Past Wrong

1
Past Wrong by Amber Skibinski
I curl up on the couch with a book and a fresh cup of tea as my mother walks into the den
to say goodbye wearing her new silky blue dress and black heels.
She smiles at me and looking at my book and tea before saying, “Clarissa, are you sure
you don’t want me to call Mr. Tanner and have him check on you while we are gone?”
I force a smile knowing she would drive me crazy if my dad and she didn’t leave soon.
“Mom, I told you I’m a big girl and can take care of myself I don’t need a babysitter to check up
on me every ten minutes just because you and dad want to go out for dinner. Now go I’m a
Peirce I can handle anything” I smile at her as she rolls her eyes and kisses my cheek before
leaving with my father. I sigh softly finally relaxing as I hear the car pull out of the driveway
and head down the road. I take a big sip of my Passionflower tea and open my book to the last
page I remember reading. I become so engrossed in my book that I don’t realize a creaking and
thumping sound coming from upstairs. When I do realize that the sound isn’t my imagination.
I put down my book and stand up calling out, “Hello? Who’s there?”
I listen for a reply and get nothing but continue to hear the thumping. I walk towards the
hall stairs trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. I listen closely knowing the
sounds are coming from upstairs. I begin to walk up the stairs cautiously and feeling the pull of
fear in my chest making it hard for me to breath. I reach the top of the stairs and look around
still hearing the sound of feet on floor boards but it still sounds above my head. I frown deeply
and think about where it could be coming from remembering that we have an attic.
I had only been up there once when I was very little but I could still remember how big it
was and how dark it was due to there being no lights inside. I bite my lip looking at the stairs
that would lead to the attic door. I had been told never to go in the attic after getting locked
inside when I was four. I was so scared of that attic that I couldn’t even imagine going to check
the attic for something inside. I think to myself how dumb can I be to have such an irrational

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fear of an attic? Who cares if it was dark and smelled like death? I take a deep breath and
slowly begin to climb the little flight of stairs to the door. I try not to make the stairs creak by
keeping my footsteps light. I didn’t want to scare whatever was in the attic. I stare at the attic
door, petrified beyond the capability to breathe at a normal rate. It was not plausible for
anything to be in the attic. For as long as I could remember the door had always been locked but
there was no mistaking the sounds coming from inside the room. The sound of footsteps on old
floorboard is hard to mistake. I can no longer ignore the sounds for as I stand there staring the
creaking just grew louder and louder with every second as if someone was coming towards the
door. I slowly reach for the door handle trying to make as little sound as possible but as I go to
turn the handle the door jerks into me. I fall backwards from the force of the door being pushed
into me. I catch my footing before I can plummet down the flight of stairs at my back. I look
into the doorway but I’m unable to see what had opened the door. I walk forward slowly
wishing I had a flashlight but dwelling on what I did not have was going to get me nowhere fast.
I slowly walk across the threshold into the attic and look around. All I can see is a bunch of old
junk that had to be from when my grandmother was a child. I walk over to a little doll house that
could only be hand crafted. Upon closer inspection of the house I can see that it was just a
miniature version of our house, it was even set up in the same manor. I move away from the doll
house to look at other items and try to figure out who or what could have been in the attic since it
was clearly gone now or so I hope.
I notice a table surrounded by mirrors that didn’t have nearly as much dust on it as the
rest of the stuff in the room. I walk over to the table and notice all the books on it. I pick up one
of the books noticing immediately that it’s a photo album. I look at the pictures noticing how old
they are and how fragile they look. I smile assuming it is one of my grandmother’s albums. I
look at the intriguing photos I had just found and begin to leave the attic with the album in my
hands. I close the door behind me and quickly move down the stairs hoping that my parents

