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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UPRM chapter.

A woman sits quietly in the park while reading her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. She appears at the same hour and place without fail. Her presence expressed mystery, and it seemed to spark some kind of illusion. She never greets or talks to anyone. Her gaze is completely focused on her book. The air around her feels like a cloudy living dream. The kind of dream where her book takes the power of her surroundings and herself, it comes to life while she disappears from reality. 

The rumors said that she appeared in town one day on that spot. No family, no friends, just her book. Everyone believes that she came to town to escape her past, if she has one. Her having an ordinary life is something that the people in town could hardly believe. Maybe her home is somewhere known as “Nowhere”, where a loner hides away from others. But, what’s her deal? Why is she always in the same spot doing the same thing? 

No one remembers how she got here nor when she leaves the spot. No one in town knows her name. Who is she? It’s like she was from another country or somewhere else. Voices whispered she was born that way… Invisible to her own eyes since everyone, except herself, seems to notice her presence. People were invisible to her and she only ever acknowledged her book. Why does she like it so much?

Despite the rumors of being a lonely and mysterious woman, somehow she felt full of life. It seems like a cloud of happiness and joy invades the environment around her. She was the spotlight of the town. She spent hours reading her book, while everybody stared and asked themselves more about her. It was like she was living another life, seeing a wonder through her eyes.  

Everyone in the town knows she reads the same book. But, why? Why– as the town assumes– is her favorite book Pride and Prejudice? Some think that is the only book she knows how to read. Others think that is the only book she owns. Rumors within the crowd of citizens said she loves that book so much, that she disappears from her world and travels to another dimension… However, no one knows for sure what she really likes about it.

The mystery woman sits every day on a bench in front of the kid’s park. Passing families sat on benches far away from her to prevent their children from approaching her. Some people have tried to start a conversation with her, but she has never shown interest in continuing the conversation. Her favorite bench was a worn blue one. Which has a tree by her back that gives her shade on sunny days. No one has dared to change that bench because she is always sitting there, and is the only one that has not been remodeled. But, one night the families of the town had a meeting to prepare a gift for the mystery woman. They decided to replace the old, dirty, and moldy bench with a new one since the woman was always in the same spot.

The next day, the town felt cold and the atmosphere was tense among the citizens. The people of the town gathered around the kid’s park. Something strange and abrupt has happened… The mystery woman and the blue worn bench were missing…!? The police had the area enclosed by warning strips. Everyone was surprisingly sad since no one expected the mystery woman would disappear one day. Weeks passed and the mystery woman was still missing until a little kid called and told the police he had seen the mystery woman in the landfill of the town.

The news traveled among the citizens and suddenly everyone gathered around the same blue worn bench, the one that was in the kid’s park a couple of weeks ago. The news reporters were the first to arrive, as they prepared the scene to start an interview with the missing mystery woman. The woman had the same reaction to every question they had…motionless. The kid slips through the crowd until he gets closer to the woman. Everyone was shocked, no one has ever been that close to her. Even more surprising is what happens next… When the kid touched her shoulder his hand went directly through her… A lot of questions were answered while more unanswered questions arose. The town was left astonished by the ghost who has been living all those years with them.

Laura S Pierantoni Marrero is Sub-Secretary and writer for her campus. She likes to share some of her experiences as a tool for readers. Her most frequent topics are Sex + Relationships, Academics, Entertainment and Her 20's. Currently, she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Project Management. She has participated within UPRM Aero Design as part of the Project Management department and as the Project Manager of the team. She was also a mentor at the Pharmaceutical Engineering Summer Camp (PESCa 2023) that takes place at the campus. She is a certified mosaic artisan from Puerto Rico and during her free time she likes to write stories, poems and short novels. https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-pierantoni-23974830/