Chapter 4: UnDead Girl by Stephen Simpson
Genesis shook her head. Her mum was afraid of her. Genesis
could feel fear rolling off her mum in big, suffocating waves. A sadness
overwhelmed Genesis and she felt tears well up in her eyes. “I’ll be in my
room,” she said as she turned and rushed down the hall.
When she reached her room, she pushed the door shut behind
her before she took the few steps across the carpet to her bed. She fell onto
the bed and cradled her head in her arms. Although she could feel tears burning
her eyelids, they did not escape.
She sat up quickly and rushed over to the closet. Standing
on her toes, she reached up to the top of the cupboard and pulled on the large
canvas bag, while bringing her other hand up to shield her head from the debris
of scarves, hats and multiple sheets of art coming down with the bag. She left
everything else on the floor and carried the bag to her bed. She knew there was
something seriously wrong with her, and her mum was terrified of being in the
same room as her, so she had no choice—she had to leave.
Packing a few T-shirts, two pairs of jeans, tracksuit
bottoms, a black hoodie, underwear, make-up and toiletries, she had no idea
where she would go, but she could not stay after seeing the look of utter
horror in her mum’s eyes.
The knock on the door startled her.
“Gen.
Your mum and I need to speak with you.”
She listened to his footsteps receding down the hall, before
she opened her door.
Walking into the family room, she saw her dad standing by
the long couch in front of the picturesque window with a view of the lake and
hilltops in the distance. Her mum sat at the end of it, holding onto his hand.
Her eyes were red from crying and her back was so straight it looked as if she
had swallowed a broomstick.
The look her dad gave her was filled with sorrow and regret.
“We’re
so sorry, Gen,” her mum said with a sob.
“I’ll
manage this, Josie,” her dad said, giving her hand a tight, reassuring squeeze
before he turned his attention back to Genesis. “We should have told you
sooner.”
Genesis looked from her mum to her dad without saying a
word, waiting for them to explain what they should have told her sooner, why
something was not supposed to happen yet. Did they even know she had died but
was still walking around as if she was alive? Were they all talking about the
same thing? What if it was something as mundane, although it would be a
devastating revelation that she was adopted? If she was adopted, maybe she had
not really died and maybe her real parents were aliens or something and feeling
dead at sixteen was how she was supposed to feel.
