Fate Intertwined. She Played. Strings Snapped.

Fate

intertwined.

She

Played.

Strings

Snapped.

Angel Zaguirre

Amidst the spring breeze, the sound of bubble tires screeching against the concrete, and broken shards of glass on the tiled floor, lay a young woman, skin as pale as the moonlight illuminating the opaque windows. Her tattered instrument sleeps across her, as dead as a grave. For it shall not make a sound unless a finger has reached for it. She musters all her remaining strength to pull the violin close to her chest, embracing it as sorrowful melodies fill her numb senses. --------------------------------------------------------- The world is cruel to the hearts of the pure. This very quotation is what enters the young girl's thoughts as soon as the basking rays of the sun awaken her sunken eyelids. Recalling the events of her devastating evening, she sulked on her posture and stretched her arms to the sky, hoping the fatigue would leave her alone. As the blonde-haired girl pushed herself up, she made her way down the crooked stairs that made a creak every time her feet pressed themselves on its sturdiness. She squints her eyes from the harsh daylight that greeted her. Upon the scent of melted butter on a slice of toasted bread, paired with an egg fresh from the farm, poached to perfection, she widens her brown-colored eyes in response to the hunger she felt in her stomach.

"Good morning, dear. How are you feeling?" The lady, who appeared to be the mother of the girl asked, worry evident in her tone. "I'm alright, mom. Thanks for breakfast." The young girl uttered in response. How could I lie to my own mother? Oh, right. If I told her the truth, she will get worried. I do not want that. The young lady's train of thought went from one thing to another, barely keeping herself in check. "Mallory. Are you listening to me?" Her mother's voice snapped her out of the trance she was in. "I am sorry. I was thinking about school." She lied through gritted teeth. The lady looked at her daughter with a concerned expression. "Speaking of school, the opening ceremony will start in a while. You should get ready." At the mention of school, the young girl exasperated a sigh of tiredness. As our young protagonist wears an instrument case on her shoulder, she kisses her mother goodbye. Her mother watched Mallory riding on a bicycle disappear from her sight. She prays for her to have a good day. The young girl's feet paddle to wherever they may lead her; whether it was her true destination or where she desired to be. Alas, she arrived at the latter, a park filled with vast nature and the giggles of children.

In the middle of the park, lays a structure as tall as a 2-story building where kids are seen to be climbing up and down, chasing each other, and getting lost in their own world of fun. Mallory takes a deep breath and parks her bike, taking her treasured violin with her, she attempts to climb the plaything. As she struggles to carry herself, cursing at her weak physique, the desire to play kept her going. After moments of hesitation and difficulty, she reaches the top, where she was greeted by the view that made all regrets and tiredness be blown away. "How beautiful," She muttered under her ragged breath. A second was not spared as she hurriedly took out her violin and laid her head on the neck support. Taking slow and steady breaths as she plays a long note. As small melodies turn into a harmony of tunes, everyone who was there to witness Mallory turn their heads as she played with passion. Deep in her heart, she knew that music was only an escape from her reality, but she shall string her instrument for as long as she can, while she can. Little did Mallory know, that her soulful playing has touched the heart of another. --------------------------------------------------------

"Miss, I think I am in love with you." The stranger looks Mallory dead in the eye, serious with her tone. Taken aback by the sudden confession, Mallory manages to break into a series of stutters, "I-I'm, d-do you k-know me..?" The girl's cheeks burst into a shade of bright pink. "I am so sorry. It just came out. I-I meant I loved your music. And the song you played, were you the one who arranged it? If so, that is just amazing, you're amazing." Words of compliments were foreign to Mallory, but the happiness she was feeling could not be turned into speech. "Thank you." was all she was able to say, even if there were a million thoughts swarming her head, a thousand responses she thought of saying beforehand, all she did was mutter a simple phrase of gratitude. "Y-you're welcome!" The bubbly behavior of the stranger's words felt comforting rather than obnoxious to Mallory, which she found to be odd. "How rude of me, I'm Felice, but you can call me Elice for short, although it doesn't really make a difference." She extends her hand to greet Mallory, and as the blonde-haired girl reaches out to shake Elice's hand, she feels a sharp sting in her head, although ignoring it, as she always did, Mallory gently cups her hand and shakes Elice's hand as quickly as she could.

