Lonely Girl*

[Vierna Do'Urden*]

Phoebe Cross sat in a corner of the coffee shop, sipping an iced mocha.  A small folder bulging with papers sat next to her.  Those papers were actually four or five unfinished novels she had attempted.  She had told herself that she would finish one of them during they time she had off from school because of the incident, but so far, her muse appeared to be on permanent vacation.

She closed her eyes to envision the next chapter of "Dreams on Wings", a foray into magial  realism.  Instead, all she saw was the body of Kimberly.  She shuddered and flicked her eyes open.  Phoebe hadn't known Kimberly personally, but to die so young!  The thought of it produced another shudder.  Personally, she had big plans for the future, and the only reason she feared death was out of fear that those dreams wouldn't be realized.

With a small feeling of guilt, she reached into her bookbag.  There was only one way to deal with something that kept popping into her head: write about it.  Of course, a few months later, it would mean another unfinished story lying around, but who really cared?  

Then, with her forearm fully submerged in her bookbag, she felt something slimy.  Summoning her courage, she pulled the slimy thing out of the bag, and opened her hand.
It was a small frog.  Phoebe laughed slightly.  Those bullies apparently thought she was squeamish.  She had her healthy share of fears, but she was definetly not afraid of something as harmless as a frog.  She cupped the frog in her hands. Then, careful not to let anyone else see it, she walked to the door.  As soon as she was five paces outside the coffee shop, she opened her hands near the ground.  She returned to the shop and her seat as soon as she saw the frog hopping towards the park.

She sat down, took as small sip of her iced mocha, and continued rummaging in her bookbag for some paper. Feeling the familiar rustle of looseleaf in her hand, she brought it out to discover it had already been written on.
"Phoebe.  Are you scared yet? Having second thoughts?  It's much safer to be on our side.  Sincerely, you know who."

Phoebe crumpled the paper in disgust.  She would never stoop to their level.  They were dispicable, using an innocent girl's death to try to bring her over to their side!

She finally found a blank sheet of paper, and raised her pen, but was distracted by the door to the coffee shop opening.