3
hadn’t arrived while I was upstairs. I look around after reaching the base of the stairs and see no
sign of my parents. I smile and go curl up in the big rocking chair ready to flip through the
album. I take a sip of my tea that has gone cold and look at a mesmerizing picture of a young
girl who looks strangely like me and a young man who I assume was courting her. I take the
picture out of its slot to get a closer look then flip the picture over hoping for any clue on whom
the young couple was. I gasp lightly as I read the word on the back aloud “Clarissa Finnegan
and Landon Peirce, August 6, 1930”. I flip the picture back over and stare at the young girl’s
face that not only looks exactly like me but had the same name as me. I look at the young man
and frown wondering if they were some distant ancestors who I have never heard of and am
named after. I hear the front door open and hear my mother call my name,
“Clarissa, dear we’re home. Where are you?”
I sigh softly and put the album behind my back before calling “I’m in the den, mom”.
I look at her as she walks into the room noticing, not for the first time, just how different
we look. She has dark brown curly hair; she is short and too skinny and is a bit plain in the face
with freckles along her nose and deep blue eyes. She is always concerned with how she looks
and loves to go to private parties. I, on the other hand, have straight blond hair. I am tall and
curvy, and have a defined face with sharp features that made my light green eyes seem endless.
Plus I couldn’t care less how I look on a daily basis and love to read. I am exceptionally smart in
every subject. My mother and I are complete opposite in looks and in personality. I don’t know
who I look like. I don’t look like my dad but I guess I can say I look a little like my grandmother
even though I have never seen a picture of her when she was younger. I was shaken out of my
mussing as my mother call my name and waved her hand in my face.
“Sorry mom I guess I zoned out… What did you say?” I ask as she frowns at me.
“I said, did you have a nice evening Clarissa?”

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I force a smile and nod, “Of course I did. I just spent the time reading. How was your
dinner with dad?”
She rolls her eyes and smiles, “It was nice but your father got a call from the office, so
we had to come home early so he could finish up some work for tomorrow”
I frown deeply and look at her, “Dad is going into work tomorrow?”
She chuckles like I said the silliest thing in the world, “Of course he is going into work
tomorrow it’s a normal work day isn’t it?”
I sigh upset and realize they both forgot my birthday for the third year in a row, “I guess
so mom…”
I watch her leave the room and grab my book and the photo album quickly heading up to
my room after getting rid of my tea and putting the cup in the dishwasher. I close my bedroom
door locking it so I won’t be disturbed. I sit on my bed and look at the horrible color of my walls
hating that my mother refuses to let me decorate my own bedroom even at the age of sixteen
almost seventeen. I hate the bright pink walls with the accented purple wall. I hate that she had
a say in what I put on my walls and hated everything I tried to put up without asking her
permission first. I sigh and lay back on my bed with the photo album in my hand. I look at the
only thing I like in my room, the ceiling. I smile watching the different star patterns of the night
sky design on my ceiling. I know my mother tried to take credit for the night sky but I knew it
was entirely my dad’s idea. I love finding the constellations in the fake sky and how my light
looked like the moon when I look up at the stars. I sit back up and open the photo album. I look
at the different pictures and try to figure out if any of the people in the pictures were someone in
my family I had heard about. I frown and wonder how old the other Clarissa was when the
picture had been taken. I pull my laptop off my desk and start to a search for Clarissa Finnegan.
I find a census for 1930 and look through the records looking for her name. I find it and notice
she is sixteen and her birth date is the same as mine, September 12th just different years. I frown

