The Calm Before The Storm

A piece by Sara Alotaibi

She was sitting on a bench wondering why nobody was there.

She remembers this park since she was a kid.

How it was always crowded.

But now nobody is here

Not in the city 

Not in her house

Not in the whole world

Just like that 

She woke up one day and everyone was gone

No news nothing

Its been one year

But nothing changed 

Everything was lonely and empty 

She was choking she couldn’t breathe 

She was living her worst nightmare daily

every single day she would pray to god that this is just a dream

And while she liked being alone, she hated loneliness.

She thought going to the park would calm her down 

maybe even remind her of all the memories she had in that place

Poor girl, she loved that park

But now who was gonna warn her?

She was writing her thoughts in a journal she kept since this happened 

That was until she heard a voice 

A voice so familiar 

Was it her inner voice 

I mean in the end, the girl was slowly losing her mind

But that was until she looked up and saw a silhouette 

She didn’t know what to feel

That was the first time she saw someone in a year 

Was she happy?

Was she scared?

she slowly walked up to the silhouette 

She saw long hair 

Was it a girl?

“Finally a human” the girl thought

She was about to cry from the comfort 

But wait, “why is she not moving” the girl wondered 

She decided to touch her

The strange girl turned around 

Wait, “why does she look like me” the girl thought

It almost looked like as if She was facing herself 

Before she could say a word

The strange girl said “ the storm is coming “

And just like that 

The girl fell

“What was that” the girl said

“Was that me” the girl thought 

“No Im not you” the strange girl spoke

“She sounds like me” the girl wondered 

She tried to get up but couldn’t 

Did she hurt herself?

She tried looking around 

But she was not in the park anymore 

She was in a pit

Poor girl, she didn’t know what was coming 

She could hear a loud crash

She saw bright light coming closer and closer 

She couldn’t breathe anymore 

That was until she heard the strange girl saying to herself "stay calm, the storm is coming."