Through the Looking Glass [Tea--open]

Po Lise

I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I ran as far as I could. I needed to get away. I was so stupid, I was so ridiculously stupid. Grief flooded my system. I felt it flowing through my veins, numbing all other feelings except for pain.

The last few days I had been beaten, nearly killed, and almost raped three times. Yet the pain I felt from the broken bones, bruises, and cuts was nothing compared to the pain emitting from my heart now.

Juliana, the very first person to treat me like a person had been playing me the entire time. She was a liar, a fake, a a a.... I thought of a few unspeakable terms I could throw at her.

Juliana was my first love, sad for a seventeen year old girl but hell I had an interesting childhood. From being kidnapped at seven to the imprisonment for seven years of my life, it was no wonder Juliana didn't want to deal with me.

I had been running for forever it had seemed. Tears were still flowing from my eyes, falling to the ground. My make up was running and my hair was a mess. My clothes were rags loosely hanging from my body, exposing a large amount of skin. Hell I was a mess, I looked exotic, almost homeless.

As I ran my hair flew behind me like a comet's tail. I Felt the fire building in my lungs and the tides of exhaustion flowing through my numb corpse.

As I felt the feeling of a exhaustion driven coma pulled at the corner of my mind I stopped running and examined my location. I let out a scream. Not only was I tired, depressed, and hungry I was now lost. I was somewhere in District 1 I had never dared enter. I was at a pond, or lake. I don't get out much so I can't really tell the difference. All I knew was this was the ocean.

It could be the ocean, I mean It was pretty big. I heard people talk about the ocean but I've never seen it. And this was pretty big so this must definitely could be the ocean. I knelt by the water and examined it more closely. I saw fish, fish were in the ocean. At least that is what I was told. The water was blue, there were fish, and it was pretty large. I made my decision. This, this right her was the ocean. The big beautiful ocean.

"I'm at the ocean" I said to myself " I am at the ocean" I yelled with determination. "I AM AT THE OCEAN!" I screamed from the top of my lungs. Then It hit me. "I'm at the ocean" I cried. "I don't know how to get home."

In my depression I had made some stupid mistake. I ran without looking and now I was lost. I had no idea where I was. None. Zip. Nada. I was a lost street performer in a district full of military trained careers. I began weeping, letting the last few days wash over me. I cried until I was out of tears, I cried until the wells of sadness were dry, I cried until it hurt.

I lifted my head and held my tears. I began to stand, brushing off my short skirt. I pulled my shirt over my shoulders and began to walk. My legs had fallen asleep during my short session so I slight limp had appeared in my steps.

After wondering for ten minutes I decided I needed help. I slowly walked to a couple I say near the edge of the ocean. I walked up to them, with hair a mess, make up running, eyes puffy, and tears running down my face.

'Excuse me, but I'm lost." I said without crying. I opened my mouth, but as I did a damn of sorrow erupted over me. I began crying once again. "And I really need help."

Duke

Well this certainly wasn't what Duke had had in mind. One minute he'd been alone with his seemingly endless problems, and the next he was accompanied by two women. Duke was impressed. Usually he had to work a lot hard than this to obtain their interest. Duke couldn't help but smile, although the situation really wasn't right. Amira however, certainly wouldn't be impressed. As quickly as it had appeared, the smile was gone, and Duke was forced back into what seemed to be a terribly depressing conversation.

The girls continued on for a minute, the brunette confirming what he already had, that this was in fact just a pond, before introducing herself. Nyrah. That was...pretty. Duke found himself subconsciously studying her figure as she spoke. Her hair wasn't the plain brown he'd originally thought. There were auburn streaks as well. Maybe she wasn't terribly average either.

The other girl introduced herself as Po. A street entertainer. Duke couldn't help but snort, "So like a wanderer. No need to be fancy, sweetheart," No, not sweetheart. That was Amira. "I mean...yeah. We know what you are. It wasn't hard to guess." He listened to her go on, about losing her friend. Oh yeah. And that she was raped. "Damn," he muttered. Well, at least he knew his own life could only get better. "That's uh...yeah, that's pretty bad. I'm Duke."

A wanderer? They thought I was a wanderer? I was not a wanderer, I'd rather die then lose my home, my life, my way of living. I just, didn't know where My house was at the moment.
I flung my arms into the soft green grass in frustration as I said"I am not a wanderer!" Okay maybe I did a little more than say that last part.

I bit my lip and breathed slowly. Might as well tell them my life story. I mean what is the worse that could happen? I already had men after me who wanted to do unspeakable things to me.

I brought my slender legs up to my chest and hugged them tightly. I felt insecure, lonely, and depressed. Hell, I thought, I'm making a pretty good image of myself. I took one last long breathe and began my story.

"I'm not always like this. I'm never crying, I'm never sad, I'm never." I looked at the two next to me. "Lost. It's true I'm a street performer. No I'm not a prostitute. I'm a performer. I perform, I entertain, I make people believe in the unimaginable. I juggle, I do sleight of hand, I breathe fire. I'm not a wanderer." With the last sentence I gave a quick glance at Duke. I tried to fill all my anger in that short glance. In ended up looking like I was possessed by some sort of clown spirit.

"But I wasn't always a performer. Hell I was a career at one point of my life." I stopped for a few minutes. Ashamed i looked down and toyed with the grass in between my fingers as a continued my story. " I was born here, in district one. I had a father and a mother who loved me dearly. But they were always working so I didn't see them much."

This was the hardest part of the story for me to tell. "On my seventh birthday my parents had to go to a quick meeting. They hugged me, and kissed me, and left me. I was all alone in that big old house. I began setting up for my party. I was so excited I put on this little red dress and put bows in my hair. I was going to be the princess for the day. I eagerly awaited for my parents on my big off white sofa in our living room. When I heard the door bell rang I ran and opened the door smiling.

I felt the tears coming before I actually began weeping. But I couldn't stop myself and I broke down into a hysterical fit. In between sobs I told the rest of my story. "It wasn't even my parents. It was a man, with a black suit. He grabbed me and put me in his car and we drove off. I was kidnapped, made to do unspeakable things. From the age I was seven to when I was 15 I was a slave to multiple owners. I was raped, mistreated, extorted put on shows."

I stopped my crying, I looked pathetic. "I escaped when I was fifteen, two years ago. A former career trainer rescued me and taught me how to fight. Ever since then I've been living on my own, I pay my bills from the money I rake in from performing juggling acts, flame eating, dancing."

"But now those men are back. They found me, they want me back. One greedy ass found me and tried to rape me. I guess I should of specified that. It just brought up so many memories...It felt like I was raped again..." I stopped talking. Silence filled the air. I had to do something to show I wasn't a total mess.

"Now that I think about it I haven't really changed professions, I just do what I like now!" I gave a great big smile. I liked what I do, and I was good at it. It made me proud to tell them about it. "Do you want to see me perform!"