"Are you from around here? I.. kinda got distracted on my way back from the arcade." Elice scratches the back of her neck at the mention of her carelessness. "Well, I actually.." Mallory pauses with hesitation. "What is it?" The curious yet gentle stare of the brown-haired girl broke down the imaginary walls of Mallory's heart, in which she did not know she had. ".. I live a few blocks away from here." Great. I just revealed my location to a total stranger. Mom always told me to not talk to them but it just came out so naturally. What do I do now? The brown-eyed girl's questions were immediately answered. Elice took Mallory's hand at a swift moment and started sprinting. "W-wait a minute! Where are we going?" Mallory pants as she tries to match Elice's pace. "I recognize the uniform you're wearing!" The ocean-like eyes of Elice glimmered from the reflection of the sun. "You do? But why are we running?" Mallory finds it hard to compose a sentence in that moment as her veins were pumping with adrenaline rush. She has never felt so alive before. "Because..!" Elice abruptly stops at her tracks as she looks up to the arch before her that read, Meadowville School.

"I'm a student here as well." Elice flashes Mallory a bright smile as she shows the emblem of the school on her blouse. "What a coincidence.." The blonde-haired girl mumbled so quietly that it almost sounded like a whisper. "Did you say coincidence? I believe this is fate!" Elice counters her response. "But fate doesn't exist---" Mallory's reply was cut short as Elice grabs her hand yet again and they run another marathon on the school grounds. --------------------------------------------------------- "I swear! I end up using more energy than I intend to ever since I met you." Mallory lays on a concrete wall as she catches her breath. "I think that's a good thing because running really makes your veins pump and it clears your head. Plus it feels good when the breeze is brushing on your face!" Elice expresses her sheer excitement to Mallory. "But.. not everyone is athletic like you.. take me for an example." The blonde-haired girl proceeds to tie her hair up as it got into a tangled mess from all the excessive sprinting. "What? You're more capable than you think, you know. Don't think so lowly of yourself." Elice said, not because she pities Mallory, but because she felt the need to say it.

"I'll try." Mallory stops refuting and accepts the words of Elice. The awkward silence got cut off by the school bell, signalling the start of classes. "So.. I'll see you later?" The brown-haired girl gestures to leave first. "I'll see you later." Mallory smiles a little at the thought of seeing Elice during break time. -------------------------------------------------------- "Mallory? Earth to Mallory?" As our protagonist slowly opens her eyelids to see a hand moving up and down in her field of sight, she sits straight up. "You okay? You literally slept the whole day. Good thing that it was only introduction today." Her classmate says. "Wait, what time is it?" Mallory asks as she brushes off her classmate's remarks. Mallory's classmate takes a glance at her wristwatch. "It's 10 past 4." At the mention of the time, the blonde-haired girl immediately rose from her seat, yelled a "Thanks!" to the kind classmate and left the room. "That was weird. I wonder why she was in a hurry." Mallory knew she was frail and timid, she never had the desire to befriend anyone nor did she want to do anything with another person. But for some reason, Mallory wanted to see Elice. She wanted to spend time with her, listen to her talk about things for countless hours.

Her heavy footsteps resonated from the hallways as she glanced at every window to see if she could find Elice. But after what felt like hours of sprinting and checking, Mallory slumps on the ground, feeling a sense of defeat. Where could she be? Did she go home? What if she thinks that I forgot about her? Oh no, am I a rude person for not showing up? Mallory's thoughts went from one thing to another. As guilt nearly swallows her whole, she hears a faint melody at the end of the corridor. Tears flowed down her pale cheeks, but that did not stop her from slowly making her way to the source of the tune. It sounds like a piano. Was there always a music room in this school? She asked herself. As the music got louder the closer she got, Mallory stops to wipe her face. Even if her vision was blurry due to the waterworks from her eyes, her instincts are telling her to go closer. She made her way to the entrance of the room. She didn't care if her hair was a mess from her desperate sprint nor did she care if her eyes were puffy from crying, all she wanted was to see Elice again. To her surprise, Elice was there. She was humming softly to the tune of the piano as her dainty fingers touched the keys of the piano composing a beautiful melody.

"You never told me you knew how to play the piano." Mallory interrupts. Elice's blue eyes widened in shock as if she had seen a ghost. "How long were you standing there? Oh gosh, this is.. so embarassing." Elice covers her blushing face. "What do you mean, embarassing? You play wonderfully. To be honest, I didn't expect you to play any instrument at all." Mallory says more words than she usually did. "That's... high praise, especially coming from you." Elice sulks behind the piano in hopes of being able to hide her flushed cheeks. "What? I'm just stating the truth." Mallory says as she flashed Elice a genuine smile. Just as Mallory was about to take a step forward, she hesitates as she recalls her past actions. "I'm.. sorry," The blonde-haired girl mumbles timidly. "Why are you apologizing?" Elice asked. "Because.. I didn't show up at break time." She continues. Elice's sudden burst of laughter echoed around the room. Elice wipes a forming tear from her eye and replies between her giggles, "That's.. you don't have to apologize for something as trivial as that."

