2What this is a satire of: This story is a satire of how people change who the really are just to try to be cool, perfect, smart or whatever they want to be. It's a same that people are embarrassed of who they really are and try to hide up themselves. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introduction: Piper was someone thought to have everything. She was the most popular girl in school, had a cute boyfriend and had a good family. She was beautiful, smart, kind; she had everything that people wish to be or have, "The perfect girl with the perfect life," everyone thought. Well, let's hear her story.
Part 1: Valentines Day
Thursday, February 14, 2005
"Hey Girl! Expecting any roses from people today?" Piper said as she caught up with Ivy. "Heck, no. I never get roses from people, unlike you. God, you're so...perfect. Every girl in Ira High wants to be like you, Piper. I bet you'll get at least five roses!" "I sometimes wish I wasn't me. Sometimes, I wish that I didn't have to live up to the high standards I set for myself."
Piper walked away at a quick, but steady pace with her head looking down at the floor and her binder to the side. She vanished into the crowd of boys and girls walking speedily to their classes.
It was the last period of the day, and that was the period roses were given out. She was excited to see how many roses she got; she couldn't sit still. Finally, the first rose delivered to her class.
A boy came in holding a few roses. He was tall with light brown hair, but she couldn't see the color of his eyes. He yelled out, "Ariel, Abby, Benji and..." He paused a moment and turned the rose to the side and said in a questioning voice, "Bunny?" Some of Piper's classmates started to giggle.
Piper thought, "This must be from Joshua."
"Well, anyways, will those four special students please come up to receive your rose," the boy said.
Piper stood up and thought, "Why did he have to write 'Bunny'? Why not just 'Piper'?"
She took the rose that was handed to her and politely said "Thank you," and returned to her seat. During the next fifteen minutes, she received eight other roses, and thankfully, none of them had strange nicknames labeled on the tag. That meant she received a total of nine roses for Valentines Day that year. That was one more rose she had received compared to last year.
She began to daydream about how it would be like to not have so many activities to do in a day.
"Miss Jones, please come back down to Earth and answer this question: In what year did the Civil War begin?" Piper's thoughts scattered like butterflies. "Um, can you repeat the question again please?" "In what year did the Civil War begin?" "April 12, 1861," Piper said confidently. "Correct Miss Jones."
Mrs. Sidorov was giving another lecture about the Civil War, but Piper had zoned out again. Piper had too much on her mind. Her thoughts swirled around and around in her head, making her feel like she wanted to scream. She had field hockey practice after school. Then she was supposed to go to her harp lessons right after that. She would get home about 7:00, if she were lucky. Then she would have to do her homework right when she got home.
"Miss Jones, please don't day dream about the boy that called you 'Bunny' anymore." Mrs. Sidorov glared at Piper; she only glared at students with that same look when she was getting frustrated with them. Piper straightened her appearance, and did her best to pay attention. She thought to herself, "It's not like me to day dream. Maybe I'm just tired, and need some rest."
The class went on, without any more disruptions. Finally, the bell rang for school to end. Piper pulled her books and roses together and hurried out the door. She thought to herself, "This isn't the best day I could have" as she continued to walk in the crowded halls.
Piper yelled out down the hallway "Hey Ivy! How many roses did you get?"
Ivy finally found Piper through the swarm of students. "I got one! From you!" Ivy said. She gave Piper and hug and her smile seemed so thankful for the rose.
"Well, I got to get ready for my field hockey practice." Ivy looked Piper in the eyes and said, "You look really tired. Maybe you should go home and take the rest of the day off."
"If I skip this practice, I could to get yelled at! And then people would laugh at me; I can't bare that humiliation." Piper gave a hug good bye to Ivy, and walked down the now empty stairs to her locker. When she got there, she found Joshua standing at her locker, holding a teddy bear and the rose that Piper had sent to Joshua.
Joshua saw Piper walking down the stairs and he ran up to her. He greeted her and handed her the bear. "Press the button," he said. The bear began to sing: You know I can't smile without you.
Can't smile without you.
Can't laugh, and can't sing.
Finding it hard to do anything.
You know, I feel sad when you're sad.
Feel glad when you're glad.
If you only knew
What I'm going through,
You'd know I can't smile without you.
You can along, just like a song,
And brightened my day.
Who'd have believe that you were part of a dream.
And now it all seems light years away.
The voice of the bear slowly got quieter until it was no more. "It's so cute! Thank you!" said Piper and gave Joshua a hug.
As she released her grip and stepped back, Piper began to feel dizzy and was seeing two of Joshua. She blacked out and fell to the ground with a thud.
For an hour or so, she was in a dream state. She didn't know what was going in the real world around her. Eventually, she opened her eyes. She had no memory of what happened except that she needed to go to field hockey practice. She blasted up from the bed in the nurse's office and asked what time it was. "4:03 p.m.." The nurse answered.
"Oh god! I'm late for field hockey practice!" and ran out the door without saying bye to Joshua or the nurse.
