Ophelia

Ophelia pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she stared in the mirror. Warm sunlight filled her room, and warm air drifted through the open window. On the desk sat open textbooks and notes neatly stacked and organized. Finished dressing, she grabbed her spotless bag and dropped several books and a pencil case inside. As she walked out of her room, her phone buzzed with a new message. "You ready for biology today?". Ophelia checked inside her bag for her books, and, once satisfied they were there, typed out a quick response. "Hopefully I am. I've got my notes if you still want them".

As she ate breakfast, she heard a drowsy voice behind her. "Morning sweetheart, ready for school?" "Yes mom, I was just about to leave". Ophelia finished off the last piece of toast and stood up stretching. "So prepared, how do you do it?" Ophelia smiled at her mother. "Good parenting maybe?". As her mother laughed, Ophelia pulled on her shoes. With a wave, she slipped out of the door into the early morning.

Outside, the sound of traffic and the chirp of birds mixed in the air as a faint breeze danced down the street. Ophelia walked slowly, taking in the freshly grown leaves and spring flowers decorating the sidewalk. Suddenly, a person appeared before her with a smile beaming from their face. "Hi Ophelia, how are you?". Lyssa wore a similar uniform as Ophelia, with a light blue jumper over her shirt. "I'm good, what about you, Lyssa?". The two girls fell into step side by side as they chatted. "By the way, do you still want my notes?" Ophelia gestured at her bag. "Yes please! You're a lifesaver, I haven't studied at all". Lyssa's smile grew even larger and she bobbed with energy.

As they walked through the school gates, the birdsong was replaced with the busy chatter of students waiting for class to start. The harsh ringing of the bell ushered Ophelia into the classroom. Time flew by as teachers droned on and Ophelia read over her notes. Finally, a paper booklet sat in front of her, the word "biology" written on the cover in bold. Flipping through the booklet, her eyes fell upon a particular question. "Explain how an absence of chemicals can be responsible for a decrease in mood and provide an example". She clicked her pen. Click. Click. Click. Lowering the pen, ink began to fill the page, spelling out an answer. "Loss of dopamine in the brain can lead to...". The rest of the paper blurred past until someone tapped her on the back.

"Ophelia, the paper's done. How did you do?" Lyssa stood behind her, ready to leave. "Pretty well, but I zoned out for a bit". Ophelia sighed and pushed herself to her feet. Lyssa reached towards Ophelia's paper. "Oh, let me see your answer to question 4, I want to check whether I got it right or not". Ophelia's hand moved quickly, snatching the booklet before Lyssa could see the empty pages. "I didn't do to well for that question, just look it up". Lyssa shrugged, waiting for Ophelia to hand in her paper. They started walking out of the building, talking, joking and laughing, with wide smiles on each girl's face. As they walked past the now busy streets, still full of birdsong and noisy cars but now coated in golden light, the girl's chatter continued. "Did you hear? Apparently there's an earthquake predicted in a couple of months". Ophelia raised her eyebrows at Lyssa's comment. "How can they predict it so far in advance? And why is no one worried?". "No idea, you do more science than me. And besides, it's months away, why worry now?". Lyssa grinned at Ophelia who smiled back.

Ophelia waved goodbye as Lyssa turned down the street away from her. As Lyssa faded out of sight, Ophelia's shoulder dropped and the corners of her mouth fell, appearing as if she was drooping. Then, with a sigh, she started walking home in the fading light. In the evening, the leaves looked golden, almost like preparing for autumn. Letting herself in, Ophelia wandered through the house to her room. With her parents working late today, she was home alone for most of the evening.

Flipping on the TV for background noise, she slumped down on her bed in exhaustion. As she stared up at the ceiling, a small black fly caught her attention. As she stared, it buzzed around the room loudly, before finally heading towards the still open window. After hitting the glass a few times, the fly finally flew out into the darkening evening. Ophelia let out a heavy sigh, her shoulders loosening as she relaxed on the bed. She lay there for what seemed like hours but was likely only minutes, until the breeze wafting through the window became cool in preparation for night. Eventually, Ophelia pushed herself upright, leaning against her wall. Her fingers idly fidgeted with the hem of her skirt as her eyes studied her schoolbag laying abandoned on the floor. With the memory of the empty pages hanging over her, Ophelia slowly closed her eyes and leaned her head against the cold wall. She felt lethargic and flat now, with no one around to distract her. Slowly, her listless gaze drifted to the open window next the her. Ophelia shuffled over until she was able to look out the window, the breeze dancing around her slowly.

The dark world outside the window tempted her, promising freedom from her apathy. Entranced, she opened the window even wider until there was a gap large enough for her to climb through. The temperature around Ophelia dropped even more as the night rushed around her. The air was noticeably quiet, lacking the distracting noises of birdsong, people or busy streets. Despite the dancing and twisting of the wind, everything seemed impossibly still to her, even her own body. She leaned further out the window until she teetered on a precipice, risking a fall at any moment. Far beneath her sat the hard concrete path, reminding her of what would happen if she fell.

And yet, Ophelia nudged her body even further out of the window. As she looked back into her room, at the stacks of notes and the blank pages in her bag, her grip on the window frame loosened. She took a languid breath, preparing to remove her hands altogether, ready to fall.

A small tremor rippled through the night, causing her to blink in surprise. Then, before she could react, a larger shockwave shook the earth. Ophelia was knocked from her window perch down, towards the unforgiving concrete. But as she plummeted to the ground, the earth exploded around her, it's roar crashing in her ears as a brilliant and cool blue light cascaded around her. A sharp pain flared in her chest, and her sight faded to darkness once more.