six: amie

Feathers fall.

SIX: AMIE

She trotted down the road, with her newly cut white hair glistening like pearls in the sunlight. She felt a smile blossom on her face, not caring that her hair was lopsided and tangled, not caring that her face was pale and caked with dust. She felt happy.

Suddenly, a rock appeared in front of her and her toes hooked under it, sending her sprawling face-first onto the hard ground.

Suddenly, she wasn't that happy anymore.

Tears threatened to leak as the children ran away, screaming with laughter on how the stupid quiet girl had tripped and fell and they did it! it was all them.

She gave a sob.

"H-Hello? Excuse me?"

She looked up.

"H-Hey, uh, my name is Charles Max- I mean," a pause, "Charlie. Everyone calls me Charles, and I don't like that name because Charles is a boy name, and I'm pretty obviously a girl, and - Oh, are you alright? I'm sorry, I talk too much..."

"I-I'm fine. Thanks," she whispered, staring up at this child with black hair and black eyes, the complete opposite of her.

Charlie eyed the scrape on her knee, which was bleeding furiously. "Uh, you don't look like you're okay. Do you want to come over to my house, so I can patch you up? You can't bleed to death here on this road." How funny.

"O-Okay," she said, accepting Charlie's hand and standing, wincing a little as she felt the scrape. "I-I haven't seen you around much."

"Nah, my parents don't let me hang out with the other kids." Charlie touched a black earring, then continued, "My house is the really extravagant white one down the block from Widder Samuel's, you'll see it. My parents aren't going to be home till the weekend - it's Tuesday today, right?" She gave a small nod. Charlie went on, "I have a cat, too, name's Lucy. She's kind of a demon at first, but once she knows you're nice she'll be the perfect little angel to you."

She nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Oh, your name is...?"

"... Amie M."

"could I call you Amie?"

"... Yes, please. Amie."

Amie gripped Charlie's hand tightly as the other walked them to the bright marble mansion down the road. She thought of how her life had changed so, so much since the day, the day of the dreaded f

...

...

She woke in Charlie's house under thick black blankets.