For whatever reason, today consistently felt like anillusion. The birds chirping?Illusion. The bright blue sky? Illusion. Why? Because something about this beautiful day made her skin crawl, her insides boil, and it wasn’t the pleasant breeze caressing her face, nor the smiles on peoples’ faces as they passed her on the sidewalk. It was too beautiful for it to be a normal day and in that moment, that’s when Gwendolyn finally realized that something was wrong. Her hands clenched and unclenched, the only sign of distress she displayed, as her feet continued to carry her to her destination – the town park. Her favorite novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, poked out from the bag slung across her shoulder; early in the morning, when the perfect day started to pan out too perfectly, she decided that she needed some time away from her secluded life. But at this point regret was starting to worm its way into her mind as her unease grew.
A few minutes passed before she planted herself on a park bench beneath a rather large oak. In an attempt to calm her unsettled nerves she breathed deeply for a few moments, unclenching her jaw by sipping out of her water bottle. Feeling a bit better, she pulled out the novel and began a futile quest in which she once again tried to convince herself that it was just a day and nothing more. Her mind, however, seemed to work against her and no matter how many times her eyes took in a particular sentence the words simply turned to mush. With a frustrated huff, she shoved the book back into her bag and fell forward, elbows on her knees and face in her hands. Defeated, by a book and a day, she thought, annoyed. And yet she remained, plastered to the bench with thoughts running a mile a minute. Eventually, she sat up and took in her surroundings once more, watching the kids play on the playground and the people walking past.
Perhaps it was her Animagian instincts that were trying to tell her something? Doubtful, for her parents never told her that they could sense horrible things happening around them -- that was an all around human thing, but surely she could feel unease as well? She simply wished her parents could’ve been there to explain the oddly perfect day. Instead, a frown once again worked its way into the lines of her face as she sat alone, deep in thought.
