Webs Of Caution

When I wake up from my night's sleep, my eyes make everything seem blurry. All of a sudden a horrifying shape approaches me. White and brown and scary. I scream as I go to the back wall of my room. The figure begins to scream too and suddenly me and my mom are both screaming at the top of our lungs. "Why are we screaming River?" my mom asks.

"You scared me when you came into the room, " I say almost defensively, well very defensively. My mom nods her head in understanding and walks out of the room. She pauses, "Breakfast is ready," and then continues walking until her blush pink, lacy dress and silvery buttons that go up the back of the dress, disappear from view. Not zippers. Zippers might get stuck. I do notice though, that my mother's hair is piled in a high bun on the top of her head and tied by a white ribbon. White. Today is my sister's wedding day!

I walk slowly to the shower so I don't trip and wash my hair with lukewarm water to avoid burning my skin. When I am finished I brush my hair down my back. When I open my closet I find my flower girl dress sitting in the spot I so carefully hung it in. It is blush pink and has long see through sleeves. It is elegantly bunched and gathered above my waistline with a seam covered by silver pearls and more pink lace along with a large lace flower that to, is pink. Falling to my ankle the dress, thankfully, would not cover my feet and more importantly, shoes. I have no idea where my shoes are, but I can find them later. I go back to the bathroom and rip off my pajamas. As I slip the dress over my head, the silky fabric soothes my skin. When I re brush my hair, I gather it in my fists and braid two strips of hair along either side of my head. Then I join the two braids in the back of my head and secure them with a flower clip that is exactly like the one one on my dress. When I am finished I stare at my reflection in my mirror. Light brown hair colored like a chestnut hangs almost past my waist.

How pretty I look, going to a wedding and having to gently place the flowers on the ground. I only wish I was allowed to wear the high heels I see in fashion magazines from the mainland. High heels are against the law hear because the government does not want anyone to trip. Speaking of shoes, mine are still missing. I search my room and can't find anything such as a trace of where my shoes could have gone. They are silver with pink bows on the tips and sparkle like a million stars are trapped in there plastic coating, which would be sort of scary if there was. What would stars do to people? I let out a small squeak and walk out of my room. I am not paying any attention, I almost run into my younger sister, Claire, "Yipes! River, you almost killed me. What would mother have said if I fell?" We both shuddered but I mostly ignore her comment. When I find my mother she is to busy to help me. "If your head was not attached, you would lose it. Please keep your head attached, okay?" she says as if I would unattach it.

My family is so cautious, really though, my entire town is. Swimming pools, banned. Pets, banned. Running, prohibited. My entire town is insane, infact, if I ever get the chance to leave it, I am ninety nine percent sure I would. The one percent keeping me here is my family. However crazy they are, I still have to love them, right?

As my search for shoes continued I found my old notebook, a paperclip, a shirt, a pair of socks, and a lot of dust. No shoes. Finally I resolve to look under my bed. It is a nightmare of reality. Everything is tangled in weaves of webs of clothing and books and dust. I wouldn't even be surprised if there are real spider webs under there. "MOM" I scream,

"I'm coming honey" I hear my mom run into the room, "what is it...?" she says breathlessly "Are you hurt? Dying? BLEEDING?"

"No... No... I just scared myself thinking of spiders..."

"Alright, you be careful. Did you find your shoes?"

"Not yet..."

"We leave for the wedding in twenty minutes, hurry." She walks away, leaving me lying on the floor, gasping for air as I rid my mind of the terrifying thought of spiders, their red eyes and black bodies. I again can't help but shutter. I tear through the under part of my bed and find things that no one can imagine... not even in the most excruciatingly dreadfully horriblest nightmares. When I finally think I made it through, I leave with a bag of trash, but no shoes. Maybe I can go without them? Somehow, I doubt that. It is one of the ridiculous rules. Number 389 in the Lawbook of Rules. That may seem like a lot of rules, well it is. Ridiculous.

Most people in this town follow all the rules. I don't. In secret, I break many of them, and it feels, somehow, right. I take off my shoes and play in the creek outside of my house. I jump on my bed in my room and even look at magazines we get in the mail from the mainland even though law 12 states "Through away all mail you may or may not receive from the mainland unless it is from family members or friends". And yes, I have memorized all 500 rules in the book, it was required for me to pass fifth grade.

"RIVER! Where are you? It's time to go!" calls my mom,

"One second. I'm coming, I'm coming."

Oh my shoes had better be somewhere or else I will... The bathroom. I was trying them on in the bathroom and I... As I run to the bathroom and throw open the door, breaking two laws, I see my sparkly silver shoes sitting on the shelf. Thank goodness. I shove them on my feet and again, run to the door. As I shut the door behind me and look at the rising sun in the distance, I know that one day I'll do something important, something that matters instead of breaking rules for nothing. One day, I'll change the world and prove to my little town something about rules and bravery, a real lesson.