She was running at full speed towards the girl's locker room. Thank the Lord, it was open. She ran in to change to her uniform, then ran outside as fast as she could to practice. "I'm sorry, Coach. I, I fainted near my locker and didn't wake until just five minutes ago." "That's OK, Piper. Just go out there and work with the girls."
Sometimes it was good being on the teacher's good sides; there were advantages to it. Before she knew it, practice was over. She went to change and walked to Mrs. Jamison's house for her harp lessons.
"Hi Mrs. Jamison. Sorry I'm late." "Next time, please try to hurry here." Piper wanted to tell her that she wasn't feeling well, but decided to keep her mouth shut. She figured that it would just take up time, and that would keep her from finishing her homework quicker.
Piper had trouble concentrating the whole time. She also had times when she felt like she was about to faint again. At last, the lesson was over. But she still had a two-mile walk ahead of her before she would reach home. She put her books together and began the journey home.
At home, she dropped her backpack down on the floor in her room. She was exhausted from all the things she had to do. She pulled out her three-inch binder and her two textbooks. "This is going to be a heck of a long night," she said to herself and got started on her homework.
The clock struck midnight when Piper had just finished her homework. She went to the bathroom to wash up and then went directly to bed; she had skipped dinner for the third night in a row.
Part 2: Pressure
Friday, February 1, 2005
Beep Beep! Beep Beep! The alarm clock was going off. Piper was even more exhausted than yesterday. It was four in the morning when the alarm clock woke her up.
She had signed up for Sea Cadets, which would begin over the summer. Sea Cadets is like being in the navy, except for younger people. Each morning, she woke up at four to go run a good three miles to get ready. But running three miles wasn't all she did to prepare. Piper also did 35 push-ups, 15 chin-ups, and 100 sit-ups.
The clock now read six o'clock in the morning. It was time for her to get ready for the school day ahead. It was exhausting work doing what she did everyday. It took a lot of time and effort. She had a strong will to do this everyday; she possessed more determination than anyone else she knew. All the things she did, she knew would be good for her college applications.
The day went by: school, field hockey practice, kung fu lesson, piano lesson, a drama meet and homework. Over all, she did 16 things in one week. She did school, field hockey, kung fu, piano, drama club, softball, basketball, flute, swimming, school newspaper, singing, homework, dancing, dirt biking, horseback riding, and soccer.
Everyday was crammed with activities. It was something that gave her a good name in school.
It was so important to her to keep that good name in school, that it had kind of become an obsession, an obsession to always take those extra steps to do better than before.
Each day was like the others. Her days were always carefully scheduled to be able to fit in the activities that she needed to participate in that day.
Part 3: The Worst That Could Happen?
Tuesday, February 25, 2005
Piper began to act a little awkward. She was always so tired and worn out. Joshua and Ivy began to notice a change in her.
She got aggravated more easily. She now always zoned out during conversations, she lost her appetite, she had mood swings (and these were like crazy mood swings) and she was isolating herself from others. Then when people saw her sitting on a bench, the came to her to talk to her, they would hear her talking to herself.
Ivy came up to Piper as she sat under an oak tree at the park. Piper was talking to herself again. Ivy stood about three feet away and heard Piper say in a whisper. "I have got to do all these things. It's good for me."
A different voice came out of Piper's mouth. There was a conversation going on. Multiple Personalities probably. "For you? Or for you friends, family and permanent record? You're so tired!" "I am not! I'm fine! Two hours of sleep a night it enough for me." "God, you're going crazy!" "I am not! I am perfectly normal!"
Piper began to yell, and so did the other voice from inside of her. Piper covered her ears with her hands and yelled out in the middle of the park, "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Everyone turned their heads to see what was going on. Piper was rocking back and forth, still yelling "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
Ivy had to do something. Piper was going ballistic!
Ivy ran up to Piper and sat on the bench and began to comfort her.
"She's going to get me. She's going to kill me," Piper began to say in a nervous voice. "No she isn't. Not as long as I'm here with you." "She says you can't stop her. She's already inside of me," Piper said, with her empty eyes staring at Ivy.
Piper looked worse than ever. Her hair was a mess and looked like she hadn't showered for days. She was wearing ripped jeans and a baggy T-shirt and no shoes.
There was a long silence. Then Piper went crazy again. She was talking to herself once more.
"Kill yourself," said the creepy voice that she was arguing with before. "No! I love my life! I'm proud to be me!" she said. "You're going crazy! Even I, from deep in your mind, had to come out and tell you that you can't take it anymore!" "I am fine!" "No you aren't! If you don't want to kill yourself, then be yourself." "I am myself," Piper said as she looked down at her bare feet. "No, you're not yourself. You're trying to be the greatest person ever, but you can't. You can't take it anymore."
This was scaring Ivy. It was too much for her.
Piper began screaming at the voice again and said, "LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T LIKE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Ivy began to cry because it was so scary. "Piper, please stop! STOP!" Ivy said as she grabbed on to Piper's arm and shook her.
Piper pulled her arm away and ran to the nearest tree and sat down. She covered her ears with her hands again and began to sing.
