Alice walked her way to school leaving the house without anyone knowing she left, as always. Her house wasn't far from the school, so in less than 20 minutes she got there. It was the first day of a new term and everyone was excited to be back to school. Everyone but her. But it was better than staying at home so she didn't really mind watching the other kids' parents drop them off at school. She didn't mind feeling like an unwanted child. But just then, something hit her. It was sticky and had a touch of coarse texture. It was something familiar but she had spaced out so much that it hadn't really registered in her head what it was.
There was a faint noise around her. It sounded like laughter and she looked up to see the students laughing and a familiar but unpleasant face right in front of her. The culprit, Erica Johnson; a drama queen and a bully. Without much thought she realized she had been hit by an egg. She had been bullied by several of her mates after a certain incident that earned her the nickname 'the freak' the previous year, but she'd rather not dwell on that now.
Alice just walked past the laughing flock and headed straight for the bathroom. She has learnt not to bother herself with things like that and just get on with life. One thing to note though was that her hair was still a mess. She never really took care of it again after the 'freak' incident. Why bother tidying up when they were just going to mess it up again. After cleaning up, she tried leaving the bathroom but was tripped on her way out. Undeterred by her fall, she walked to her class quietly with her usual drab expression.
"Alice, you're late. I spoke with your mother over the phone yesterday---" Her teacher says as she drags herself into her class.
"She's not my mother," Alice cursed under her breath. She'd prefer it altogether if people stopped calling her that. She hated the thought of her mother being replaced by someone who barely even noticed her sometimes.
"What was that?" Her teacher asked, unsure of what Alice had said but was only met with silence. "Anyway, have your seat. I don't want you disturbing the class more than you already have. I was really hoping that this term you'd change." Her teacher scolded her much to Alice's displeasure.
"Why don't you get the others to change then? Maybe you'd see something different," Alice murmured. She was getting tired of the same old responses. Perhaps staying at home wasn't so bad. But nonetheless, she walked straight to her seat. Luckily for her, almost no one paid attention to her after that. Well, almost. There was still the occasional tug and the paper throwing at her, let's not forget the side talks but yeah, it was better than most days.
But the worst was yet to come. During her break period, one of the students snatched her bag on her way to the cafeteria. She tried chasing him but her bag was passed from one person to another and finally, the contents of her bag were poured out. One thing picked their interest though, her matchbox. The students started waving it in the air as she tried to get it back before eventually getting to the notice of the principal.
"That's two weeks' worth of detention for you, young man, starting today," The principal said. "Alice, can I see you in my office?"
In the principal's office, Alice remained uneasy as her matchbox was still yet to be returned to her. "I'm really sorry for the recent events. We're trying our best to curb these excesses. However, I'm worried that you might be threading on dangerous paths. Do you smoke?" the principal asked waving her matchbox in the air.
"No sir," She replied passively.
"Young lady, if you're not upfront with me, you might not get this back. Why do you have this on you?"
"It's my home!" Alice replies with enthusiasm. The principal wouldn't have taken her seriously if he hadn't seen the life in her eyes. It was really a rare sight.
"Well, I still won't be able to give this back. I need you to keep seeing the counsellor, or me, if you ever need someone to talk to,"
"You all never listen," She cursed under her breath as she left his office.
***
On her way home, she stopped at the store to get more matchboxes. "I'll be taking these two please," She drops it off at the cashier.
"You get these quite a lot. Why don't you just get a lighter?" The cashier asked.
"Nah, it doesn't quite feel the same. I'm old school," She teased as she left the store.
She got home to meet no one, which was pretty normal. She'd be shocked if she met her parents at home though. She went to the kitchen to grab a bowl and a cereal box and went straight to her room. She took out a matchstick from her matchbox and lit it. She then drew a circle on air with the lit matchstick and just like paint on a canvas, she created a golden circle on thin air! Yes, the flame was golden. And in an instant, she found herself in a whole new world completely far from home, the Niagara Falls!
It was her favorite place on earth. Her mum had always dreamed of coming here while she was alive but never could. So, she'd come here most times, with the aid of nothing more than a lit matchstick and all her problems would vanish. The seven wonders of the world weren't complete without accounting for her smile however. She smiled so widely that it was hard to fathom that she rarely did. And for someone whose expression was most times just drab, she had the prettiest of smiles. A smile that could light up worlds, just like her matchsticks. The scenery made her so relaxed. But of course, why wouldn't she feel relieved? She was where she always wanted to be. She was home.