Wilma sat in the back of her mom's car after being picked up from detention; the ride felt never-ending as she tried her best to fight back, shutting her eyes. At that moment, it felt as if her eyelids had gained 10 pounds, while they wandered off to the window. Her gaze met hers; there she was, the same lady she saw every day, slim, pale, and clearly not okay. Despite never having a conversation with her, it was hard not to feel pity. The lady wore torn-up clothes that were barely enough for her body, which was filled with bruises, as she stretched herself frantically around her neck.
The one thing stood out the most about her was her bright red hair, which reminds Wilma of her own, her gaze never seemed to have left that lady, despite her poor image you could see, she was never ugly, in fact you could tell she was once so beautiful but life had other plans for her or more like she was just facing the consequences of her own actions. Wilma felt drawn to her, but in a guilty way, like there was an ache in her heart every time her eyes met the lady. Suddenly, the car ride that had felt like an eternity somehow ended. I suppose I was so lost in my thoughts that I finally realized I was home. I made my way to my room, dropping everything down to the floor, as I flopped myself onto my bed.
The sensation of my eyes finally resting and my head no longer needing the support of my neck brought me a feeling of relief, as if I were almost at peace. However, the image of that lady was still there in my mind, taunting me. What was it with that lady that had such a chokehold on me? I let out an annoyed sigh while I nearly suffocated myself into my pillow and my hair knotted all over the place I flipped myself over looking up to my ceiling which I had over with different tapestries and posters of my favorite shows I gently brushed my fingers through my hair trying to make it somewhat tamed but I guess it didn't matter, I felt myself already drifting to sleep, maybe my mind could finally be at ease and not have that lady be in the back of my mind. Where was I? I looked around, and it was the same street I drove past today, where I had always seen the lady, really?! I couldn't even escape from her, even in my dreams. I looked around but found nothing but an empty street, which was completely pitch black, with only the streetlight keeping it company.
The wind blew against my hair, which somehow grew to my knees. I brushed my hands through it as the wind grew gradually and pushed me forward down the street. A shiver went down my spine, and the palms of my hands began to sweat. I kept walking till I finally saw something shine from the distant glass. No, it was a mirror. I hesitantly pressed my hand against the mirror, touching my reflection, except it wasn't my reflection; there she was, the lady once again, simply staring back at me, with the same stretches all over her neck. The closer I looked, the realization sank down to my stomach, the sketches formed letters, W I L M A. “Who are you?” I asked, knowing deep down that I already knew the answer: she was me.
The lady leaned in and whispered into my ear. “It's not over till you learn your lesson,” and just like that, I woke up. I was in the back of my mom's car again. Was I just lost in my thoughts again? And there she was, the same lady I saw every day, staring right at me.
I am writing this story in particular because at first I was going to write it as a character reflecting me, and how I normally tend to have really vivid, weird dreams, and expand on how that character is very disconnected from the world and tends to daydream like me. Instead, I decided to give that character a similar physical setting to what I see every day in the afternoon, after I get picked up from school, where I normally always tend to see homeless people. During my thought process for this story, since I had given my character a similar physical setting to my life, I decided to give her the polar opposite of my personality and home life. What inspired me to write this story is that I remember the day before we had this assignment, I had a really odd dream about walking in the street at night. This then inspired me to connect my dream to what I see every day on my way home to make this story.
My story explores universal themes such as bullying, drug addiction, and personal struggles. Wilma, the main character, faces neglect at home as her parents prioritize their reputation and image over her well-being. Wilma’s character theme is, "a bird trapped in a beautiful cage decorated with jewels is still a bird trapped in a cage." This theme is shown through her parents' constant focus on appearances, leaving Wilma feeling isolated. As a result, Wilma rebels for two reasons: first, getting in trouble is the only way to get her parents’ attention; second, she harbors a deep grudge against them but still longs for a relationship. Her rebellion leads her to drug use and bullying, which results in frequent detentions.
One of my choices in terms of characterization is definitely the setting of Wilma's house. The reason is that, as I mentioned earlier, her theme is “a bird trapped in a beautiful cage decorated with jewels is still a bird trapped in a cage”. Which connects to her house because she lives in a very high-class, two-story house that is filled with the most beautiful decor ever, and despite her house being filled with so much beauty, she herself feels empty, which emphasizes how, despite the cage being beautiful at the end of the day, it's still a cage. When growing up, Wilmia also felt forced into being molded into a certain type of person and act out a specific way instead of just being herself, which emphasizes how she never had that freedom of being able to express herself, or in this case, be set free from that cage, which is what causes her to want to rebel as she got older.
My writing process was just writing whatever first ideas popped into my head and then mixing them together as one, but with a more dark twist to it since we were in the fall and I wanted to match thriller and horror stories. I honestly haven't faced any challenges yet, but I think as the story progresses, I’ll find it difficult to explain to the audience how her dream is just her actually living in a consent loop, and then finding out a way to end that loop will be difficult for me to write about. I will overcome it by also getting the opinions of my classmates, as seeing what their ideas are, to help me improve my story and get further development.
“I hesitantly pressed my hand against the mirror, touching my reflection, except it wasn't my reflection; there she was, the lady once again, simply staring back at me, with the same stretches all over her neck. The closer I looked, the realization sank down to my stomach, the sketches formed letters, W I L M A. “Who are you?” I asked, knowing deep down that I already knew the answer: she was me. The lady leaned in and whispered into my ear. “It's not over till you learn your lesson,” and just like that, I woke up. I was in the back of my mom's car again. Was I just lost in my thoughts again? And there she was, the same lady I saw every day, staring right at me.’’ In this passage, I explain what's going on in the first person from William's perspective. I do this so the reader gets a sense of also experiencing this moment with Wilma at the same time, since both the reader and Wilma are unaware of what's truly happening.
I learned how much more creative I can be if I combine more than just 2 ideas together, because in total this story took me about 5 different ideas, and I'm really proud of how it turned out and can't wait to expand on it more. I also learned how to depth my character's background by just asking questions about that character, like what's in their fridge. That helped me a lot because it allowed me to think of things I normally wouldn't think about and led me to give every small detail a deeper meaning. Overall, I learned how to not only stretch things out further but also to make something deeper and more meaningful than it seems at first glance.