The Knife on the Rocks

I climbed down a rock cliff on the side of a house downtown, underneath a big stone bridge today. I had only intended to climb down there to sit on the rocks by the rapids of the river and draw...and then I found it.

A knife. There was a large, sharp carving knife lying lonely on one of the rocks. It was just sitting there, completely intact, no obvious purpose other than to scare someone. It was a bit unnerving at first, it's not often you climb down to the base of a rock wall and are met by the knife from Psycho. I was, however, determined to ignore it. I stubbornly climbed away from it, sat on a rock somewhere else and spent an hour reading and drawing before finally returning to it. By this point I'd had some time to think, time to contemplate the many things that could happen with a knife here, the many animals and small, adventurous children that might get accidentally stabbed.

I picked it up by the handle and stared at it for a while, pacing across the ground in front of the river rapids, trying to figure out what to do. I had pretty much decided by then that it couldn't stay out in the open, I just needed to figure out where I was going to take it, and how I was going to take it there. I tried putting it in my bag, but it nearly tore a hole through it so I took it out. After several minutes of pacing and secretly scanning the water for dead bodies, I turned around and began the climb back up to the alleyway above the rocks, knife in hand, trying my best not to look like a murderer.

Upon poking my head out from below the rocks, I was immediately met by a group of four slightly bewildered middle schoolers on bikes. Apparently, they hadn't been expecting a strange person with a knife to pop out of nowhere on their bike ride, I think they assumed I was smoking pot down there, till they saw the knife. Behind them, I could see a dumpster in the distance, the perfect place for me to throw it. I just needed to get past the line of shops in front of it without someone calling the police. The middle schoolers blocked my way, however, and demanded to know what I was doing there. "Is that your knife?" on of them asked.

"No," I responded immediately, "I found it on one of the rocks, I didn't want anyone to get hurt, so I..."

"What were you doing down there?" another one asked in that annoying middle school voice they all seem to have...was I like that in middle school?

"I was drawing," I said. They smirked.

"On what? The wall?"

"I have a notepad..." I said, not bothering to take it out of my bad, since I was only sketching and the picture wasn't very good. They didn't seem to believe me, I still think they thought I was a pothead.

"So why do you have the knife? Are you gonna kill someone?"

"No," I said again, "I found it on the rocks, it was just there, I brought it up so nothing would get hurt, but now I don't know what to do with it." As I was speaking every single walker in my town decided now would be an excellent time to walk right up the ally I was standing in, making it impossible for me to run to the dumpster. Suprisingly, the middle schoolers seemed to pick up on this.

"People are gonna think you're crazy," said one of them. I nodded.

"Yeah, I was hoping to put it in that dumpster..."

"But there's too many people around," they replied. Another one of them held out their hand.

"I'll take it," he said, and before I could stop him, he took the knife right out of my hand and ran to the dumpster, holding it discreetly behind his back. His friends stood around with me for a bit and laughed, but after a minute I finally decided to run after him. I was halfway there when he threw the thing into the dumpster, never to be seen again. I thanked him and without saying a word, he laughed and ran back to his friends. I turned and walked away, looking back only once to see that they had been joined by several other middle schoolers and were now relating their frightening encounter with a strange girl and a knife to their new friends. I walked away. The subject of it all.

And that's what I did the last day of my Sophomore year. When most people have a part or go out with their friends, I went rock climbing and found a knife, cold and alone, shining on the rocks. I'm a junior now, go figure. I'm sixteen now too, as of yesterday, not sweet sixteen, but just sixteen. I got two books (both Doctor Who) a cactus, a few other things, and something mysterious from China that apparently hasn't come in the mail yet. I'll keep you posted.

But in the meantime, this means I'm officially on Summer break. Finals are done, job applications are being sent, books are being read, and most importantly, the knife has been disposed of. Life is good right now. Life is very good. :)

Oh, and I won "Best Actress" at the Drama Banquet for Alma Threedle. Got a plaque and everything...and they spelled my name right!!!!

I'll spare you anymore of this, have an awesome begining of the summer,

*Nelly*