| Fan Fiction |
by Shweta
Ariel closed her eyes. Her mind was trying hard to stay awake, but her eyes just wouldn’t listen. She was fighting a loosing battle. She drifted away to sleep.
***
She was sitting on a park bench all by herself reading a book. Ariel was the kind of girl, who barely read anything, but when she did, they were all romantic novels like Mills and Boon, or one of those girl empowerment books, like ‘The Devil wears Prada’. Sometimes she even read classics, like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Little women’.
Basically, she only read books, where women were the main focus, and there was a lot of romance. But right now, she was reading a book, she wouldn’t have picked up in a million years. A book that, although did have women, but wasn’t totally dedicated to them. It was a work of fiction, had magic, and was a best seller.
She was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, and was addicted to it. She didn’t think she would be.
After a tiring day of book hunting, when Ariel, although had the intention of buying books, but couldn’t find anything that matched her taste, finally gave up. A very annoyed Ella, pulled out some money, went to the bookshop, and bought a book, which she thought, would widen Ariel’s horizons, where books were concerned.
“I’ve read it, it’s a best-seller, and it isn’t ‘boring’” Ella made finger quotes. “like Nancy Drew or the famous five…Gosh! It pains me just to say it!”
“They really are you know…Nancy Drew and all that mumbo-jumbo murder mysteries…really boring!”
“They are classics! They have acclaim! They are loved by kids and adults alike!” Ella exclaimed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Well, they might be, but they are damn boring! You could just read the first and the last page, and boom! The mystery is solved! No need to read the entire book. Waste of money.”
“Oh please! The process of solving the mystery is the real treat! Only fools would read the first and last page, and then say the mystery is solved!”
“Are you calling me a fool?” Ariel asked.
“You only say this, because you love romance. Well F.Y.I, there’s romance in Nancy Drew.”
“Well it’s hard to notice when I’m half asleep reading the book.”
“Fool!” Ella exclaimed through gritted teeth. “Read this book, and don’t just read the first and last pages, read the entire thing. There are seven parts to it. If you didn’t like the first one, then you wouldn’t like the rest.”
“No! I don’t want this! I want something romantic.”
“Seven! We’ve been to seven stores looking for something romantic, but you have no interest in those Mills and Boon and you’ve got all the Jane Austen books!”
“I don’t know, maybe I’ve come to a stage where I lost interest in Mills and Boon.”
“Maybe…so just try this book, please! It’ll be fun I promise.”
“You said ‘Wuthering heights’ is fun, but that was dull too!”
“’Wuthering heights’ is a classic! You just have horrible…horrible…horrible…I cant stress the word enough…taste!”
“It was a snoozer! There was barely any romance, and all there was, was revenge.”
“It’s a classic! A classic, woman! You even know what that means?”
“Well, people made just any crap classic those days. Look at the times now, there are barely any classics. People now are smart”
“Rubbish! I hear rubbish from your mouth! Take this book and read it, at least as a favor to me. I dare you!”
“You dare me?”
“Yes please! Just say yes before I put your head through a wall!”
“Ok. Ok I’ll read it!”
Ariel sat there on the park bench so involved in the book, she didn’t notice someone sitting right next to her.
“This is amazing. Who would’ve thought of a platform nine and three quarters? I have to thank Ella for making me read this book. I’m hooked!”
“I was too.” The man sitting next to her spoke.
Ariel practically jumped at hearing his voice. She hadn’t noticed anyone sitting next to her.
“I’m sorry. Did I startle you?”
“Er…yes…yes you did. I’m sorry. I was so involved in this book I didn’t notice you were next to me…I…I…I’m Ariel Lin.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that. The book really is that addictive, I couldn’t put it down. Read it even during bath times. Had a plastic cover for it and everything! I’m Wu Chun.”
“Wu Chun? Like the Wu Chun, from Chun enterprises?”
“Well, yes! I wish I had your background info too.”
“Oh! No, no! I…I work for you. I’m a computing engineer at your firm.”
“Oh. Well small world eh?”
“Really small. I…I didn’t think the Wu Chun, would be so young. I thought you were a 70 year old, grumpy little man.”
“Well, that’s fine. I always thought my company’s engineer were these, stuck up middle aged men. Never thought someone so pretty could get that post.”
“Well,” Ariel blushed at being called pretty. This was the first time anyone called her pretty. “I got it on my merits.”
“I’m sure they must be excellent merits. Well I have to run, literally. My morning is scheduled for my daily exercises. I can’t miss them.”
“Well, sure. See you sir!”
