English Story

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                                 Reflections

She peered over into the frozen river. There she was, her glaring eyes staring back at her.

   “What are you doing back here?” she whispered coldly.

   “I… well…I…”

She was astonished. She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with her.

   “Well, you do know you’re going down for murder!” she hissed back.

   “I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me! Why won’t anyone believe me?” she fired back. All the accusations were driving her mad. She felt so angry; tears were welling up in her eyes.

   “You’re going down for murder! You’re going down for murder!” she chanted and hissed.

   “NO! NO! NOOOO!” she screamed. Why won’t anyone listen to her? She started to run away, but her legs were frozen. She felt something tugging her leg. She looked back and saw her come out of the river. Her bare hands hung on to her leg.

   “NO! LET GO OF MEEE!” she screamed at the top of her voice so that her throat dried out.

   “Anna, what’s wrong?” her father shouted from downstairs. She woke up; sweat trickling down her face, yet the rest of her body was freezing cold. She realised her duvet was thrown across the floor. Had she thrown it whilst she was dreaming? It must have been a nightmare, she thought to herself…but then how did that person know about the murder?

   It must have been my reflection she thought. I mean, I was talking to myself in a river, although it felt as if I was talking to someone else.

   The scent of her dad’s coffee wafted into her bedroom and through her nose. Anna felt drowsy but she knew she had to get up. As she clambered out of her bed, she noticed her right leg had red scratches and marks.

   “It can’t be …” she thought aloud. “I probably scratched myself while I was asleep.”

   Slowly, she dragged herself over to the other side of her cluttered room. She pulled her curtains wide open. There, in front of her own eyes, was the most magnificent and magical sight she had ever seen.

   The snow floated into their garden like a snow dome. The branches of their two apple trees were wrapped up in glittering frost. In between them, there hung a banner saying ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!’

   Anna hurried over to the en-suite in her room and went through her usual morning routine. She was really happy that her family had wanted to celebrate her birthday, what with everything that was going on. At least it might cheer me up, Anna thought.

   Anna grabbed her brush and turned to face her mirror. She started to brush her hair slowly, staring deeply at her reflection. Anna stood in that position for a couple of minutes, not realising she had day-dreamed off to space. She moved closer and closer to the mirror until the condensation of her breath left a mark. She focused on the icy blue eyes that stared back at her. Then suddenly, the washing machine awoke and started whirring and spinning. She jumped, then realised it was her mum who had put a load in the machine.

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   Anna tied back her hair, grabbed her handbag and mobile phone, and went out into the hallway.

   The sun beamed through the window at the bottom of the stairs, her left hand grabbed the wooden banister. As her left foot descended onto the first step, her right foot followed, sinking deeply into the soft beige carpet. Slowly and carefully, she slid her hand down and her body would follow, passing the black-and-white ancient photographs of her great grandparents. As she descended more and more, her eyes focused on the photos of their family tree. Her father ...

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