Real Life In Fiction

The sound of her heels resonated on the tiled floor and walls of the deserted underpass. Pulling the hood of her leather jacket further over her head she climbed the stairs to platform six of Rugby's train station. When she arrived at the top there was no one to be seen; every platform was empty and there were no trains in sight.

She pulled out her iPhone, caught a glimpse of the time; 22:33, a whole half hour until her train was due, before the light faded and the phone turned itself off. She had forgotten to charge it this morning and now her £500 iPhone was utterly useless. She stood in deadly silence waiting for her train to arrive, until a hooded figure strode onto the platform opposite hers. The figure stopped when it caught a glimpse of her and stared with intensity across the train tracks.

Suddenly a gust of wind whistled through the station, blowing the hoods off both of them. Green eyes locked with deep blue and shocked recognition appeared on both of their faces. 

It was her! After all this time. Five years of unfinished business and there they were, just the two of them, alone at the train station. After what seemed like an eternity, the woman on the platform broke their eye-contact, turned on her heel and rushed down the stairs into the underpass; making her way to platform six.   

  

Real Life In Fiction

She didn't deserve this. She only drank four vodka and cokes! Her head over the toilet bowl, tears streaming down her face, she threw up once more. 

Feeling thoroughly sorry for herself she made her way back to the bedroom, hit by the stench of cigarettes and alcohol when she entered, making her run back into the bathroom for the fourth time that night. It was true, she had only had four drinks. But what she hadn't realised was that pouring your own drinks meant that what she had drunk was equivalent to half a bottle of vodka! Far too much for this light-weight.

Her iPhone flashed in the corner of the bathroom. Oh god, he was calling again. Why had she text him those three words, those eight letters that meant so much?? Ignoring the call, she began to thumb through her text messages. She clicked on his name; *I love you too*. Shit. 

She made to put her phone down but another message caught her eye, from her best friend; *Looking forward to graduation tomorrow? x* Her eyes widened in shock. Graduation! Tomorrow! She had completely forgotten! The familiar pull on her stomach took hold of her, and she was sick once more. 

Real Life In Fiction

In a cold sweat she bolted upright. Consumed by an air of panic her breathing was shallow, her face tight with stale tears and her eyes wildly searching her new surroundings. Relief poured over her as she realised she was sitting in her bed-"it was just a dream", she whispered hoarsely. "It was just a dream".

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking a sip of the now luke-warm water on her bedside table. It was 3:40am on her iPhone and she sighed, making her way to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. She'd never been a good sleeper and nightmares had always plagued her, but they'd disappeared for a while and she'd begun to sleep soundly for the first time in her life.  

She peeled off the sweaty t-shirt clinging to her body and slowly got back into bed. Snapshots of the girl she loved, dying in agony, flashed like photographs when she closed her eyes, and sleep took hold of her once more.

Real Life In Fiction

She held the origami swans in her hand; crafted using an American dollar from his time in California, they were so delicate and intricate, every fold made perfectly. One was slightly smaller than the other, both in height and breadth-"you and I", he'd said. 

As she stared at those tiny paper creatures in her hand, she knew there were no more tears to be had. He'd gone and she'd finally accepted it. It'd been a long, reckless journey to the shreds of hope-one of anger and cocaine, days sitting in darkened rooms by herself and the constant refusal of company. But those days were over, thank god, and she was now able to think of him without sadness taking her over.

She studied his creations in her hand, and wondered what he would think if he knew she now used his talents to impress his replacements.