This is the story of a girl named Ember, who doesn't have a very good relationship with her parents. She feels like nobody wants her anymore. Can she beat the sadness and be happy again, or will the fire burn out making her just an ember flickering in the darkness?
The week goes by slowly, almost too slowly, but eventually the weekend comes around. Now that my life is so terrible, I don't think it can get any worse.
Until I go downstairs on Saturday morning and find out that my parents have enrolled me into an 'Emotional an Behavioral Therapy Course'.
"It'll help you achieve better grades in school, Ember." Mum says as I grab a plate from a cupboard.
"And keep you out of trouble, too". Dad sighs.
"Ember, love, just try it out. Please, it'll help a lot." Mum squeezes my hand in hers.
"Fine. I suppose I'm not doing 100% in all of my classes." I say.
Mum rolls her eyes. "It starts tomorrow at 10:00AM for an hour alright? And try to cooperate."
Sunday is here and I put on a white hoodie with jeans and my Nike trainers to leave for 'therapy'.
Mum drops me off and says "Don't make them send you home!" then she drives off in her red Hyundai.
I stand in front of the tall, ugly building. It looks about fifty storeys high. The sun's light bounces off the white walls and into my eyes, so I walk inside to the reception.
"Hello are you Ember Waites?" The receptionist asks flashing her golden tooth.
"Yeah I'm here for therapy." I say
"Alright please go and take a seat over there Ember and Ms Keating will collect you shortly." She says then goes back to her computer.
I browse front covers of magazines then pick one that has a bear on the front. 'DO YOU WANT TO ADOPT A BABY BEAR? GO TO OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS!' I'm not interested in that kind of stuff. I do love animals but my mum doesn't let me donate to those sorts of charities.
"Ember Waites?" Says a lady in a smart blue dress holding a clipboard.
She leads me through a hallway and up a flight of stairs then into a room with grey walls and posters of people smiling and laughing.
"Take a seat, Ember". I sit on a squishy chair that nearly makes me sink into it.
I watch a woodpecker perching on a branch of the cherry blossom tree through the window. Then she starts asking me loads of questions like "How are you doing in school? What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you have many friends Ember? Ember??Ember!"
"Hm? OH! Uhhh. Sorry uhh yeah I-I have a few yeah." I feel my face prickling as I blush hard. "Um. I, I just need to to use the bathroom please." I show myself out of the room leaving the confused woman and her notes.
I don't really need the bathroom, I just can't stay in there with that boring woman and do some pointless therapy. I walk up the spiral staircase all the way to the top floor. Then toward a ladder which leads up to the roof of the skyscraper. The wind blows through my messy hair and I step closer to the edge. Then I stand right on the foot high wall and feel the rays of the sun warm up my flakey skin as I take my hoodie off. Peering down to the road below and all the vehicles shooting along the motorway gives me a sense of vertigo. Ms Keating is probably looking for me everywhere. Maybe she'll be fired if her boss finds out she's lost a patient. Well mum and dad shouldn't have put me in this stupid therapy course in the first place.
I think about all the arguments I've had with my parents, and how I'm a failure that can't ever get anything right. If I jump, that could all go away. If I jump, no one will ever have to deal with me again. Everyone that knows me, could be free of my dark soul and live better than ever. It's me that's keeping them from a better life. If I jump, will I be happy for the first time?
I stretch my arms out, and breathe in. Breathe out.
Voices come from behind me then I turn around and see Ms Keating and a bunch of other people come up the ladder.
"Ember! Ember what are you doing up here?! We've been looking for you!" She shouts as the wind whisks my hoodie to the other side of the roof.
"Why am I here? What does the world still want with me!" I yell across the gale.
"Ember, life is complicated. As you grow, it gets better, I promise. Being your age is the hardest part of it. But listen, if you end it now, you can't come back. And-" She manages to say before I cut her off
"Exactly! I can't come back, that's the point Ms Keating! No one will have to deal with me again." The wind dies down and the woodpecker flies over us.
She comes closer, and looks up at me, still standing on the wall, "Think of the people that love you, no matter your appearance, no matter how you do in school. They love you, Ember. Your cat, your best friend, they are always there for you. Don't be hard on yourself, you are not a failure. The people who have succeeded in life, make the greatest mistakes. But they always come back to put it right."
She turns back to the ladder, and gazes at me. A tear falls from the corner of my eye, landing on my dry hand.
Then my mind goes blank.
The stone beneath my foot crumbles.
And I'm falling. Fast.
