Superstitious--Laylah

I felt the weather changing, water coming down from the sky slowly. The clouds changed from white to gray and I heard thunder from miles away. Crack! It was Thursday morning and I couldn’t be more thrilled to go home. I was hoping for school to end, so I can relax and drink some boiling hot chocolate. My friends and I were walking from Physical Education and sharing an umbrella. I was ignoring their conversation and I felt like I lived this same exact moment before. It must be in my memory, but I am unable to recall the time, place, or the people I have been around when this experience first happened.

I remember on Halloween day, my history teacher presented a slideshow about Halloween origins and superstitions. One of the superstitions was that if someone feels a frightening shiver, then there is someone walking on the grave of your future.

I instantly thought of the superstition when it was raining even though I am only shivering because it is cold and I don’t have a jacket. Anyways, I am pretty sure that I just had Déjá Vu which is completely freakish. I am now in my math class and hope to have independent time. I don’t intend to work my hardest today.

It took me thirty minutes to walk home, and I kept blowing my breath to see it transparently. I continued to exhale seeing the fog leave my mouth. I come home, wrap my umbrella, and leave it by the front door. I immediately walk to the fridge. I bring out whipped cream and boil water. I make my hot cocoa and top it with cinnamon too. As I am walking into the living room, I was thinking that I should put a movie on. To get into the spirit for Christmas, I put on​ The Grinch.​ I went into the living room and started doing research on the superstition I thought of earlier. I searched up, “Someone walking over a future grave,” and found my results instantly. How can this make sense? Are we living in a world where the past, present, and future are happening coincidentally? I brought out my journal and scribbled notes about this superstition. I included a comic strip drawing of someone in the past, present, and future. The person in the past reminisced about living a long fulfilling life, while the present felt shivers over his body during class. He got an alarming amount of goosebumps and recalled about the superstition and visualized how a random kid jumped on his grave. In the future, a kid jumped on the grave pretending to play Hopscotch. The child did not intend to disrespect the sacred grave and did not realize how his actions brought upon bad luck. As I finished making the drawing, I understood how the past, present, and future affects the pathway one moves toward. Moreover, one's current decisions determine how we live in the future.

However, I did not believe that the universe was existing at once, but I do understand that it exists in the present. I wrote the quote on the center of the paper, “​Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present. -Bil Keane.” I put it on my desk and wondered if the story could be true.

I start doing my history homework while watching ​The Grinch​. I drank my hot cocoa and took out the decorations from the garage. I decorate the window with paper snowflakes and take out the handmade ornaments carefully from the box. I set up my artificial Christmas tree waiting for my favorite part of the movie to come. I place the lights on the branches of the tree and call my brother over to help me decorate the rest. I exclaim, “Come help me with the Christmas decorations. Your favorite movie is on!” He comes over at the exact time where the

Grinch is nervous to knock on the door. As soon as the doorbell rings, he is welcomed in and Cindy Lou is delighted with his presence. This scene brings me comfort for the holidays. We finish putting up the tree and I head to my room.

I look back at the paper on my desk and become eager to explore other superstitions. The other ones I can think of are walking under a ladder, walking through different doorways when speaking to your friends, and shattering a mirror. I notice how all superstitions lead to bad luck or mean disrespect towards something. I am starting to believe that superstitions are unreal and that they are only beliefs that someone might live by. I take no part in it. I do not want to have a growing concern that bad luck can happen if I break one of these fantasies. I go on my phone and take a break. I am exhausted. I accidentally fall asleep with the phone in my hand and wake up ready for a late dinner. My mom comes home preparing for dinner. At the living room table I ask, “Do you know about the superstition about someone walking on your future grave?” She answers, “No” in confusion, and tells me that I shouldn’t pay attention to these myths. She is right. I will stop with this nonsense and let this go from my mind. We all have a great time eating enchiladas at the table. My mom loves the decorations we put up.