Ghosts

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Annaise Walker is depressed.

Her parents always yelled and sometimes abused her for not being a good enough daughter for them. And on certain occasions, they'd even fight each other.

She only had one celebrated birthday, and that was when she had just been born. There had been a few balloons scattered around the room reading phrases such as "Baby Shower" and "It's a Girl!". Annaise remembered what her parents said when they first saw her; she had watched an old recording of that day several times.

Vivian Walker saw her first, as she was the mother. "It looks so ugly," she'd said in disgust. Then she showed Thomas Walker, the father, and he too grimaced at the baby girl.

"Are you sure that one's ours?" he asked pleadingly to the nurses. They shook their heads.

"I'm sorry sir; this one is Annaise Walker."

Even the nurses made sure to keep their distance from the newborn child.

Thomas grumbled in anger. "Fine. Maybe she'll have better qualities to outshine her appearance. How about it, Vivian?" She sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes.

"I'll make sure she will be our perfect daughter, Thomas." She stretched her neck to give her husband a peck on his lips. "She better be."

And all the while, little Annaise hadn't even made a sound. And so it continued that way for many years, since "Children are to be seen and not heard." At least, that's what Vivian Walker had told her daughter.

The saying stuck in Annaise's mind all through her years of school. Since she barely spoke in class, the other students called her a "retard" and made fun of her for it.

No one dared to be around the "creepy, mute girl".

Annaise was pushed away from everybody she'd ever met, and even those she never knew. Even from Jovan, her infatuation of a boy. He'd seemed so perfect in her eyes, so much like a person Annaise aspired to be. But he obviously didn't want her.

Nobody wanted her, it seemed.

Adults turned a blind eye when she'd been bullied by others. As a matter of fact, they'd keep that eye blind whenever they got close to Annaise protect them from her infamous monstrosity.

Annaise Walker didn't know what to do.

But one day, she read an article - an article about a girl her age, who hung herself from a cherry blossom tree.

Ironic isn't it? Such a beautiful tree holding such a terrible occurrence like that.

Yet, Annaise got an idea.

And that is where our story shall begin.