Storming out the house and slamming the door shut is a girl named Athena. She has gotten into another fight with her mother making it the third time this week. As she’s walking on the sidewalk and mumbling to herself, she stumbles upon a stray tabby cat. The cat walks towards Athena so she decides to pet it and continue whatever she was planning on doing previously; but as she starts to walk away, the cat starts to follow her. She just brushed it off as a normal thing they would do, but the cat has been following her for the past 10 minutes, so she makes a quick decision to take the cat with her. 20 minutes later, she made it to the beach. She comes here every time she gets into an argument with her mother; it’s like a safe space for her despite the crowds. As she’s walking on the wet and cold sand, she sees that the sun is starting to set signaling that the day is coming to a close. The salty air is starting to get cooler as the hot sun is no longer radiating on the beach. The amount of people on the beach starts to decrease leaving Athena alone with the cat, the crashing waves, and her thoughts. She starts to think if this day was as productive as the day before; but clearly it wasn’t. “You should apologize to her” a deep and mysterious voice spoke. Athena rapidly twists and turns her head not finding the voice. “Down here dingus”. Athena then looks at the cat, surprisingly emitting a lime glow. “I know you’re shocked but personally, I think you should apologize to her,” the cat says. “First of all, you can talk!? And second of all, she started it. I followed every rule she set but as soon as I want to do one thing on my own without her opinion, she blows up”. Athena explains. “We’ll, if you want her to listen, you have to listen first. She probably has a good reason”, the tabby cat says. “ Now let’s go do that to fix this unproductive day. You have nowhere else to go anyways, you might as well make amends”. So the glowing tabby cat and Athena go back to the house, not knowing what they’ll find.
~~
“… You never know. Maybe there isn’t a tomorrow to look forward to. Did you live your life to the fullest? If you were to die now, would you be upset if you didn’t complete what you wanted to? We’ll just have to see what the future holds for us. Would your dreams come true or will they just become an expectation in your life”. Athena finishes and places the flowers down. “I love you mom” Athena mumbles as she exits the graveyard. “Sometimes I wish I had a second chance”.
Categories:
Second Chance
Mahalia Hyppolite ‘27
•
September 6, 2023
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