She was on her way home, laughing with her friends about who-knows-what, when it fell against the pavement, laying there, ready for her.

But yet, even as she tossed her long, glamorous, chestnut-colored hair behind her, even as her lips smiled in the most perfect way, she passed it without notice. No...more like, she touched it. Without noticing.

And it clung onto her!

It was with her all her way home, as she waved goodbye to her friends, it was with her. As she did her homework, as she fixed a snack for her, it was with her.

Through the day, it did not leave her. But she did not notice. Even her parents, when they came home, did not notice it. It stayed with her the entire day.

She finished her homework, and sat down on the couch, listening to music on her iPod, her head bobbing to the rhythm. It stayed with her, and made not a sound...not a single sound.

So the day passed. She surfed the internet, engrossed with her conversations in instant messaging, checked her email, played games, and didn’t find it. It escaped her attention all the time.

The hours went by. She beat the game on her GameCube that she had been at for several days, and still didn’t notice it.

Finally, as she prepared to go to bed at night, she noticed it. She screamed.

It was a piece of gum.