A Random Idea

I was sitting at the computer, supposedly working on my essay and two projects (which are effectively ruining my Christmas break -_-) and suddenly I was hit with a random idea. An idea for a  writing piece that has nothing to do whatsoever with a literary response to Pride and Prejudice. So, without further ado, my quickwrite.... (by the way, the main character is in fifth grade)



       She stared at the empty plate in front of her. Clean, white porcelain shaped in a perfect circle. Then she looked at the spoon next to the plate. Also clean. Shiny, silver metal that reflected her normally thin face to be distorted, round, and upside down. The girl's eyes widened. Something--fear?--flickered in her eyes and she tore her gaze away from the spoon back to the plate, only to quickly start staring at her spoon reflection.
      "Excuse me, Kaylie, would you please pass the butter?" a friendly girl named Maria asked. Looking up from the silverware, Kaylie blinked a few times before her tablemate's request had properly registered.
       Without any acknowledgement, Kaylie almost robotically grabbed the stick of butter and placed it in front of Maria. "Thank you," Maria said, buttering her bread, but Kaylie did not reply.
       Just then, the harsh clanging of a bell sounded in the noisy dining hall. A young man stood up on his chair, ringing the bell. Kaylie glanced briefly at the man, and then turned her gaze back down to her wavery round face in the spoon.
      As soon as the hall became quiet, the man started talking. Kaylie didn't pay much attention, nor did she look at the man. She was staring at herself in the spoon.
     "...welcome to science camp! Enjoy your dinner!" the man finished. Once he jumped down from his chair, college-age camp counselors began taking dishes of spaghetti and chicken wings to each of the tables.
      Kaylie stared at her face in the spoon, her jaw slowly clenching tighter; her eyes slowly narrowing into nervous slits. She did not react when a teenager slid a few plates onto the table she was sitting at, nor did any of her tablemates realize as they happily spooned food onto their plates.
      However, it was only a few minutes before the teenage "leaders" of Kaylies science camp cabin realized that she was not eating. One of them asked, "Are you vegetarian? This spaghetti doesn't have any meat in it."
      Slowly, Kaylie lifted her eyes from the shiny metal spoon and stared at the teenager, blinking twice. Then she shook her head ever so slightly, barely tilting her chin from side to side.
      "Alright..." the teenager replied, looking confused. "Why don't you eat? This food tastes good, I promise."
      Kaylie blinked again, so slowly that her eyes were closed for almost a full two seconds. Then she shook her head again, moving even less than she had the previous time. To Kaylie's right, she heard a brown-haired girl whisper to her friend, "Can that girl talk?"
      The teenager was baffled. "Why...why don't you want to eat?" she asked Kaylie.
       Although she did not want to talk, Kaylie opened her mouth as little as possible at muttered, "Not hungry." The teenager shrugged and continued eating her own meal.
       Just as she had uttered those two words, the young man who had spoken earlier walked by, stopping right behind Kaylie's chair. "Not hungry?" he echoed. "We had a two-mile welcome hike! How are you not hungry? I'm starved." He grinned at Kaylie, attempting to be friendly.
      Kaylie looked more frightened than ever. She shifted in her chair as far away from the man as possible, and then answered, "I'm not hungry."
      The man didn't seem to accept her explanation like the teenager had. "Well, you have to eat something," he urged. "Come on. We have a salad bar. Or fruit?"
       Just as she had two times before, Kaylie shook her head slowly, and very slightly. "I don't have to. You can't force me to eat."
      His expression briefly flashing annoyance, the man prompted, "If you don't eat now you'll be really hungry at night. The kitchen won't be open until breakfast tomorrow."
      Kaylie shrugged her bony shoulders. "Then I'll wait till breakfast tomorrrow." Next to Kaylie, Maria let out a short giggle, which she quickly covered with a cough.
     Mr. Dilbeck, Kaylie's schoolteacher, came from the teacher's dinner table to the table Kaylie was sitting at. "Kaylie, you should probably eat something," he urged gently, standing next to the young man.
