A REFLECTION

UNEDITED SAMPLE LITERARY ARTICLE
By Ancilla Marie Baulita Inocenio
IV-Madame Marie Curie


It was a midwinter night, and the cool breeze touched me as I awoke. My body began to hurt, painfully as if pierced by the wind. Everything felt mysterious and I was frightened as if death was after me. I decided to run to quench my curiosity to know what was really going on, but the pain tortured every step I had tried to make.

As I was running, searching for help, I realized I was lost in the midst of nowhere. Each step seemed to take me to a new dimension. I knew I was alone but it felt like eyes were angrily staring at me. I kept on walking, searching and hoping that maybe, just maybe, this was all just a nightmare. I passed through strange places, caves, and lastly my feet led me to a strangely beautiful lake. It was dark and murky, but there was someone or something reflected on it.

Out of curiosity, I stared at it, expecting there was someone else who could be of help, but all I saw was the reflection of a monster. It was covered in blood; its body was full of wounds, as if slashed repeatedly until its flesh was starting to come out of its skin. What was that? Why was it standing in front of me? I felt sorry for it but I felt terrified when much to my surprise, it was wearing my valued pendant. It was only then that I realized that the being I saw was my own reflection.

Questions filled my head at once. What happened to me? Why was I covered in blood? Was I trying to run away from something? Was I trying to kill anyone? Or was anyone trying to kill me? My mind blanked out, and I did not know what to do. I was confused and the pain every time the breeze pierced through my tattered skin only made everything worse. I got sick of it, and I just wanted to let go of myself. I, thinking that everything would end, jumped off the cliff. I came falling from the cliff and I expected to land on rock hard ground, when I landed on a familiar place. It felt nostalgic and almost like déjà vu.

A scene suddenly began to flash in front of my eyes. Two children with blurred faces were playing around a huge cherry tree. They were calling each other Amaryllis and Alstroemeria. Right under the cherry tree, Amaryllis gave a familiar pendant to Alstroemeria. The scene began to blur fast and a new scene was replacing it. As I was startled by the turmoil, I found myself lying in a coffin. I was too frightened to look if there was someone else beside me, but my instincts mad me see the corpse of Amaryllis. When I stared at her for a long time, I forgot my fears but tears just suddenly ran down my face. I do not know this child, but I felt remorse for Amaryllis. I was crying, but I thought it was just because she resembled someone I knew.

The scene changed once more and I found myself in the middle of a fight between the two children. Amaryllis was crying maybe because Alstroemeria left her alone, with the pendant thrown at her face. I tried to run to comfort Amaryllis but when I tried to touch her, it seemed like I was only a ghost. I did not expect her to see me but she was able to do so. She looked at my pendant, angrily, then at me as if she wanted to kill me. I ran away from her and I found myself back from falling off the cliff. This time, I fell on the rocky bottom that pierced through my body.

I felt like dying when Amaryllis came running towards me with a bunch of flowers, similar to those given to the dead. She touched my head and memories suddenly began to come back. The previous scenes now showed the true faces of the children, revealing that I was Alstroemeria and Amaryllis was my long lost friend. I saw Amaryllis being blamed for burning the village, and that is why she ran towards the cherry tree. She was expecting me to comfort her as her friend. I saw myself coming, but not as someone she expected. I was disgusted at her so I threw the pendant at her. I felt guilty when I saw myself calling the villagers towards Amaryllis. They buried her alive, and the miserable look on her face covered in blood and tears only made me want to kill myself as well.

She was holding the pendant tightly, crying until she was completely buried. I saw myself running away from it, but when everyone left, I came back to retrieve the pendant. It was only then I realized that I was wrong not to trust my only friend, and to have her killed at my own hands. I saw Amaryllis once more, and she was still staring at me. She was looking like she was happy that I was going to die. She acknowledged herself for what had happened to me, for all the pain I had suffered. I had nothing left to say as life was running low on me. With the desire to clear my conscience, I said, “I am sorry. I knew I was wrong but I still want you to know how important you are to me and that you will always be a part of me.” Those were my last words; for the last time, seeing her smile was more than enough to bid me goodbye.