This is my entry for the Monthly SimLit Short Story Challenge. This month’s theme is Fool, Foolish, Folly. Thank you t LisaBee for all her hard work and effort in hosting this for us.
WARNING!! Themes of teen pregnancy and suicide present.
“Luke, I’m pregnant.”
My boyfriend gulped and looked sadly at me. “What are we gonna do?”
“I don’t know,” I said, slipping into his arms and holding on tight. “Mom and Dad are gonna kill me, and–”
“And I’m not exactly their favorite person,” Luke said tonelessly. That was putting it mildly. I lost count of how many times I’d been grilled over Luke. He was from that part of town, which made him an absolute zero according to my parents.
“I don’t care. I love you more than anything, Luke. It doesn’t matter.”
“I love you, too.”
When I got home, my parents were waiting for me. My blood ran cold when my mother thrust my empty pregnancy test box at me. “I found it in your bathroom wastebasket,” she said through gritted teeth. How could I have been such a fool to not dispose of it better? How could Luke and I have been so foolish to not realize pregnancy was a possibility when we did the deed?
They didn’t buy the excuses I tried, so I had no choice but to fess up to my situation. My mother burst into hysterical sobs, and my father was angry enough to possibly induce a stroke.
Panic arose the next day when my mother announced that I’d been scheduled for an abortion and then be shipped off to boarding school the following week. No amount of begging and pleading made any difference. “You have been foolhardy and careless ever since you started up with that boy,” she said.
‘i hate you!” I bellowed, then ran all the way to Luke’s.
He looked grim as I brokenly told him everything. “Okay, Dawn, we’re getting out of here today. You’re going to pack up some stuff, and I’ll meet you in an hour.”
Thankfully, nothing went wrong, and I was able to meet Luke as planned. I breathed a sigh of relief when we got out of town…but it was short-lived. Luke lost control on some loose gravel, and the last thing I remember was the car rolling over.
I awoke in the hospital to the news that I would be okay, but neither Luke nor the pregnancy survived. Everything was wrong. Upon going home, I felt like a stranger there. My parents took the attitude of, “She’ll get over it.” The plans for boarding school were still in place.
Everything was careening out of control. Everyone was deciding my future for me, but without Luke, there was no future. Without Luke, there was nothing. I did’t want to be here anymore.
“It might not be right, and everyone will say I’m a fool, but I don’t care. I love you so, Luke. Wait for me.” I said whispered these words aloud to the silence of my room just before unscrewing the cap from the bottle of pain pills I’d been given after the accident. I’d stolen a bottle of Jameson from Dad’s liquor stash earlier when my parents weren’t looking. Taking the pills one at a time, I chased each down with a swig of whiskey. I winced as it burned its way down to my stomach, but oddly enough, it comforted me.
Before long, the room started to spin and my eyelids felt heavy. Crawling into bed, I let the empty pill bottle fall to the floor. As the encroaching darkness opened its arms to me, I imagined it was Luke’s embrace I was falling into. I welcomed that embrace, then felt myself slide off the edge of the world.
That was so sad 🙁 Poor thing … suicide is never the answer. Luke would have wanted her to live!
This subject matter was difficult to write, and yes, it’s such a sad situation all around. Suicide definitely isn’t the answer, and you’re right about Luke. He would have wanted her to live. 😩
<3 <3 def the folly of youth to lose a life so young
I agree with Lisa above. Exactly what I was going to say. Two great minds. Those parents will regret their actions for the rest of their lives.
Oh, I know! This was hard to write, and I had to do it in under 600 words. Very challenging, and the subject matter was difficult. Sadly, the parents were extremely rigid, much to the detriment of their daughter. They will have to live with their choices for the rest of their lives.
Oh my…..that was incredibly sad. Romeo and Julietish. I’m not sure who was the most foolish, the kids or her parents….
Oh, I know, right? As I was writing this, I was thinking the very same thing – Romeo and Julietish. You’re so right about everyone here being foolish. Tragic situation all around, and senseless events that easily could have been prevented. 🙁
Oh. My. This was a thoughtful and deep read. Foolish on both the teen and her parents’ part and, although I whole heatedly agree suicide is NEVER the answer, you portrayed how it can feel like a solution so well its terrifying. Bravo.
Thank you so much! This story was hard to write because I knew where it was going. It has a Romeo and Juliet feel, which I was going for. The limited word count was a challenge to work with, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off. Thank you so much for reading and for the compliments. 😊
Poor Chloe….but I have hope that someone will come into the room and see the bottle on the floor and all will be saved. A little ray of hope for Chloe in her dark hour of need.
Actually, her name was Dawn, but that’s okay. 😊 Chloe is a pretty name, and I just made a Sim not long ago named Chloe Moore who is a globe-trotting time traveler. 😄 Anyway, we could be seeing these characters again. Hey, anything’s possible, so maybe there is hope for her.
Ahh! I wish there was a way to “like” a story without the like since this was a terribly traumatic event – in all ways. What an incredible amount of pain you managed to pack into 600 measly words.
Oh, I know what you mean. It’s so hard when the subject matter is so painful and traumatic. I honestly hate working with such a paltry word count, and I feel like this story could be developed so much further with more breathing room. I’m just glad I was able to pull it off, at least to some degree.
Great story on a difficult topic!
Thank you. Yes, the topic was difficult for sure.
Sad, but you approached the topic with care and it was realistic. Good writing.
Thank you so much. This really was a difficult story to write. There wasn’t much room to breathe with such a limited word count, and I did try to make it believable. I’m glad I pulled it off, and thank you for the compliment about the writing.
So powerful. This really moved me.
In a writer lyrics vein, I think the short form suits your writing so well! By having to stick to the word limit, your story was distilled into something so powerful! I hope you continue to play with this short form!
Thank you so much for this! To be honest, such a limited word count was a real challenge, and I felt I couldn’t develop the characters in such a way that folks would be concerned over what happened to them. Your comment proved me wrong, though, because I apparently pulled it off. 😄 This truly makes me happy because I feel I don’t do my best work in such a short form. I will likely play more with it more regardless because it’s different than what I normally do, and I like to mix things up a bit. Your comment made me feel a lot better about this story, so thank you.
Wow. I’m reading your story and watching ‘Ellen’ and there’s a guest talking about someone they knew committing suicide at the same time I’m reading about Dawn. So, I’m crying. Lol! I agree that this story works well in a short form. Since you kept it in a well-known scenario (the young people in love and the disapproving parents) it didn’t need a lot of characterization so you could focus on what drives Dawn to suicide instead of all the other details. The power comes in the focus instead of the details of long form.
Isn’t it funny how these coincidences happen? So many young people commit suicide for one reason or another these days, and it’s so tragic. Thank you for this comment. I was feeling like this story needed a lot more fleshing out to be decent, but apparently, I pulled something pretty good out of my hat. LOL. It’s a common theme, but it’s cool to see how each person who does it interprets it.
What a sad story. I feel so bad for her. I do hope that her parents live with the guilt of what they did for the rest of their lives.
This story made me tear up as I was writing it. I feel awful for her, too, and she and Luke didn’t deserve the bad luck and circumstances they were dealt with. I agree. I hope her parents are haunted each and every day about what they did.