“Oh please. I’m sure after our pleasant conversation, you can call me Wu. We’re practically friends.” He winked. “I’ll look for you at work tomorrow.”
“Sure Wu.” Ariel smiled up at him.
***
Joe parked the car in the garage, and got out of his seat. He tried to decide whether he should wake his new bride, Ariel, or not. It was a long tiring day, and all Joe wanted to do was get into bed, and forget the whole nightmare, that happened in the past three hours.
He couldn’t help but frown at fate, and its nasty game. He had no choice. No choice whatsoever. He also admitted to himself, that it was all his fault.
He should’ve hired a double just in case, he should’ve asked someone else in the crew to ride on the horse. He should’ve double-checked the whole setting. He should’ve listened to himself and not go into Ariel’s wedding, when there was a clear sign that said Ariel, and not Anna.
But there was no point in thinking of what he should’ve done. Time wouldn’t turn back and let him undo his mistakes.
He decided to leave Ariel sleeping in the car, and come back for her when he was ready. He had a few things to settle before he could invite her into his home. Her sleeping was probably a good thing, because it gave him time, instead of facing awkward moments later, he would do what he was supposed to while she’s sleeping.
Joe couldn’t help but feel sorry for that girl. Because of him, the most special day in her life was ruined. Because of him, she lost the one she loved. He felt he got the right punishment for ruining her life. But somewhere in his heart he couldn’t help but resent her. He felt a little pang of hatred for her every time he saw her. He just didn’t understand why she wanted to marry him. What was going on in her mind?
He brushed those thoughts aside, and got to work. He had to make her feel comfortable. He was now her husband, and it was his duty to make her feel comfortable in her own home. Joe was a pretty orthodox minded guy, and believed women were weak, and had to be protected by men, especially by they’re husbands.
He went to his desk drawer, picked up the photo frame with Selina’s picture in it, and opened it. He took out the picture from the frame, and placed the empty photo frame back on the desk. Memories of her rushed into his mind.
Joe came home one night, two years ago, and found all his things in disarray. He panicked, and started calling out for his live-in girlfriend Selina. There was no response.
He was dead sure, that she would be home. It was their first year anniversary. He was going to surprise her by proposing for marriage tonight. Where could she be? Why were things in such a state? It looked like someone was looking for something. He decided to calm down, and thought Selina probably was looking for something and turned the house into mess.
He called out her name one more time. But there was still no response. He decided to check in the bedroom. The bedroom too, was in a state of mess. Things were lying around. Clothes were out of the drawers and on the bed and the floor.
He felt himself kick something on the floor. It was something hard. He looked down and to his horror, found Selina lying on her stomach, blood oozing out of her head. Someone had shot her on the face.
Joe ran to the phone and called the ambulance. But it was too late. Selina was gone.
He called the police and reported the whole matter. They investigated for a month and came to a conclusion that a burglar must have shot her, when she caught him stealing. Even though, there was nothing missing from the house. Joe tried to reason with them, but they declared the case as closed, and refused to further investigate.
Joe sighed. He put the picture of Selina in a book, and moved on to remove her memories from the house. He hadn’t really thought of moving anything from the house. It looked like she was still living there with him. Maybe that was his only comfort. Her memories.
After he was done, he went down to the garage and slowly woke up Ariel.
“Wu?” She whispered softly.
Joe didn’t know what to say to that. He thought she was probably calling out to the groom from her wedding. He struggled to keep away the feeling of guilt take over him and tried again.
“Ariel…it’s me…”
“Wu…I love you. Please believe me, I don’t know him, it wasn’t my fault.”
“Ariel…please wake up. It’s Joe here. Your…um…husband. Please wake up.” And she did just that. Ariel woke up, and looked at him. Then for a moment, he could feel her sorrow in her eyes. That was enough to make Joe feel guilt all over again.
***
Thank you Biancaseven, cheng, Inaara, wootness, jing;lemitzi for the comments! Please keep commenting Really appreciate it. Hope the background is ok now. If it isn't then please tell me I'll change it again. :D
Secondly I would like to announce the official opening of my site 'Shweta's stories.'
http://shwetastories.webs.com/index.html
Please check it out. It has all my old stories in it, plus one-shots, plus ongoing ones, and also games. New features will be added soon. Please go there and comment I would really appreciate it. Thank you!
Oh! And by the way! Mills and Boon is a romance novel enterprise and is famous world wide. Harry potter, Wuthering heights, Pride and prejudice, nancy drew, famous five, little women, are all classic books.
I did not mean any harm when I ridiculed some of these books in the story. Please dont be offended.