Set Piece about Loss | Teen Ink

Set Piece about Loss

November 2, 2023
By Anonymous

The eighteen year old girl stepped out of the car and looked up at the cloudy, pitch black, sky. The moon and stars weren't visible and the darkness brought her back to the day the car accident took her parents away. Beside the car she saw a tree that seemed to be a weeping willow. She sighed and walked into the mall where crowds of shoppers still roamed. The girl had saved up enough money to buy a new coat. A coat that would replace the dull black checkered jacket that was once her mom’s. It would replace the jacket that was with her through the times when her mind refused to believe that her parents were gone forever. She walked into Old Navy. Bright fluorescent lights and the smell of lemon cleaner hit her in the face. The girl walked towards the clearance section, looking for the perfect coat. Soon, she found a green coat. She touched the soft velvety texture of the coat and leaned into its warmth. It was love at first sight. She immediately grabbed the coat off of the shelf, before anyone else could take it, and went to the cashier. “You sure look happy.” The cashier, who couldn’t help but notice the girl’s smile, said. “I was waiting for the past eight years to find a coat that will replace this one.” The girl said, touching the collar of her mother’s dull black jacket. “It sure looks like you need a new one. If you want, you could give your old jacket in and get 25% off your purchase.” The girl thought for a second but then said, “Thank you for the offer, but I think I’ll keep the jacket in my closet as a memory.” The jacket’s color may have faded but it will always be a part of me. The girl thought. The cashier nodded, and completed the purchase. “Have a good night.” “You too.” The girl said back. She walked out with her new coat on. As she sat in the car, she took another look at the sky. Unlike before, the sky was clear and the stars and the moon were now visible. Under the glistening light from the stars and moon, she noticed that the tree next to her car was not a weeping willow. In fact, it was a beautiful cherry blossom tree with pink and white flowers ready to bloom. The endless darkness of the night sky was brightened by the light of the stars and moon.


The author's comments:

For this set piece I was trying to explain how events in life can be sudden and that it can be hard to accept these events and move on. Sometimes, it might even seem that the event had such a big impact on you that you will never move on. However, with time you will recover from the event. While I was writing this stand-alone set piece I tried to practice symbolism. Symbolism is when authors use characters, events, ideas or other elements of a story to represent something else. This something else is usually the theme of the story. In my writing symbolism can be seen with the jacket, coat, trees and night sky in the piece. The old jacket represents grief and the new coat represents healing over time. The trees and night sky represent the main character’s changed positive perspective of things because she accepted that her parents are gone. My favorite part of this set piece is the end of the story where the girl looks at the sky again and sees the stars and moon this time.


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