Tag: Sarah Kirchner ’21
Broken Love Story
by The Cowl Editor on November 20, 2018
Portfolio
by Sarah Kirchner ’21
Lights lit up the City of Love. The city of Paris was alive and many people roamed the streets. A young girl stood, searching for her love under the lights of the Eiffel Tower. He told her he would meet her there at precisely eight o’clock at night. She thought that was awfully romantic. Imagine, waiting for your love in the magical city of Paris. She arrived a little before eight wearing her favorite blue dress. It flew off her hips perfectly and her white sweater outlined the dress. Her mother had bought it for her special night, and she felt beautiful in it. She wore a large smile, and her eyes shone so bright you’d mistake them for stars if you didn’t know better.
Every minute she checked her watch, hoping he would come soon. It was becoming quite cold a little after eight and she prayed her love was close by. With every chill that spread down her body, she yearned for him. Another glance at her watch, and she realized it was getting close to 8:30 p.m. She tried to keep her spirits up by watching the young kids spin round on the carousel. She kept convincing herself that he had stopped to get her some of her favorite macarons from Ladurée, or that he was getting her favorite flower from the florist just around the corner. She knew it. He was coming; he was just late. Her eyes searched the crowd of happy couples and cheerful families. Nowhere though, did she spot her love. Around 9 p.m. she bought herself a coffee to keep from getting too cold. He made a wrong turn, she told herself. He was on his way; he would be there soon. At 10 p.m., the night began to die down and there were far less people. The kids all went home and the couples went to celebrate their perfect night elsewhere. Then a thought popped into her mind. He must’ve been on the other side of the tower! Quickly she ran to the other side, determined that he would be there with a bouquet of flowers and macarons. He would be standing with a big smile saying, “I’d been waiting for you!” But unfortunately, he wasn’t there, and that’s when the first tear fell. Around 11 p.m., the tears poured out and she couldn’t will herself to stay any longer. She touched the locket on her neck that her love gave her. How could he have given her this just last week? Did he think that they were meant to be last week, but not now? Forcefully, she wrenched the necklace off and threw it onto the floor. She ran home hoping she would never have to see that boy again.
The love she knew had died that night. She was just a girl who wished for a Prince Charming, and he had let her down. She didn’t care if he showed up at some point later that night. The moment had ended, and her feelings had grown glum. He broke the promise he had made, and for that she hoped he found that locket as a reminder of the love he had lost.
Syrupy Youth
by The Cowl Editor on November 19, 2018
Poetry
by Sarah Kirchner ’21
She sits and sips her black coffee,
While he sips on his caramel whip.
It’s been a while since they’ve been back
To the familiar coffee shop of their childhood
Where they shared a first kiss,
And continued after with many dates.
The barista serves the couple
And smiles as he takes the frothy drink.
The feeling of sweet vanilla warms her right up
As if she’s still that same teenager
That was offered the job there long ago
Still serving sweetness with the same old smile.
He watches her from the window
Now turning gray and becoming old.
Years have passed and he’s ordered the same.
He makes sure to get it from her,
Because her blueberry eyes give him
That feeling of young love he never quite knew.
In the coffee shop
There’s a home for many people.
Some lucky ones have it all figured out
While others roam in to try something new.
It’s a feeling of syrupy youth
That can be felt by every soul who enters the room.
Haunted
by The Cowl Editor on October 25, 2018
Portfolio
by Sarah Kirchner ’21
The man has been following me for months now. He’s everywhere I go, and I don’t know if I should be getting more
One morning, I tried to yell at him to leave me alone. I told him that I can’t fix what has happened, and he knows that. Of course he knows that, but instead of leaving me alone, he continues to haunt me. He waits for me by my window and watches. He’s waiting for me to slip up. I tell him it won’t happen anytime soon, but he doesn’t answer. He just watches me, because he knows he’s right.
I was over that night. The night that ruined it all. It was a night that ruptured everything about my life, and I have been forcing myself to forget it all since. Her face. Her blonde curls. The pink sweater. The glass and blood. I try to forget it all, and I had until he appeared.
“Hey Charlie!” My neighbor calls and waves from his driveway. He’s walking to his car to head to work as he always does, and I stand on my walkway getting the newspaper.
