Shannon

Another chapter of Shannon. Chapter in the loosest of terms...


Shannon woke with a start. Her heart beat heavily in her chest as she tried to catch her breathe. The sun had already come up. Shannon glanced at her alarm clock. It hadn't gone off yet.

"So you had some crazy dream about Jeremy. Don't let it get to you." Amanda said as they walked to school.

"Even in my dreams I can't get the guy." Shannon lamented. "What's wrong with me? I used to be so together. Now the slightest thing shakes my world." Shannon looked at Amanda. "Am I pathetic?"

"Yes." Amanda said.

"But so is everyone else." Aberdine said.

"You're not pathetic."

"I'm not as together as I seem. I mean. I have my problems too. I just don't talk about them." Aberdine said leaning back on the school chair and looking over her artwork.

"So what are your problems?"

"I'm not telling." Aberdine stuck out her tongue in defiance.

"So what am I going to do then?"

"Find something else to occupy your time?" Eddie offered as they all ate lunch together.

"Like what?"

"I can't answer that for you. Only you know what you like." Eddie said.

"Wow, Eddie. That's really wise."

"You sound surprised." Eddied huffed.

"So should I just fill my time with video games then?"

"I dunno, maybe?" Carl said scratching the back of his head. "This is all kind of over my head, Shannon."

Shannon looked around. The school day had ended and she was no relating her problems to Carl. "I guess I'm on autopilot" she said to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing, Carl. Um. Do you have any suggestions for what to do with myself?" Shannon smiled hoping her old party friend would offer some insight her other friends couldn't.

"I dunno, Shannon. We're not barely old enough to drive and your worried about where your life is going? Why don't you just enjoy the ride. Stop stressing so much about things." Carl offered. "What's got you so rattled anyways?"

"I just, saw something the other day." Shannon evaded. "It made me question my priorities, I guess."

"You use a lot of big words, you know that?" Carl pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess." Shannon looked around as the school slowly emptied around them. "I should get going. It was nice running into you. Thanks for the talk." Shannon head towards the exit.

"No problem. Tell Amanda I said hi!" Carl called after her.

Shannon walked home in a quiet reflection as Eddie and Amanda argued about the pros and cons of mid afternoon napping. When Shannon got home she went straight to her room and lay down.

Why had life seemed so simple until now? Why did everything seem so much more complicated than it should be? Why was all this getting to her? If she was supposed to find something to occupy herself what would it be? The only things she could think of were the times she played video games with Carl and the phone conversations with Jeremy about helping others.

She sat upright instantly. That's it! She wanted to help others! What could be better than helping those less fortunate? But where to begin?