A mother and little boy came past and the little boy let go of his mom's hand. He came up to Piper and asked her, "Why are you crying?" Piper began to talk to herself again. Piper yelled out, "SHUT UP!" to the voice. The mother heard this and said, "Bobbie, come back here! She's a crazed women!" and grabbed the little boy by the hand. She pulled him away and walked speedily past.
Ivy didn't know what to do. She had nothing to give that would comfort Piper. Piper had continued to sing. Ivy walked away, still crying from the fear.
She ran back to school because lunch period was over. Piper stayed under the tree, but enough about Piper for now.
Ivy blasted through the counselors door and began to pour out everything she knew about Piper and her problems.
The counselor responded with ,"Bring her to a psychiatrist some time soon. This is out of my hands."
Ivy picked up her books and walked gloomily to her next class. When she got in, Piper wasn't there.
She took a seat near the door without disturbing the class. No one noticed her entrance into the class.
After school, Ivy walked back to the park to find Piper. Piper was still sitting under the tree, and singing.
"Come with me, I want you to go to a psychiatrist." "Now?" "Yes now, Piper." "But...but...I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine!" "No you're not! Have you looked in the mirror lately? Or heard what you've been saying?" "I'M FINE!" Piper yelled and ran away.
Piper decided to skip soccer, kung fu, horseback riding and singing lessons today.
Ivy didn't see Piper for the rest of the day. She took horseback riding with Piper, but Piper never showed up. "Maybe she's just sleeping," Ivy thought. "Maybe she's just really tired, and is taking a nap."
Ivy wanted to think positive and be optimistic.
Part 4: The End of Her Story
Tuesday, February 25, 2005 (Still)
Piper couldn't take it anymore and did the one thing that she feared the most. She had feared death all her life, yet still turned towards what she thought was the easy way out.
She decided to do this because she was becoming a little shabby each day. She was always worn out and never had time to do anything fun. Now that she thought of it, the last time she went to the movies was July 23, 2004! Yet, she liked getting all the compliments from her teachers, friends and parents about how she was always busy and how she never complained. They said she was the perfect friend, student and daughter. She loved having all the glory. Which way was she leaning towards? Should she just lie down and die? Or should she live the rest of her life with stress and pressure always around the corner?
She reached home; the house was empty. Her parents were probably still at work. She put down her books and went to clean the house. She wanted it to be clean when her mom and dad got home.
Finally, she was done; the house sparkled. She went into the kitchen and pulled out a knife: one that was newer, so its blade was sharp.
She walked upstairs into her dark room; the light bulb was almost dead. Piper lay on her bed and pulled out her precious diary, which held her deepest and darkest emotions. She began to scribble her feelings into the journal. She was hoping it would relieve her stress, as it had done before. It had no effect on her.
She wrote down some poems, as she had done once in the past, which still had no effect. She cried and cried. "Do it! Do it now!" a part of herself said. It was trying to force her to finish the job she was planning on committing. She wanted to die, yet, didn't want to. Her emotions were mixed up; they had been bottled inside her for so long.
"I have no choice. Either now or never" she said to the part of her that wanted to live. She was startled to hear the garage door open and she panicked. "Do it." the voice inside her repeated.
She grabbed the knife and held it in her right hand. Piper stood up and walked to the door; she locked it.
"Piper! I'm home!" she heard her mom yell.
"NOW!" the voice screamed in her head.
She swiftly slit her wrist just where her artery was located. She fell to the ground, grabbing her wrist and screaming.
"Honey, what's wrong?!" Her mom ran up the stairs and tried to turn the knob. She looked under the crack of the door; her daughter was lying on the floor with blood stained on the carpet. Her helpless body lay there, not moving at all.
Piper's mom attempted to break down the door, but proved to be too small. She ran to the nearest phone and called for help.
Piper was still lying on the ground. Her breath was getting shorter by the moment. The pain was at ease now. She cried dry tears and struggled to fight for her life. Her face was as white as a ghost, her lips had lost color also, her piercing dark brown eyes showed fear and grief. She fell unconscious in a matter of seconds.
Piper woke up from her collapse. She heard sirens and saw bright flashing lights outside her window. She turned her attention to the screaming people just beyond her door. At first, she couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, she heard her dad; "Open the door Piper! Please!" She felt weak all over; she lifted her hand from her slit. It took so much effort just to do that one simple task. As she lifted her index finger, blood continued to gush out. She turned her head and began to cry silently. One tear came from her left eye. Bang bang bang was all she could hear for a moment. Then, she could hear nothing.
Conclusion:
Piper had committed suicide in attempt to run away from pressure and stress. She was always trying to have a good image, to make a good impression on people. She loved being the popular and what they called 'perfect' one. But she couldn't stand it anymore. She was pretending to be something that she wasn't, which was a perfect girl. She had covered her true self up for so long that she forgot how to be herself. She didn't know what to do, and she panicked. Piper in the end met a bleak fate. Her fate had a 50/50 chance; it either may possibly have been something that could have been her destiny or that could have been controlled.