The Journey The Journey 2017 - 18 | Page 56

R GOWRI UNNIKRISHNAN IX GPS (I) When she looked into the mirror, she was amazed to find a different person smiling back at her. Jenna blinked her eyes in awe, raised her eyebrows in confusion, and whispered to herself, “I must be dreaming.” On the other side, was a little girl, gazing up at Jenna with round, curious eyes and long hair the colour of ebony. What was extremely bizarre about this sight, was that this little girl was the 6 year old that Jenna had once been, it was her. Jenna convinced herself that this was obviously something her mind had conjured up. She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself, but that didn’t change anything. With a look of horror, Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The little girl had a thoughtful and curios expression scattered across her face and said to Jenna, “You’ve changed.” She turned her back to leave and within a second, she vanished, leaving no trace behind. A year ago, Jenna was like every other teenager. She led a normal life, having a decent number of friends. But around a year ago, her usual sense of normalcy and order took a wrong, unexpected turn for the worse. Jenna lost herself, feeling broken and shattered. Most of this had happened due to the fact that she had started to spend an extraordinary amount of time with the wrong crowd. She was getting involved in situations that were unacceptable, and even illegal. Amidst all the drama, her bonds with the family wore out. Arriving back home at midnight, exploding into unexpected tantrums, and stirring up tension and distress within the family were just a few of the things that Jenna did to disappoint and worry her parents. She was slowly drifting away from the person she should have been, to someone that was ignorant and resentful-everything that she should not be. Coming back to the present, Jenna widened her eyes in shock and her mouth gaped open, as once again, the mirror started to disintegrate. Ever so slowly, but it didn’t crack. The mirror was trying to show her something. All of a sudden, there is a clear sky, and a 4 year old running across lush green meadows, with a crown of daisies woven into her hair. She giggled as her father picked her up. Now, a 10 year old. Kicking back her legs as she swung, smiling from ear to ear. All of a sudden there was shouting, and slamming doors, and crying. “Why am I doing this?” Jenna thought to herself as she rushed down the stairs and leaped into her parents’ arms. “I’m sorry”, she said. Her voice cracked, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “It’s never too late to change”, said her mom. Ruth, 6 D global public school 56