5
deeply and look through more records finding a marriage license for Clarissa and the man
Landon. I chuckle at the irony of her name being the exact same as mine. I sigh deeply and
close down my laptop after bookmarking the pages I had found online. I close the photo album
and put it in my locked desk drawer so I won’t have to worry about anything happening to it. I
pick up my cell phone and notice I have two missed calls and five texts from my best friend and
almost boyfriend, Landon. I look at the texts knowing most of them were going to be about me
needing to call back. I call Landon back and get his voicemail. I roll my eyes and leave a
message,
“Hey Landon it’s me. I guess you are busy and I will call you back in the morning”.
I hang up the phone and put it on silent as I get ready for bed. I put on my favorite blue
shorts and tank top. I pull my hair into a messy bun and flip off my lights before crawling into
my big bed and sinking under the blankets. I close my eyes and drift off into sleep.
I wake in the morning and look at what time it was. I sigh deeply and sit up wondering
why I couldn’t sleep past 7:30 AM even though it was summer break. I grab my phone to see if
Landon texted or called me back. I frown not seeing any messages from him then head
downstairs wanting to get some coffee in my system to help me fully wake up. I walk down the
stairs and look out the window noticing both of my parent’s cars already gone. I shrug and go
make my coffee before sitting at the dining room table and contemplating making myself some
breakfast. I decide against it because I’m not in the mood to cook anything. I sip my coffee and
hear a knock on the backdoor. I try to think who it could be at this time of the morning and open
the door. I blush seeing Landon’s smiling face as he holds up a box of my favorite donuts.
Noticing me blushing he says, “Morning Ms. Pierce getting a late start I see”.
I chuckle to myself, “Come on in Landon. I was just drinking my morning cup of coffee
and deciding against cooking breakfast.”

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He laughs and sets the box of donuts on the table before handing one to me. I take a bite
of the delicious sweet treat and lick a little chocolate off my lip,
“You are a god these are amazing!”
He rolls his eyes and sits down with his own cup of coffee.
“If I would have known the quickest way to get praise from you was to bring donuts I
would have done it sooner” he says teasingly.
I blush deeply and finish my donut and coffee, putting my cup in the sink I look closely
at Landon noticing that he closely resembles the Landon in the picture from the night before.
I smile and say, “Landon I have to show you something I found in my attic last night.”
He shrugs and says, “Okay show me.”
I chuckle and say, “It’s in my room let me go get it.” I head up to my room and grab the
album from the locked drawer. I turn around and gasp seeing Landon. “You scared me I didn’t
know you followed me up here.”
He shrugs and smiles, “I figured if you wanted to show me something I might as well
come with you” he says.
I smile and grab the picture of Clarissa and her Landon. I hand it to him and watch his
shocked face as he looks at the picture then at the caption on the back. He looks at me wide
eyed,
“Is this some kind of joke Clarissa?”
I frown deeply and shake my head, “I wish it was I actually found a census from that time
period and they are real people. Freaky huh?”
He nods and I put the picture back, “I want to find out more about them but I can’t ask
my parents. I’m wondering if they are some ancestors I just didn’t know about. They look a lot
like us though Landon and I’m feeling freaked out about the whole thing.”

7
He nods and takes a deep breath, “I will help you find out what is going on because I
want to know just as much as you do. Should we start looking for information at the library?”
I nod and say, “That seems to be the best place to go if we can’t find anything there we
can try other places if we need to.”
I take a deep breath and head into my bathroom to quickly get dressed. I walk out after
changing into shorts and a tank top. I pull my hair into a pony tail and teasingly ask, “So are you
driving or am I?”
He laughs and says, “Neither since I don’t have a car nor do you have a license. We can
walk.”
I pout and grab my purse, “Fine let’s go.”
After a 15 minute walk, we go into the library and briskly go to the archives. I start
looking for anything from 1930. I grab a bunch of old newspapers and head over to a table with
Landon. I hand him half the stack and sigh,
“Start looking for anything to do with Clarissa Finnegan or Landon Pierce. Whatever
you find mark with a piece of paper and we will photocopy all the info we find then take it home
with us.”
I smile as he jumps right in. I start going through my stack and find very minimal stuff
on both the Pierce’s and the Finnegan’s in general. I frown deeply and mark what little I find. I
look at Landon and see he has made as little progress as I have.
He looks up wide eyed, “I found a marriage announcement for Clarissa and Landon.”
How old did you say she was in 1930?”
I look at him and frown, “She was 16 almost 17. Her birthday is the same as mine.
Why?”
He sighs, “We need to find more information on this Landon guy because according to
this Clarissa was the exact same age as you and she got engaged a week after her 17th birthday.

