Rose's Notebook

Morning. It's dark outside, which is weird for summer. I opened the curtains the night before, so I wake to the struggling, dim light cast off in the mist. It's gloomy. And unsettling to me, I can't help but feel that something bad will happen.

Mom and Dad are out at meetings. Macy is playing with some old dolls of Mom's.

I get dressed, into a pair of faded blue jeans and a blue jersey. I turn on the tv, and turn to watch the weather report.

"Sometime in the next week there will be some rain with a chance of heavy fog and low winds from the north. It will likely be cooler than it has been."

It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, I think.

*

At school, everyone acts the same as always. Christy, my best friend, waves to me, "So, did you get the essay done?" She asks, tilting her head.

I nod slowly, "Yeah, shockingly. I jot through it like Roadrunner." I sigh, scratching the back of my head, I still can't shake the bad feeling. "Besides, I've had all day, I finished - tweaked - it between the other classes, so the last period ain't a worry."

Christy laughs in agreement, "Good, cuz I so wasn't gonna help you because you were procrastinating."

"But it's my hobby, and I'm pretty good at it too." I reply sheepishly, quieter than usual.


I walk to the library after school, it's only a few blocks away. Then I notice a new store, "River By the Creek". It's a bookstore, so I go on in.

I immediately head for the Fantasy section, a book catches my eye. Brown leather, and dusty, grey letters spelling out "Rose's Notebook". There isn't an author, I skip through the pages, stopping at a weird, starry flower. Underneath it:


"These nine stars form the shape of a flower. The constellation represents a tale about the power of hope. It is most significant on the winter solstice, when it appears low on the Northern horizon. It is counterbalanced by the constellations representing a white dove, flying above a blue crystal. Those born under it tend to be psychics..."



A large marble statue of a willow tree.

A large watercolor of a dove in abandoned ruins.

A large mosaic of a red rose surrounded by fireflies.

The small, melancholy girl who is playing a musical instrument.