     Frightened at the sight of two tall men standing by her chair, urging her to eat, Kaylie shifted even further from them until she was nearly off her chair, and then she scooted her chair further from them until she was pressed up against the dinner table. "If...if I'm not hungry, why do I have to eat?" she inquired.
     The young man next to Mr. Dilbeck's eyes narrowed. "Just eat something. Anything." The way he said this almost seemed like a challenge; a test to see how Kaylie would react.
     Still keeping her calm, quiet tone, Kaylie blinked three times before replying, "Why do you want me to eat so much?"
      Mr. Dilbeck made eye contact with Kaylie, who stared right back without blinking. When her teacher blinked, Kaylie did as well, very slowly. "It's alright Kaylie, you don't have to eat if you don't want to."
      Kaylie didn't respond; she turned her back to the men and resumed staring at herself in the spoon. Both men glanced at the thin, pale girl a little longer, and then left.
     Later, at the "campfire" gathering, while a few camp counselors were putting on a skit, a woman tapped on Kaylie's arm. Kaylie, who had been staring at and pinching her right arm, looked up slowly, and seeing the stranger, quickly shifted away, her eyes widening in terror like a deer caught in headlights.
      "Could you come with me, dear?" the woman asked politely, smiling at Kaylie.
      Blinking twice, Kaylie leaned away from the woman and tilted her chin from side to side.
      Looking slightly annoyed, the woman said, "I should rephrase that. Please come with me, dear."
      Kaylie leaned further away from the woman and shook her head again.
      "I'm the nurse. There's no need to be afraid," she assured Kaylie, who blanched and shook her head again, this time vigorously.
      "Look, I was informed that--that you might have some eating problems. This will only take a minute." The woman pressed on.
      Kaylie stood up quickly from the wooden bench near the campfire and ran, as fast as she could, away from the woman. Little did she know that she was running right into the young man that had spoken in the dining hall earlier. Her eyes blinded with fear and tears, Kaylie slammed right into him, and although the man didn't fall, Kaylie dropped facefirst onto the dirt.
      The man reached down to help Kaylie up, but instead she scrambled to her feet and dashed blindly away from him.
       But a thin, four-foot tall girl was no match for a nearly six foot young man, and so Kaylie was quickly stopped, and guided to the nurse's office.
      "I promise I won't hurt you." the nurse said.
       Kaylie was sitting on a metal chair in a room with a closed door and no windows. The nurse as well as the man were standing in front of the door, blocking Kaylie's escape. Kaylie sat stone-still on the chair and did not speak. She stared with empty eyes in front of her, not reacting.
      "Why didn't you eat dinner?" the nurse asked gently.
       Kaylie didn't speak.
       "You're making this more difficult for yourself. Eventually you will have to talk to me," the nurse reasoned.
       Kaylie didn't speak.
       "Please, young lady, I'm here to help you," the nurse said, trying to keep her patience.
       Kaylie didn't speak.
       "What's your name?" the nurse asked suddenly, after waiting for the practically immobile girl to react for a full minute.
      Kaylie didn't speak.
      The young man did, however. "Kaylie Briggs," he informed the nurse. "Please, we aren't going to hurt you. Would you prefer to speak to your teacher?"
       This time, Kaylie spoke. "I don't want to speak to my teacher. Or you. Or her. Why should I talk to complete strangers about my own personal thoughts? I'd like to leave now."
      Neither adult reacted, until the nurse prompted. "If you need help, we're here to give it to you,"
      "And I don't need help. I'd like to go, please. Or are you trapping me in here?" Kaylie asked.




Hm...I can't really think of anything else to write...my idea was fading. Anyway, Kaylie's anorexic...
What I was really trying to do was make all the adults seem sort of mean and pushy, and get the readers to root for Kaylie even if she has a problem, but after reading my writing I decided I suck at that. But oh well, a quickwrite is a quickwrite. I won't edit it.

--Audrey