8
I’m wondering if all these similarities between you and her mean that I have a lot more in
common with this Landon than we think.”
I nod and sigh, “We can go back on my computer when we get to my house and look at
that census I found...”
He nods and says, “I’ve found all I can in these papers. Let’s go make copies and get out
of here before I get more freaked out.”
I grab the papers and head over to the copy machine. I quickly make copies of the
passages then go put the newspapers back in the archives. I put the copies in my bag and sigh.
We head back to my house and straight up to my room. I grab my laptop and open it to the
census. We find Landon’s name and notice he was 17 like Landon is. We look up birth records
and find that they both have the same birthdays just like Clarissa and I do. I look at him freaked
out and close the computer. I shake lightly and say,
“Let’s go get a milk shake. We both definitely need it…”
He nods and we quickly leave my house. We head down the street towards our favorite
ice cream shop that had an awesome 50’s feel to it. We walk in and head over to the counter
ordering our usual mint chocolate chip milk shake. We walk to a back booth and sit down
sipping our drinks. I clear my throat and bite my lip,
“I’ve been thinking that we may need to go speak with someone who might know
something more about this time period.”
He looks at me and frowns, “Like who Clarissa? Who could we talk to about all of this
that won’t think we’re insane?”
I sigh, “I’m not sure Landon but there has to be someone who understands what’s going
on. We can Google it and see if anyone else has had this happen to them. We can’t be the only
ones this is to strange for it to happen just to us.”
He nods and takes another drink of his milkshake. He looks at me and frowns,

9
“Do you think this could be some kind of crazy past life thing where the past is trying to
fix itself? Like if something happened that wasn’t supposed to and now we are supposed to fix it
in this life?”
I look at him wide eyed and try not to choke on my sip of milkshake, “That is possible
and it would make sense why we look just like the picture and have the same birthday as them.
Do you think that we could find someone to speak with?”
We think for a moment and he smiles, “There is that one book shop where the guy always
seems to be trying to sell all those books on reincarnation. He might know exactly what we need
to look at or who to speak with.”
We grab our milkshakes and quickly leave the ice cream shop heading towards the old
book store. When we get to the book store we throw our finished milkshakes away and head
inside. We smile at the old store owner Mr. Tanner. He looks surprised to see us as we walk to
the counter,
“Mr. Tanner we need to speak with James. Is he here?”
He nods and points us towards the back office. We head back to the office and knock
before entering. We look at James and clear our throats. He looks up startled and asks,
“What are you doing back here?”
I sigh and look at Landon before speaking, “We need your help James. I found an old
photo album in my attic and a picture of a young couple. They look exactly like Landon and I
and when we did more research we found we have the same birthdays. We think we are their
reincarnations and we think that the past might be trying to fix itself. We aren’t sure what to do
or who to talk to. Can you help?”
James looks at us for a minute then nods, “Yes, I have some books you can look at while
I try to get a hold of a professor I know who specializes in these things.”

10
He hands us a bunch of books and we put them in my bag before giving him my number,
“When you get a hold of your friend call me and we will head over to wherever we need to.”
He nods and we leave with all the books he lent to us. We head back towards my house
as I sigh and look at my phone seeing a happy birthday text from another friend of mine. I send
a thank you text back before pocketing my phone. Landon looks at me and sighs,
“We should be having a party for your birthday it drives me nuts that your parents always
forget. I thought your dad promised he would take the day off for your birthday and spend the
day with you?”
I shrug and force a smile, “He forgot again just like my mom did. I’m used to it thought
at least you remembered my birthday...”
I open the door to my house and quickly head to the dining room table. We both take a
book and begin to skim the pages. I frown lightly and read a passage out loud,
“Past lives, subconsciously, have profound impacts on the reincarnated life. If in the
event that the new life is born in the direct path of a previous one the past may seem to repeat
itself at the same stage of life that a great wrong was done. If the wrong is not corrected in the
allotted time the new life will meet the same end as the previous one.”
I look at Landon and take a deep breath as he says, “That would explain what is
happening to us now all we need to figure out is what great wrong was done to our previous lives
so that we can try to correct it before it’s too late.”
I frown deeply and try to stay calm, “We don’t even know how much time we have to fix
the problem!”
He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs, “I know Clarissa but we can’t just sit
around for something bad to happen to us…”

