red-eyed girl

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December 2, 2021

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Her fiery eyes stood out most to Abigail, a shade so vibrant it almost paled the very color Abigail was named after. Red eyes had only existed in vampires until now. But some people looked mythical, some had otherworldly personalities, and the lucky ones had both. 

 

When she spoke, the shy streets of her town echoed in response, as if the sheer waves of her enthusiasm were enough to be elastic. When she danced on stage, tripping over her words and her own two feet, people laughed with her, not at her. And when she made small talk with strangers—oh God, Abigail’s personal hell—she did so with ease, as if it was the most natural thing to discuss the direction of baby boy piss on a Sunday afternoon in the diaper aisle.

 

Abigail used to think it was so stupid naming a child after a color, a noun without concrete substance, just vintage enough to pass off as a generational inheritance, just mainstream enough to mask the real story. But hating her name was just an extension of hating herself—actually, hate was the wrong word, since even hatred filled spaces whereas all she had was an apathetic emptiness.

 

But the red-eyed girl had rekindled something within Abigail, a feeling of desire. She had forgotten what it was like to leave her room, to shower, to eat, to do the basic things of life, let alone feel ambition. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs had taught her that physiological necessities were to be satisfied before one could desire fulfillment. But the red-eyed girl disagreed; one needed desire to motivate even the basic ways of life. 

 

And with that, she stretched her fingers—paled to a sickly shade of albino from the lack of sun exposure—then her arms, arching her back and sending a crackle of vibrations down her spine. The energy pulsed along her rib cage, through her legs and into each toe until it cascaded back to match the beat of her heart. Her nerves trembled with the newfound weight of responsibility after so many days of dormancy, but they were excited.

 

I am going to live today, Abigail thought.