Chalk Girl

You take a moment to look at all of the trophies once more. Anger boiling inside of you. “Of course she was jealous of me!” You yell at the top of your lungs “How could I not see it before?” Claudia has always been the jealous type but just because she’s insecure about the way she looks, even though she is pretty. But Ellerie has always been nice, not jealous of anyone. Just so nice. You take a moment to absorb this huge piece of information you were missing before. If Ellerie was the mean one, could she have pushed you into this strange alternate universe? You already know the answer. Of course she did! Ellerie always wanted this to go her way. A small memory comes back to you. You were in kindergarten playing with Ellerie, whom you had just met, and you two were swinging. This little girl came up to you and Ellerie and asked Ellerie if she could have a turn swinging. She refused even after the girls cries. You gave your swing to the little girl however Ellerie didn’t get off until she felt like it. You think back. “she must have been here before but escaped!” You exclaim noticing that this finally all makes sense. “She knew about this chalk world so one way to get rid of me, without anyone noticing, was pushing me in here.” You feel your cheeks getting red from anger. You shove the trophies aside to make room for you to sit down. When you do, you see a small piece of chalk, the chalk you had used before, to draw the circle. You pick it up and ponder. Maybe if you use it now to draw whatever you want, it would bring it to you. You hear feet shuffling hurriedly down the stairs. Ellerie’s mom was coming for you. What do you really want? Well obviously to go home. You reach down. With your hands shaking, you draw a picture of your own house. Even though it wasn’t very detailed, apparently it was good enough. The drawing starts shining and a bright light shoots out. You shriek as you see your legs getting sucked into the drawing. You hear the door swing open behind you and running footsteps. Then you get sucked in entirely, Ellerie’s chalk house fading out of sight………. You snap your eyes open, a blinding light coming in. You feel a damp, cold cloth on your forehead and take it off. You look around, your eyes still foggy, where are you? You rub your eyes and attempt to make your head stop spinning in wild circles. You look around once more, and gasp. You were home, not in the chalk world anymore. You look down at yourself and squeal with delight. You weren’t chalk anymore. You hear your door being pushed in and panicked, who was it? Then your mom came in and screamed, obviously surprised to see you up. You run to her and threw your arms around her. She embraces your hug and starts crying, tears of joy. She has many gray streaks of gray running throughout her hair and looks worn out. When you point this out, she stares at you, bewildered. “Why Dahlia, it’s been three years since your disappearance, of course I have aged some.” You stare back into her warm, comforting eyes, your heart pumping rapidly. “I have been there for three years, I missed three years of my life.” You say aloud. Were things still the same? Did your friends remember you? Your friends...what will you tell them? Do you go and talk to them or stay home?