11
I nod sadly and grab the newspaper copies and look through them skimming the pages
looking for anything that could be a clue. Landon looks through a few other papers then stops. I
look at him and bite my lip,
“What did you find?”
He sighs deeply, “According to this a few days before we were supposed to be married I
was arrested for murdering you… They were going to be married about two weeks before
Landon’s eighteenth birthday. I am assuming this is the big wrong that happened and I know I
would never kill you in any life so that means I was set up. My birthday is still over a month
away we can figure this all out, I promise.”
I nod sadly and try to stay calm and think through all of this. I grab my laptop and start
looking up any reports I could find on Clarissa’s murder, wondering who all the suspects could
be. I look through it and frown lightly,
“According to this police report from Clarissa’s murder, my neighbor’s son, Caiden, was
a huge suspect before they arrested you. He had a serious crush on me and openly protested our
upcoming marriage. Do you think it is possible that he was reincarnated just like we were?”
Landon nods and looks over my shoulder at the article “See if you can find anything on
this guy’s death. If he was reincarnated I would assume he would have died around the same
time as us so that his birthday would have to match up like ours, right?”
I nod and start looking through the papers, “Here it is… It says he killed himself just after
you were killed in jail. I’m starting to wonder if I found that photo album on accident. What if
this Caiden knows he was reincarnated and somehow got in my attic and planted the picture to
try to force me to remember?”
Landon shrugs and takes a deep breath, “It’s definitely possible but how do we find this
guy? If he knows he is reincarnated he wouldn’t keep his name the same like ours are. He

12
wouldn’t want us to know it was him because that would ruin everything. He could be anyone
we know…”
I nod slowly and try to find a picture of Caiden so that we would know him when we see
him. I sigh unable to find anything after twenty minutes. I bite my lip and say,
“If we make it seem like we are in love no one will know that history is repeating itself
except Caiden… We can draw him out and make him do something rash so that he will show
himself to us without him knowing that it is a trap!”
He smiles and kisses me softly, “You are brilliant let’s go draw him out. He will most
likely be hanging out where your favorite places are if he trying to make it so that you end up
with him. Let’s go to the library and act like teenagers in love…”
I grab my bag before holding his hand lightly. We walk out of my house and start
heading for the library again trying to act like we are in love. He stops at a flower shop on the
way and buys me a dozen red lilies because they are my favorite. I blush deeply and smell them
before giving him a light kiss on the lips hoping that our plan is working. We walk into the
library and walk through seeing a few guys staring at us as we hold hands and look around. I
check out a book quickly. I look at Landon,
“Why don’t we go see a movie? I can drop the flowers at my house and you can run back
to yours and grab your movie passes?”
Landon smiles and kisses my cheek, “Sounds like a perfect birthday gift to me babe!”
I blush deeply and giggle lightly. We leave the library and split up as we head to our own
homes. I get inside my house and take a deep breath as I put the flowers in a vase. I listen
closely to my surroundings waiting for anything to happen. I jump when my phone rings and I
look at the caller ID. I frown unsure who would be calling with an unknown number. I answer it
slowly hearing James’ voice,

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“Hey Clarissa I found another book you might be interested in looking at. I’m about five
minutes from your house. Are you at home so I can drop it off?”
I take a deep breath and smile, “Yeah I’m at home I can wait here for you I just have to
call Landon and let him know to just meet at my house. He is taking me to the movies for my
birthday/first date.”
I hang up after James says he will be right over. I call Landon and tell him what is going
on and he says he will be there in about ten minutes. I hang up the phone as I hear a knock on
my front door, going to answer it I check to make sure it is James before opening the door,
“Hi James come on in.”
I close the door after he is inside and lead him into the den,
“So what book did you find?”
He looks at me and hands me small photo album as we sit down. I frown and open it
seeing old pictures just like the ones of Landon and I from our past lives. I look through the
pictures and gasp seeing one of James and I, only it isn’t really James.
I shake lightly and look at him wide eyed,
“You are Caiden? But why would you do this? You are one of the sweetest guys I know”
He sighs and moves closer to me, “Because I have been in love with you since our past
lives were small children… You never gave me the time of day and when you were going to
marry Landon I tried to change your mind but you wouldn’t listen! Now history is repeating
itself and I can’t let that happen not again… I never meant to kill you but I won’t let you choose
him over me again!”
I quickly jump from the couch as he lunges towards me. I scramble to my feet and
scream as I try to run up the stairs, falling as he grabs my legs from behind. I struggle as he tries
to pin my arms so that I can’t fight back. I kick him in the knees and he rolls down a few of the
stairs as I get up and run towards my room. I cry softly as I force myself to think of a good

