Silver Linings

The Grungy Town

Dear Diary
I've had this diary for more than 2 years now, it's looking especially rugged now. It was quite ugly when I first found it beside the train tracks. I picked it up and looked at the train going past. Stuck-up snobs looked at me in disgust, our whole town was a bit of a grungy place I guess. But one woman looked at me and our eyes locked, her blonde curled hair bounced on top of her shoulders, her red jacket reached at the back of her legs and the dress she wore was beautiful. It was red and white with blue flowers. She winked at me and at that instance I knew it was her that gave me the diary, it was like she knew me. I tried to get a good glance at her but the train just zoomed past. Before it was like in slow motion as I looked at her but at the one time I wished it slowed down it didn't, it just flew past. I let out a frustrated grunt and I threw the diary on the ground, I buried my face in my hands and fell to the ground. How could them snobs think that about us? Yes, this place is a dump but they should feel sorrow, not disgust! I picked up a stick and snapped it, I've never felt this anger before. Is it jealousy or just plain usual anger? It may be something entirely worse? or less? Wow, this is confusing.

I stood up and brushed the dry soil off of my torn trousers and headed back to where I lived, the grass scratched at my legs, no longer tickling like it did when I was a younger girl. The hot sun beamed down on me and blinded me for a second or two. I thought back to how exquisite that lady was, I vowed that when I grew older I would have to look like her. I'd move out of this disgusting town and make a home somewhere not so hot, I'd be a fashion designer and I would always do charity work for people that would come from my rough area. I finally came to my senses and could see again, I kept moving in the direction of the field because that's where I knew was home.
Walking was the best thing I could do, it would clear my thoughts and think what is important in life, keeping my brother and sister alive and my mother, but to be honest I'm not that bothered about her. She has never been there for me but always with my siblings, but I can't blame them for that, I blame my mother. I stumble across mud and I know that it there's mud, there's water. I felt a load come off my chest and I ran for the water, stumbling through the grass that grabbed and cut my legs I followed the line of mud, it was getting wetter. I ran faster and faster, it was getting extremely hot by this point but stopping wasn't going to work, I had to get to that water. Everything was getting dizzy, the sun was getting brighter and was beaming down harder, covering me in my own sweat. My feet weren't going where they where supposed to and I couldn't half see. I started tripping and stumbling to the floor and ended up practically crawling to get there, this had never happened before. I didn't feel fit enough. Seconds later I was gasping for air and ended up rolling over on my back. My breathes were slow, was I dying? The sky started to go white, I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let my mother take care of the kids alone. I forced myself awake and alert, still not breathing right. I rolled over with my dizzy legs, and crawled on...