"But.. I feel bad." Mallory gulps. "No, no! Please, don't feel bad. It's really not a big deal. You did nothing wrong." The brown-haired girl says at Mallory with a serious look on her face and a reassuring tone. Mallory takes a deep breath and feels relief from her shoulders at the words of Elice. "Do you want to play a piece together?" Elice asks once she saw Mallory calmed down. "Sure." One word, four letters of acceptance and certainty. As the room's atmosphere is filled with the air of comfort and playful harmony, they share a bond only the two of them can form when they are together. --------------------------------------------------------- Blood. Why is there blood? It's dripping from the ceiling. A ringing pain in her head is evident, making her grasp the sheets of her bed tightly. The blood. It's coming from me. "Mallory? Are you okay in there?" A familiar voice asked from the other side of the door. Regaining her senses, the blonde-haired girl hurriedly emptied the tissue box and wiped the fluid off her face and any traces of it from her body. "I'm fine! I'll be out in a second." She yells a response, trying to make her tone as convincing as possible.

“Listen,” Elice cups Mallory’s cheeks and looks her in the eye. “You are seriously the most talented, most skilled, most kind, most friendly, and most kind-hearted person I have ever met! I am not saying this just to make you feel better, I’m saying this because it’s what I think about you, and I wish you could see yourself from my eyes, because you truly look and are amazing in whatever you choose to do. And I like you for that!” Blood rushed to the cheeks of the brown-haired girl, and as flustered as Elice is, she meant every single world she said. She immediately removed her hands from Mallory’s cheek and looked away. “S-so what I mean is.. You’re going to do great out there.” Elice says as she continues to avoid eye contact. Mallory never expected for Elice to have feelings for her, because she wasn’t so sure of what would happen if she would confess her true feelings towards her. She was afraid that their friendship would be ruined and it would never go back to normal. But never did she expect for Elice to say it first. The scene wasn’t even close to being romantic. But to Mallory, she felt like she was on top of the world. She felt as if all the heavy stones blocking the entrance to her heart were getting shattered; but it wasn’t that at all; Elice treated her like no else ever did. No wonder she felt such comfort, such familiarity ever since they encountered each other at the park. Maybe it was fate; fate that Mallory never believed in, until this very moment, that is.

"Don't force yourself, okay?" There she goes again. Always caring about me. How does she manage to do it? When she looked at the mirror, the reflection showed a pale, barely-put-together young girl staring back. Keep it together. For Elice. Tidying herself, she unlocked the door of her room and was greeted by the enthusiastic expression on Elice's face. "Are you ready? Because I so am! I can't believe it's our first performance today! Can you believe it? I certainly can't." The brown-haired girl speaks in one breath. "I.. am kinda nervous." Mallory confesses. "Well, there's no harm in being nervous. Just don't forget to have fun!" Elice replies, smiling brightly as usual. "Alright. Let's do this!" Elice hypes up both of them as they make their way downstairs to where Mallory's mother is. "Elice, do you mind if I speak with you privately?" Mallory's mother asked discreetly. "I don't mind at all!" Elice replies, not thinking twice. "Dear, wait for Elice at the poarch, alright?" She tells Mallory. "Okay." The brown-eyed girl makes her way to the front door and sits on the poarch.

Why did mom suddenly do that? Why can't I listen to what she has to say? The suspense is killing me. Mallory rambles to herself. After a few moments, Elice is seen walking out their door, greeting Mallory's mother goodbye. "Elice, what did my mom tell you?" Mallory was not able to contain her curiosity to herself. "Well, she just told me to enjoy ourselves! Yes, that's totally what she said." Elice replies as she whistles a small note and avoids eye contact. Mallory noticed her unusual behavior so she asked another question. "Seriously, what did she tell you? You should know by now that I can tell if you're lying or not." Elice took Mallory's hand and squeezed it. She took a deep breath before saying, "She was just really happy to see you pursuing your passion." Her blue eyes stared at Mallory's brown ones. Mallory knew she was telling the truth therefore she did not press on the matter anymore. "Well, would you look at the time! We're going to miss showing everyone the performance of a lifetime so we should better get going." Elice gestured for Mallory to ride on the back seat of the bicycle. "What are you waiting for? Hop on!" Elice encourages Mallory to take a seat. "Are you sure this is safe?" Mallory asks with concern evident in her tone.

