Original Who's Counting?

Dolores Haze

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A/N: It's a Oneshot. Original, totally random characters for the purpose of English class. Started out as a fanfiction, but it was too OOC. Alex is the girl's boyfriend; he can't sleep unless she's by his side (iunno, let's say he's insomniac?), so the girl sleeps on a chair in his room. The little things in " "? Voice in her head. Yeaaah.

--

Amy stared at her hands, her thin, wrinkled hands. Maybe the lines she saw were the ones meant to be there- that spread up and form your fingerprints and give you an identity. It wasn't as if Amy didn't know who she was- if anything was true, it was that she was sure of herself. She knew who she was. A sad, pathetic girl under the rule of an inner dictator.

She kept track of everything. Calories, spoonfuls..
But these hands changed faster than even she could keep track of. Once they were only calloused, but now they were softer, her nails shorter and chipped. One night she had bitten them until they had reddened and stung, and Alex had to wrap them up in bandages until they grew back.

She couldn't help it. She bit them when she was feeling anxious, and lately she was always anxious. She'd sit by his bed, staring, making sure that every twitch wasn't a spasm.
“He has a bad nightmare one night, just one night Amy, and you smother him.”
Chances were he wasn't getting any sleep at all. When he had enough time to fall into a dreamless slumber, he'd always wake up knowing she was there. It was possible that her presence...didn't comfort him anymore.

Amy knew he loved her. In any case, that was all she had left to believe in, so she had to think that.
"What happened to you Amy? What happened to your freedom? Now all you do is worry. Your skin is paler than it’s ever been. You're not pretty anymore. Well, you never were pretty. But you were alright to look at. Now you're paper-white and half starved, and the rough, jutting edges of your bones have replaced all your curves. You're not thin. Thin is pretty."

Stop thinking that way. Yes, she was starved, but mostly on the inside. Now she had school, now she had a boyfriend. Suddenly she had to live up to expectations she had never faced when living with her father. He had never cared about her appearance. He was blunt with words and a rough critic, but his words had never hurt her.

The girls at school used words that hurt. Insults like knives that stabbed at her heart and made doubt seep through the cracks in her confidence. But words weren't meant to hurt.
"My words hurt. You feel it, don't you? Down to your toes- it spreads fast, your blood is thinning and your heart is weak. You're weak. But when you thrust your fingers down your throat, you get a little power back. Power over yourself, over the instincts of your weak, starving body. Get the poison out of you and let your teeth rot in the acid that washes over them. You're strong for now, with a purpose, but if you give that up, you'll have nothing.”

“Don’t stop now.”
She was 5’7 - 83 pounds.
“83, 82, 81, 80, then you’re perfect.”
Who’s counting?
“I am.”

If the dictator was counting, then she couldn't stop. She'd be punished- she'd suffer worse than she did at the sight of food. Hunger - a raw, animalistic hunger that she'd come to recognize. She no longer thought 'I want to eat' - it was now a need. She was starving the moment she glanced upon a piece of gum- something that wouldn't even fill her empty, breaking down body.

“See, it’s evil.”
83, 82, 81, 80, then I’ll be perfect.
“Who’s counting?”
I am.

--

A/N: Please, detailed comments are loved.
 
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I really like it. I especially loved your detail about her hands, and how the words the girls at school said hurt, as well as the part about power when she made herself get sick. i really think this is a great story :) I hope you get a really good grade on this ^_^
 
Sounds interesting !B :awesome: different to what I usually see, keep it up :D can't wait to see how this turns out with Amy ^^
 
I absolutely LOVED it; it is so much different to OOC. I agree with Damon, it's a twist to what I usually see, but it's a good different. Keep it up B! :monster:
 
A very powerful short story in a sense, I'd have to say that. Your eye for imagery and details is spot on and the way you weaved the story, especially towards the end really sheds light to the situation that the girl is facing. It shows the things that teenagers go through concerning their weight and you managed to really explore some of that with very few sentences.

Definitely a great writer!
 
I'm impressed, !B. very simple, but powerful. I think you really understand a lot of the psychology behind eating disorders. I also think, if you wanted to, you could flesh that out into a story of significant length.

You're weak. But when you thrust your fingers down your throat, you get a little power back. Power over yourself, over the instincts of your weak, starving body.[/quote]
That's the part that a lot of people miss when they talk about eating disorders. It's not just about looking like a model, being attractive, therefore popular, etc. etc. It's much more about control. A person is bombarded with events in their life that they feel unable to control, thus they feel helpless. They seek something they can control, and often it ends up being their body. So they seek to harness that control by overpowering their natural urge to eat. You've hit on that very well, just in those two or three sentences.

If the dictator was counting, then she couldn't stop.

Another strong image. It becomes a psychological issue. And, almost paradoxically, their search for control morphs into an utter lack of control. She sought a way to obtain some semblance of power, and now her mind has reestablished its power over her.

Just a small suggestion, take it or leave it: Set off her mind's thoughts in Italics. It will make them stand out a little better and make them that much more powerful. With just quotes, they can seem kind of buried in the text, or someone else's words.

Overall, like I said, I'm impressed. The Force is strong in this one.
 
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This was amazing, Brittany! Normally, I'd just kinda skim through the story, or not really pay much attention to it (I know, bad bad.) but yours? No. I turned off the TV, turned off my music, told my brother to shut up -all so I can pay attention to what I was reading. The beginning -the description of her hands- is what got me hooked. I couldn't stop reading after that. The beginning was that good, and I couldn't wait to read the rest.
Honestly, this was very short yes, but even so, your writing is powerful and inspiring.
Well done<3!
 
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Well, I read it, had my thoughts gathered, then read the responses just to find out that my twin said the same exact thing I was gonna say. Shocking right!? Well, I think he put more depth into his response than I would have, but the basic point is there.

Anyways, yes, you really captured my interest with this story. Awesome job! I've always had a weight issue myself, but the opposite, so I can sort of relate to the story.

The basic thing that people know about Anorexia or Bulimia is that the person is doing it to lose weight. And most will say that they're trying to lose weight because the person feels as though they're too fat, even at say 105 lbs at 5'7". But it's not a physical disorder as much as psychological. The person essentially "tells themself" that they're too fat and need to lose weight, and essentially refuse to see that physically they are not. The fact that you included the psychological aspect is what's most impressive to me. I'll admit that it does concern me a little.

But as said, awesome work Brittania! I think you'll get an A on it for sure!
 
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