crush on him. Laughing at the thought, I started rubbing my eyes. Except for Louis everything was blurring even more. He put on his ‘worried’ expression. “Are your eyes all right?” he asked taking the wrist of the hand I was wiping my eyes with.
    He came closer to the point I had to look up to see him. “It’s just for some reason my sight is really bad today, but I can see you perfectly fine.” I said, blinking my eyes quickly. This time his ‘worried’ expression turned into a serious one. Was he mad? Does he think I love him for saying I could see him perfectly!? That couldn’t be it. Then when he opened his mouth, all I could here was, “Let’s just get to class.” And because of his tone, I went to class with him.
    ______________________________________________
    Fifth period Language Arts, my only class without Louis, and my last class before lunch. It was also my most hungry class. And today’s lesson, the afterlife beliefs. I didn’t feel like reading the board with these eyes so I just looked out the window. And there was the most frightening thing anyone would ever see out there.


    It was as clear as Louis was to me. As tall as the building and a color green that made you want to throw up, it looked really scary. My heart started racing as it charged over to my class. The walls started shaking and when I looked around no one seemed bothered at all. Was I hallucinating again? I think I am.
    I stared, freezing as it came closer. If it wasn’t a hallucination we were all going to die. I closed my eyes ready for the last of my breath when the shaking stopped. Slowly, I peeked from under my eye lashed. A handsome boy was standing in front of it.
    Soft blonde hair that was clumped together in the middle was like the sun, and from the back he did look tall. I quietly prayed for him to turn around, but all he did was walk towards the beast. My gut really wanted me to scream ‘no’ at the boy, I couldn’t, though, for I stayed silent. Suddenly, the boy pulled out what seemed to be a thin sword that glowed in the natural light. He saw the monster, and he was going to kill it.
    As he walked closer, the thing roared. The room still didn’t seem to notice, as if it wasn’t there. But it was too real not to be. Questions ran through my head as I watched; who was he? What’s this creature? Why am I the only one who can see this. “Ms. Leanne, what’s a spiritual story you have heard of?” I heard Mrs. Martin ask to me from the background. I didn’t answer, though, for my eyes were on the boy.


    It seemed that he was almost don’t killing it. What seemed to be purple ooze ran from it’s body. Then, with one last slash, he was done and he finally turned around. To me he was a lot like Louis, but different. He had crystal blue eyes, honey skin, and a stronger looking body. And he was wearing a black outfit with a symbol on it.
    “Ms. Leanne!” Mrs. Martin rang. I didn’t mean to answer, but I knew what he was.
    Out loud I said “Soulful!”

    Chapter One: The Boy
    END