Friday The Thirteenth

Oleh: Lidya Christina (@lid_yang)
lcy-thoughts.blogspot.com



I flung myself onto my bed. As my body reached the soft and comfy mattress, my head landed on something which gave the exact opposite feeling. It hit the head of my bed. That piece of wood that I had not noticed caused such a blow to my already hurting head that I yelled responsively.


I stared at the wood as my right hand rubbed my throbbing head. It swelled a bit. I bit my lips as I tried my hardest to hold back my tears that were rolling uncontrollably in my eyes. Thoughts of what happened today came to my mind.


I woke up as usual and prepared myself for school. I did not notice anything different except for the note on the calendar that hung on the kitchen wall.

“BEWARE! IT’A FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH! THE BLACK FRIDAY!”


It was my younger brother’s handwriting. I laughed at both the writing and my brother. It was silly! At least that was what I had in mind at that time. Then, just before I finished my breakfast, I accidentally toppled the jug of water on the table. The good thing was that the jug was almost empty. The bad thing, well, the jug fell off the table and broke into pieces. I was lucky it was not my mother’s favourite jug.


“See? Don’t joke about Friday the thirteenth. That’s what you get. And that’s just a start,” My brother said before he left the dining room.


I did not think much about that warning of my brother’s. I went to school as usual and everything went perfectly fine, until after the first recess period. When we rushed into the class, someone stepped on my shining-white shoes. He looked at me, mumbled an apology and dashed to his seat. I was just about to yell at him when I was startled by another yell.


“Why are you standing here?” The teacher was already behind me. That explained the dashing of that stupid classmate of mine.


I went back to my seat and as I walked, I stared at him for as long as I could. He gestured another apology. I turned my head around and, guess what? My leg knocked into a desk! MY OWN DESK! The whole class roared with laughter as I took my seat.


The rest of the day at school went quite well. But just before we went home, my friend’s chair landed right on my toe. I knew she had the habit of playing with her chair but to think that I would be the target. The pain was unbearable and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I was glad that the two of us were the only ones left in the classroom.


On my way home, I noticed the dark clouds covering the sky. I prayed hard so that I could get home safely and dry. But just a few steps before reaching the door, rain poured from the sky. Yes, it poured. I was drenched.


“Tracy!” My mother’s voice pulled me back to reality. “Come here!” She sounded annoyed and angry. Was it because of my dirty shoes? Or my wet uniform?


I forced myself up from my bed and opened the door. I saw her standing with her arms on her hips. Yep, she’s angry. I told myself. As I stood in front of her, she smiled. I

was astonished. Then, the lights went out and my family appeared from the kitchen, my father holding a birthday cake.


It was my birthday! It was truly a surprise. Perhaps Friday the thirteenth was not so bad after all.


We were eating the delicious cake when my brother suddenly said, “Hey, did you guys smell something burning?”


We looked at one another and then at the kitchen, where smoke was emerging from.