"Of course it is, I am the driver, after all!" Elice flashes yet another one of her signature smiles. All of Mallory's worries melted away at the sight of Elice's smile. She gets on the bike, hesitantly. "Everything's going to be alright." Elice starts to paddle on the pavement and paces the speed. On the other hand, the blond-haired girl squints her eyes tightly because of fear. But Elice's voice echoes in her mind, 'Everything's going to be alright.' Mallory slowly opens her eyes, shielding them with her hand from the blinding rays of the sun. As she laid her eyes on the vibrant shades of the magenta and light blue sky, the breeze gently caressing her face, she believed Elice's words. That everything is going to be alright. --------------------------------------------------------- The two young ladies arrived at their performance venue when the opening act finished. “I don’t think I could do this.” Mallory said, holding her stomach and shivering from fright. “You totally can! We practiced and rehearsed for 3 weeks!” said Elice as she made an attempt to help Mallory regain composure. “3 weeks? Do you think it’s going to be enough to please the crowd? What if I mess things up? What if I miss my queue?” The blonde-haired girl’s stomach growled in a nervous pit.

Is this love? Maybe I am confusing romantic feelings for platonic ones. Is this real? My heart is beating so fast right now. Is it because I’m nervous? Oh, right, the performance! “Elice.” Mallory called, clear and concise. “Y-yes?” Elice responded. “Let’s go show them what we’re made of!” Mallory exclaimed which made Elice surprised to her sudden burst of energy in which she never knew she had. Mallory grabbed Elice’s hand and made their way to the backstage in preparation of their performance. As the crowd’s applause faded away from the previous performance, the red curtains reveal Elice behind the piano and Mallory with the violin in her hands. At that very moment, absorbed into their own world surrounded by pastels, colorful melodies, and a pleasing harmony, the young girls brought everyone who came to witness them into a whole new world, filled with absolute bliss and joy. But all good things must come to an end. As they near the conclusion of the piece, the violin stops as its strings snaps, and so does Mallory.

“Mallory!” Someone’s calling me. Who is it? “Please make it! Please come back to me..” I wish I could answer. My throat feels coarse. I cannot seem to say a word. “We’re losing her! Where are her parents?” Losing what? What are they talking about? “Please do something! Why are you not doing anything?” Why does that voice sound familiar? Wait, Elice? “She’s not coming back.” Who’s not coming back? Elice? Can you hear me? “El.i.ce...” The pale girl calls weakly before losing her consciousness.

“Right now, the patient is in a coma. It is uncertain whether or not she will regain consciousness.” The words cut deep like a knife to both of them. How could I have been so blind? Mallory’s mother starts to sob while Elice remained shocked. --------------------------------------------------------- Beneath the ceiling lights and between the white walls of the hospital, the brown-haired girl walks aimlessly to the room of Mallory. She opens the door slowly, and to her dismay, Mallory was there, laying as still as a log. Elice takes steady footsteps, her breath getting heavier as she got closer as she has been stifling her cries. “Mallory..” she glances at the sleeping face of the young girl as tears began to form and fall down from her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I never knew. You never told me. You never told anyone.” She said in between her wails. “I never got to say that I love you.” Elice laughs and shakes her head, thinking that she was insane for professing her love to a person who was nearly half-dead. “El..ice” A voice spoke. Elice jumped from her place and looked at the source of the voice. “Mallory? Mallory! Nurse! Doctor! She’s awake!” ---------------------------------------------------------

Flowers bloom and flourish, signalling the season of spring. A young lady walks to the entrance of a familiar building. A place she visits nearly every day. With a bouquet of fresh flowers at one hand, she makes her way to a room. Even if the color white was plastered all around the eerie walls, the flowers were a striking contrast. Alas, she reached the entrance of a door and opened it. Placing her belongings to one side and replacing the wilted roses in a glass vase. Beside the vase was a violin that hasn’t been tuned nor polished and is tattered. “Hey, Mallory.” The girl spoke, her soft blue eyes glancing at the sleeping patient. “Today stressed me out! A guy from another class asked me out and I had to reject him, obviously. My heart only belongs to you.” She says as she bit her lip, trying to keep herself from crying. “I’ll always be waiting for you.” She kissed Mallory’s pale forehead and left the room. Must fate be so cruel? As soon as Elice left the hospital, Mallory awakens from her deep slumber once again, gasping for air. Instinctively, she attempts to reach for her treasured instrument but she misses it and ends up on the cold tiled floor. She musters all her remaining strength to pull the violin close to her chest, embracing it as sorrowful melodies fill her numb senses. With her dying breath, she whispered, “I love you, Elice.”

10

“Months, days, seasons pass and change. She was and is my everything. I can only be glad for she is not suffering anymore and is at peace with herself. It is truly remarkable how one can experience so much in little time. Fate is cruel, it exists, but it is cruel. I dedicate this piece to my first and last love, Mallory.” FIN.