“Hi there!” I try to remain calm and act as if the man is not 10 feet behind me. Henry doesn’t see him, but he knows I do. It’s hard to miss me always looking over my shoulder and wincing whenever he appears in front of me. My eyes look to the shadowy bushes. He’s watching from behind, and my body quivers.
“It’s a cold one today!” Henry continues with the small talk.
Suddenly, my heart grows colder. I gasp and frosty mist follows my breath. The man walks by me and brushes my shoulder. My stomach lurches, and I hold it to calm myself down.
“It’s messing with my body,” I whisper to myself. Henry doesn’t hear me and looks at me as he opens his car door.
“You okay, Charlie?” He asks. His eyes are stern, and I know he just saw what happened to me.
“Just the cold air!” I say back to him. “My body isn’t used to it yet.” I try to laugh it off and appear fine, but I know that doesn’t register. My problems are too big to be ignored, and the truth is that the cold air has been messing with me since that horrible night long ago.
“It’ll get better,” Henry reassures me. I nod and give him a smile and a wave as he finally gets into his car.
The man keeps watching me from the street, and I grow colder with every stare he sends my way. Henry’s car rolls out of the driveway and onto the street. The man doesn’t move and the car drives right into him. I softly yell out, but he’s no longer there. Instead, the man is back by me on the front stoop. He’s dripping in blood and it’s staining the concrete. With every drip, my body twitches. The thick red blood seeps further across the stoop. My heart pulls again as I notice the gash stretching down his cheek. I touch my cheek and feel the scar that I have in the same place.
“How are you still alive?” I ask him, but he doesn’t answer. He vanishes without a word.
I run for my house. My mind races and everything begins to blur together. I have to get away from him. He’s ruining my life, and I can no longer handle his long stares and cold touch. I head for the bedroom and franticly pull out a duffle bag. He watches from the hall and my heart beats faster. Without even looking at my clothes, I throw things into my bag.
“Get out!” I scream. “Get out!” My body shakes, and I look down at my bag. Slowly, blood begins to appear on my clothes. Dark red blotches stain my entire bag. I let out another scream. Everything is ruined by his presence.
Frustrated, I throw my bag at the wall. The wall turns to a shade of red and the man emerges in front of me, still disheveled from the car accident. “Leave me alone!” I scream, for what felt like the 100th time. My voice feels hoarse. Screw it, I think and head for the front door again. I was going to get away from the man once and for all. I quickly swipe the keys from my kitchen table and run to the car. As I sprint, the entire house becomes splattered with what looks like blood. The thick liquid falls to the floor from the walls and ceiling. It discolors the hardwood floor and soaks into the furniture. From the stairs, I hear whispers. It’s him. He’s speaking for the first time, but I don’t stay to hear what he has to say.
I reach the car and fling myself into the drivers seat. My fingers stumble, as I turn the key and change gears. I look back to my house, the man is standing in the doorway. My house has become a dripping mess of blood. It looks like a slaughterhouse, and I am its victim. I floor the gas and peel out of the driveway in a panic. I’m going to escape from the man today; there is no other option.
As I drive, the sky turns dark. I blink again. It was light out a second ago. The sun was shining, but now it’s gone. The sky is black, and there doesn’t seem to be another soul on the road. I shrug away the thought and continue down the road. An empty road means I get away faster, and that’s what I need. I quickly turn down another street and step down harder on the gas.
It’s too late by the time I notice the car. My eyes trick me, and suddenly it’s light out again. It briefly blinds me, and that’s when it hits me in full force. The car flips sideway and I smack into the steering wheel. The windshield shatters and a shard of glass reopens the scar on my cheek. I scream out in pain, and that’s when I see him. He stands in front of the car as it continues to flip. Everything begins to slow down, and I can make out the scene more clearly.
She’s next to him. She’s next to me. Her blonde hair and pink sweater. She looks just how she did before we got into that car accident last autumn. My heart lurches at the sight of her. I was supposed to die that night. Not her. But tonight, I’m rewriting the past. I’m dying the way I was supposed to last year. Car mangled and me covered in blood.
The car flips one more time, and everything goes black.
