Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: It was All Shakespeare's Fault

Chapter 2: It was All Shakespeare's Fault

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June 2nd, 2012

Adaline woke to the sound of the cars from the street below, honking outside her window.

After another exhausting day of work, she had passed out in the same clothes from the day before, and had a crick in her neck from spending the night on the couch.

"Saturday," she voiced, getting up from the couch to go take a shower.

The weekends were relatively calm for Adaline. She didn't have to go anywhere or do anything. Most Saturdays she would sit in the chair by the window sill with a cup of tea and work on her upcoming article or sit with a book and read for hours on end.

After Adaline had washed up and put on a comfortable pair of shorts and a raggedy old t-shirt, she went to the kitchen to brew her tea. When she went back to the window sill, she opened her book and began to read, all while listening to the ruckus of the city below her feet.

As she read, her mind began to wander making her re-read the same paragraph several times over, before she gave up. She put the book down and began to look back upon that one day when she was sixteen years old.

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August 12th, 2006- Trenton, New Jersey

Adaline had been on her way to the library to begin a school research assignment. It was the beginning of her junior year and she was not going to fall behind. At the time, her and her father lived only a few short blocks away from the Hamilton Township Public Library, so her dad had let her walk there alone.

When she got there she headed straight to the back into the European literature section in search of all things Shakespeare, in hopes that with some research she could better understand his way of writing and his lifestyle.

As she continued her lengthy search for all books that could help her understand Macbeth or better known as "Shakespeare's literary masterpiece", in her English teacher's eyes; she began to feel the temperature in the room rise, and she winced as she heard the cries of many smack her ears. Adaline then heard the incessant ring of a fire alarm and began to sprint to the nearest exit. By the time she had neared the exit, the flames had grown exponentially making her escape impossible.

Adaline was surrounded. She shied away from the flames, in fear of being scorched by each flare that flickered toward her. Sitting down on the ground and pulling her knees into her chest as a few tears fell down her cheeks. She thought about how this was how her life would end, at sixteen, with a full life ahead of her. She thought about how she would never see her dad again and never be able to tell him how much she loved him. She thought about her mom and how she would soon be with her.

FROM THE ASHES - L. Laufeyson [1]Where stories live. Discover now