The Trail (MAJOR EDITING IN PROGRESS)

Silent Night (Edited)

I grabbed my phone from my pocket, and looked back up to take a picture, but where the word had been written, there was nothing but the scattered fragments of a broken TARDIS.

For a moment I had forgotten what happened, but then I saw the looks of shock, and the few of fierce anger.

You idiot! You stupid freaking retard. All you ever seem to do it screw up! Why do you have to fail so much, why are you so pathetic and stupid!

"Are you alright?" A clerk knelt beside me. When she saw me nod she picked my arm up and I realized I was dripping blood from my wrist. Holland saw it too, and attempted to put him hand over it to stop the bleeding.

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to step back." The woman said while her brown bob bounced in a cheery manner.

"She's my girlfriend," he answered. The clerk must have just started her shift, otherwise, she would have seen us come into the small shop. Her acne free face registered a look of understanding and then worry. Was she afraid that Holland would get mad at her for the misunderstanding?

Was the trail responsible for this? Could it have- Oh no!

Women whispered to one another and began looking in their bags for a bandage.

My face burned with embarrassment and worry for the others. I was inconveniencing everyone's day, and since the clerk had noticed my cut, everyone was paying even more attention to me. I stuck my thumbnail in my mouth, and bit on it, trying to bring my thoughts around.

Holland placed his arm around my shoulder, reassuring me, "it's okay, things like this happen."

A stooped man with sagging lines on his face walked over to one of the workers who was trying to keep people back and whispered a few things to him. The clerk nodded and looked at me and then whispered something serious back at the man. Based on the offensive body position the older man had, he had to be telling the clerk that I knocked the tree over on purpose.

All around people whispered to each other and looked at me; some without emotion, some with understanding, and some with disappointment.

Holland spoke quietly to me, "Lucy... look, it's o-kay."

A child stood at the edge of the tree, and removed a Christmas tree ornament from a Christmas special of Doctor Who, placed it in her pocket, then ran over to a boy about my age. Based on their physical similarities I would've said he was her brother.

If I had called them out on it, then people would've thought that I was trying to change the subject and shift blame.

"I'll pay for everything, how much is it?" I asked. Tears began to come to my eyes, but I held them back, that would only have made things worse.

"Accidents happen so-"

The older man came out from the back of the small fifteen-person crowd,

"Kids these days need to learn that their actions have consequences," he finished it with a pompous and sarcastic voice. He truly was a product of his generation, and it made me sad.

I stared at the white tiled floor. The store was small, and it just kept becoming even more so. It had been only about a minute since the tree fell and yet it felt like forever. As people cleared out, I could hear more whispering, more gossiping, more laughter...

"By attacking her, you've effectively made yourself seem like an ass," Holland said as he clamped his arm on me defensively.

His eyes held a sort of violent protection towards the man. The manreturned Holland's assumed glare with one filled with the man, Holland and I were insects in this world, with no sense of dignity or responsibility. Holland shifted his arm to a less defensive gesture, to one of defense. His face also changed into the same arrogance as the man. It became nothing more than a fight between ages.