Aadvika’s articles

My eyes flash open to the thunder roaring outside. The lightning reflects itself across my eyes. White, electric, a sudden flash that makes my heart jump, enough to make me frightened. The cool air hovers above me, seeping through the thin sheets that we only get to protect ourselves. Goosebumps travel through my spine, forcing me to softly rise. I place my hand against the bed, allowing the pressure on it to get me up. Slowly and carefully, before the bed makes a sound and everyone wonders what the Japanese girl is up to. I yank the covers off, and allow my legs to unfold and dangle, my toes barely scraping against the floor and my palms stuck to the edge of the bed. My eyes wander to the window, where the grass is brightley green, the lightning strikes and where the rain keeps falling and falling. Dawn will soon follow, and dusk will come too. That’s just the way things go on Oahu Island in the year of 1941.

Chapter 1:

The alarm strikes out loud, where the twisting and turnings of struggling to get up for a new day of practice occurs. Girls get up with their hair like bird nests, weary eyes and get in line to get ready. Sadly for me, I’m still struggling to keep my eyes open. The thunder stayed up for a few hours and it settled down sooner than imagined. Sleep didn’t occur easily, mainly because today is the day that we have one month of our medical training left. Girls reach into their bags to reach for their brushes, and exit our dormitories to run to the restrooms right across. Everyone was scurrying through just to get ready for the day. At last I decided I should, and let myself crouch to my bag and get my uniform and brush. My legs drag me out the door and swing open a new one full of girls yelling. I find a wall to lean against since I’m towards the end of the lines for 4 sinks and 4 showers. We each take turns in front of the small sink and dirty mirrors to scrub their teeth clean. The brush moves left and right and up and down. Showers become more of a hassle, taking quick showers with cool water running down. All of us in long shorts that run until our knees and cotton shirts we rewear plenty of times in the week. I wait in line watching every girl brush their teeth in the matter of a minute and 2 minute showers. A sea of blue starts to exit, while they walk past to get ready to comb their hair. The problem is… this is just one group, another group wakes up in about… 15 minutes. And with the group of girls I’m with? Is a group of 35. The crowd started to lower as more people got ready and as I made my way to the front of the line to brush my teeth. In a rush, a few people went to one sink, and as I went to one, the girls looked at me and stepped to the side a little, eyeing me and quickly finishing up to move away from me. I squeeze some toothpaste out and ignore them. I’m pale, skinny, and have a similar length of hair to the other girls, but they say I’m yellow, and having large round brown eyes and skinny lips makes me different from them. My bangs fall in the way of my eyes as I watch myself in the mirror, scrubbing my teeth so hard they might bleed. I rinsed my mouth and left the sink heading onto the shower with scrubs in hand. As each shower finished in minutes, my turn followed quickly. I crouch down and leave my scrubs right outside the stall, but I was always worried someone would steal them. Sometimes I wonder if I ever have to worry about that problem, no one likes a Japanese girl anyway. I swing the stall door open and shut it lock with a loud *bam*. The floor is wet and cold and my shivers travel back onto my skin. I twist the knob for water to spill out into a bucket I placed in front of it, letting it fill to the very top. I neatly folded my used clothes onto a bench they had and twisted the knob back to stop the water flow. I grab a mug and scoop up some water to pour on me. The cold water contacts my skin, where I breathe deeply through my nose to not feel cold. I mentally turned off my brain, and showered like it was warm water. Months and months of daily water still hasn’t done any good. I pick up the bar of soap and scrub it across my body and rinse it once off- now shivering. My eyes looked in each direction searching for a towel, until I found a fresh one hung up. I swing the door open with a tiny gap and snatch my clothes from the floor. A new crowd of bustling girls enters, times up and it’s only in a matter of second someone will bang the stall to open the door. I quickly wear my blue scrubs that are rarely ever so comfortable. Before someone knocks I open the door to a girl startled that I opened it. Her eyes wide in shock, as she slowly steps back to allow me to exit out. I step out and my eyes dart to the door eager to get out while eyes lay on me. I enter the dormitory with girls still combing their hair filled with knots. I shove my dirty clothes into my open bag and scrummage through for a hair brush… but my hands can’t find one. I decided to finger comb through my hair, taking all the knots carefully, though deep inside I was terrified where it went. Each strand caused pain as I winced at it struggling through. I felt a tap on my shoulder, so I turned back with my fingers stuck in my hair. A blonde girl a little bit shorter offers me her hairbrush. Gratefully, I took it nodding my head signaling a ‘thanks’. I grab the comb and brush through my black, silky hair that runs to my hips and brush out my bangs making sure it looks neat. I search the room for her and walk towards her handing it back. I make sure I look presentable before I hear a shout nearby.

To be continued

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