14
hiding spot. I run up the stairs to the attic and lock myself inside as I hear James pound on the
door,
“Clarissa open this door now!”
I look around for any weapon that I could possibly use and find a pair of old scissors. I
pick them up and hide behind a bunch of boxes. I shake lightly as I hear James walk away from
the attic door. I sniffle lightly and grab my cell phone from my back pocket surprised that it
wasn’t broken or on the ground somewhere. I text Landon to call the police not wanting to make
too much noise, I put my phone on silent then put it back in my pocket. I hear a creaking as I see
a tiny little door in the attic wall open, gasping lightly I see James walk through with a knife
from my kitchen. I bite my lip hard and try to keep my body hidden behind the boxes as he
looks around. I see him walking towards another grouping of boxes and slowly move from my
hiding spot while his back is turned. I trip on a chair and fall making the chair fall over. I
scream when he turns around and runs towards me. I kick him in the stomach forcing him to
double over in pain. I run for the door and cry out in pain as he grabs me by my hair and flings
me to the ground, making me lose my only weapon. I try to catch my breath as he walks towards
me. I try to scoot away from him as he gets closer and closer. I look at the knife in his hand and
scream when he is tackled from behind. I gasp seeing Landon and James struggling. I get up
hearing Landon yell,
“Run Clarissa!”
I run out of the attic and gasp hearing Landon cry out in pain. I look around for a place to
go and hide in the hall closet near my room. I see James walking down the attic stairs with his
knife covered in Landon’s blood. I whimper softly and cover my mouth with my hand trying to
stay silent. James shouts,
“Clarissa! Come out now before I get even angrier and have to kill you again!”

15
I cry silently and force myself to stay still. I bite my lip as he gets closer to where I’m
hiding. I see him walk past and go into my room as I slip out of the closet and run back up to the
attic. I see Landon just lying in a pool of his own blood. I rush over and cry softly checking for
a pulse whispering,
“Landon wake up… Please wake up…” I sniffle and jump as I hear James, “Clarissa…
Why can’t you just listen to me for once? Landon is dead and I don’t want to kill you so just be
with me and we can both live happily ever after.”
I sniffle and get up backing away from him, “I would rather die then be with a murderer!”
He sighs deeply and shakes his head, “I guess I will have to try again in another life…”
He rushes towards me and I scream trying to get away from him as he slashes the knife through
the air catching my arm as I shield myself. I stagger back and look around for something to
defend myself with and notice a broken chair. I pick up a broken chair leg and force myself to
stay still as he rushes towards me again. I hit the knife out of his hand and then swing my arm
back hitting him in the head. I keep my stance as I begin to hear sirens outside my house; I look
at Landon losing my focus and scream when James attempts to tackle me. I hit him with the
chair leg again and cry out as he hits the open attic window and falls out. I rush towards Landon
after dropping the chair leg and kneel by him as he slowly gains consciousness. I yell for help as
I hear the police crash through my front door. I sniffle and try to stay calm as Landon is taken to
the hospital and I get questioned on the events of what happened. Later that night at the hospital
I stay with Landon after he has surgery to fix a cut vein from him being stabbed. I watch him
sleep and run my fingers through his hair,
“It’s over Landon… We righted our wrong and now we can live our own lives…”
The End

Past Wrong

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