Sue noticed details. She’d write about the details of everything she saw. She’d write about the patterns of the clouds in the sky or the way ants maneuvered through the grass. Everyday on her way to middle school, Sue would stop in the park near her house on her pink and teal bike. She still used her rusty training wheels. They were rusting along with the bike chain. The training wheels were loose enough to fall off but this never seemed to bother Sue.
Some days she would miss school and others she would go. On the days she made it, the teacher would ask her where she’d been. She’d respond, “In the leaves” or “writing in my ‘Journal of Details’.” The school had given up on Sue and her mom. Sue’s mom never had a landline in the apartment. She was always working and not watching over Sue. So the school simply decided to stop trying to get in touch with her and focus on bigger issues. Sue, being eleven years old, wasn’t affected by this at all. Nothing seemed to bother Sue, nothing at all.
It was Autumn now so Sue had been rolling in the massive piles of dead leaves in the park. She’d lay in them with comfort, even if they were wet and soggy. She’d take notes in her ‘Journal of Details.’ She’d watch baby spiders on the leaves move their eight little legs about on the surface of the leaves. She’d wonder how big the world seemed to these baby spider. She’d write about how the spiders would grow up to be artists and weave wonderful designs from tree branch to tree branch. Then she’d try to find a pattern in the brown, yellow and orange leaves and wonder if God planned these patterns out or if it was just her eyes that saw them. No one had ever explained to her who God was, she just knew the name meant the controller of everything. But no one had ever explained the word everything. She just knew it was a word that meant all of the things you knew about and all of the things you’ve ever seen. She always wondered what everything meant to everyone else.
One day before school, Sue woke her mom up. Sue’s mom looked over at her. “What? What the fuck do you want Sue?” Sue stood innocently by her bedside and said, “I just dreamnt...” Her mom yelled, “I don’t have time to listen to another one of your stupid fucking stories. I’m getting rest before work. Got it?” Sue’s mom turned back over in her sheets. Sue shook her head, got her bike and headed for the elevator.
She made her way to the park. She had planned to stay shortly and make it to school on time. They were going to learn about the universe and she didn’t want to miss it. It began to rain hard. It rained like boulders. Sue’s pink bike helmet made great noise with the heavy rain drops. Sue sped up on her bike. She peddled fast, but decided to pass up the park. She realized she didn’t have her book bag which meant she didn’t have her Journal of Details. She approached the sidewalk from a side alleyway she’d take on rainy days. She could see ‘The Umbrella People’ running all over the sidewalk. They all held their umbrellas above their heads in the same position. Sue loved looking out of the seventh story apartment window on a rainy day to see the sidewalks full of umbrellas. It was as if the umbrellas had a mind of their own. She labeled these people as ‘The Umbrella People.‘
Sue stopped with amazement in the alleyway. She came upon the sight of a dragonfly fluttering in circles in the rain. Sue bled colors of joy. She watched as it’s iridescent wings fluttered through the rain. With each movement the dragonfly made, little rain drops reflected upwards like speckles of active lava before an eruption. Sue gently stepped off of her bike. With the rain still pouring, Sue’s brown frizzy hair stuck to both sides of her face. Her pink helmet was strapped around her chin tightly. She wore a jean dress with yellow and green flower patches that inched to her knees. She had never seen a dragonfly in person. She’d seen them in her text books but never like this. The dragonfly had a sincerity to it’s movement. It’s wings fluttered fast but gracefully. Sue imagined what a melody in this creatures head would be like. She approached the butterfly slowly. The dragonfly didn’t seem to notice her. It continued in its small circular rotation. When she got close enough she held her left hand out. The dragonfly landed softly like a silent and gentle helicopter on her index finger. With her skinny finger extended out, the dragonfly’s wings stopped fluttering and fell to its side. Sue watched the dragonfly with admiration. She lifted her right hand and stroked the back of the dragonfly with her index and middle finger. In that moment, in the rain, Sue had never felt more alive. Suddenly, the dragonfly began fluttering towards the sidewalk and Sue ran after it leaving her bike in the rain.
Sue ran in between all of ‘the umbrella people’ on the sidewalk with her pink helmet still on. Everyone avoided Sue who saw her coming and for the ones who didn’t, Sue just pushed her way through them. The dragonfly was making its way through all of the people. It being smaller made it faster than Sue. Sue knew this dragonfly had a mind of its own. It was playing games with Sue or leading her somewhere important.
Sue ran for miles pushing people out of the way on the sidewalks. She switched at least 10 streets and then the dragonfly turned into an alleyway. The dragonfly flew behind a wall and landed on a dumpster. Sue turned the corner and came upon a man on his knees with blood trailing down his chin. There was a treacherous stench but Sue just ignored it. She was in shock by what she was seeing. His hands were covered in blood along with his shirt. Sue suddenly forgot about the dragonfly sitting on the dumpster. Another man laid on his back covered in blood. He was looking up at the rain saying loudly, “Feast upon thee! I want to make my way to the other world.” The man on the ground had chunks of flesh missing from his arms. He bled uncontrollably. The rain quickly flushed it into a nearby drain on the ground. The man on his knees looked up at Sue. He made eye contact with her but continued on eating the man on the ground. “What are you guys doing,” Sue asked anxiously. “Who are you,” he asked with importance. “I’m Sue, ” she said with her small tan arms at her side and her crooked pink bike helmet. “To answer your question, I am sending him away to new and better world,” the man said elegantly. “Where are you sending him,” Sue asked curiously. “To a land where everything comes true.” He responded. Sue asked, “Where is this place?” He stopped eating and said, “Inside of me.” “Who are you,” she quietly asked. “I’m God.” He said with a crooked smile. Sue put her hands on her hips and asked, “What does God do?” He laughed and said, “I keep peoples souls inside of me because inside of me is a very very safe place.” Sue stepped towards the man. She reached her arms out and placed his head on her stomach. The man, at first, didn’t know how to respond. He then understood her affection and leaned his face into her stomach. The man on the ground was now dead. Sue saw that dead man as a good thing. She thought his soul was now at peace inside of this man called God. The blood on the man’s face had smeared all over Sue’s jean dress. The man began to cry uncontrollably. He gripped the back of Sue’s dress and pushed his face harder into her stomach. “It’s okay God. Stop crying,“ Sue said passionately. The man let go of Sue and looked up at her on his knees and asked, “Who are you? Really.” Sue chuckled. “Silly, I’m Sue. Remember?” Sue looked over at the dragonfly still sitting on the dumpster. She put her left hand out and again the dragonfly landed on her index finger. The man stared at Sue with his mouth in the shape of an O. “It was nice meeting you God. I have to get to school now.” Sue skipped down the alleyway with the dragonfly still on her index finger and headed to school.
Sue stopped outside of the school. She stroked the dragonfly one more time and let it go. Sue pushed through the front doors of the middle school. The lady at the front desk jumped from her chair with the sight of Sue. Sue was drenched and covered in blood. She ran out from behind the counter and grabbed Sue by the shoulders and asked her what had happened. Sue looked the lady in the eyes and whispered with a smile, “My dream came true.” The woman asked in a panic. “What was your dream honey? Tell me what your dream was.” Sue looked at her with her red cheeks and said, “I met God in an alleyway. He sure was a nice man.”
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