PYRO

Darla's Demise

Bailey dashed to the Gazebo, built to hide Darla and him to rehearse puppet shows. There were no clouds in the sky, and it was completely clear. He placed the body on the pavilion's wood floors. He was sobbing and wobbling down to the ground as he stood there. He was going to destroy his mind. The stench of death filled the air, and time seemed to stand still.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he sobbed. A heartbeat played in his mind, and he wasn't sure if it was his heartbeat or someone else's. It kept beating to a tune, an unsubtle and scary tune. A siren's blare could be made out clearly. A glance behind him was followed by a tilted head toward the sky. The clouds in the sky were filled with black smoke. In his mind, he could hear Peter Morris saying, "Bailey? What happened to my little girl?"

Oh, jeez.  What was Bailey going to tell him? He would get so angry; he would be devastated.

"Bailey, WHERE IS SHE? PLEASE TELL ME!"

Barbara would be crying and cursing Bailey, "You bastard!"

"She just turned fourteen! You couldn't spare her?" Everybody would say.

Water always defeats fire, Darla would say. Not this time."AGHHHH!" Bailey cried and sobbed. His mind paced up and down; he knew something happened to Darla. He imagined her looking down at him, causing rain and thunderclouds. He stomped and shook, but nothing could fix this colossal mistake. Melissa wouldn't say anything. He had a twisted thought. If Melissa can't say anything, he could blame her. Barbara hates Melissa and would be happy to see her go. He couldn't do that to Melissa, but that Bitch loved his father.

The breathing became harder to do, and with every breath, he had that guilt. He shouldn't be the one breathing. A shovel was on the Gazebo; it was supposed to be a prop. Now it's coming in handy. Bailey's breath hitches, unable to answer. Oh God, what has he done? What has he done? A piece of wood wasn't fully nailed together; a person could rip the wood out with their bare hands. Bailey did it with the shovel. As he ripped the wood apart and kept digging, he thought about what led to this moment. It all just happened so fast. It's fair to say that Darla and Bailey fell apart as they got older.

We start again—the final time.

14-year-old Darlene Morris was a guest at Bailey's wealthy estate. After Darla's birthday, Tami had gone out of town with some friends. She was playing with her puppets in the guest room. Her puppet shows recently earned her an award. She received a medal from the theatre company where she performs, becoming well-known in the neighborhood. When it came to finding a job, Bailey was having trouble. He was utterly untalented. In the end, he did well in college and graduated. He reached the pinnacle of his abilities in college, but nothing else. The fact that Bailey had to keep using Tami's money irked him. He felt foolish and weak as a result. When Darla told Bailey about her prize, Bailey was happy for her at first, but as time passed, he grew envious. Nobody gave him any medals when he was fourteen, and no one cared about his abilities. He was constantly told that he would never amount to anything in this world. He enjoyed telling stories just as much as Darla did. The phone rang, and Bailey was nearly finished preparing breakfast in the kitchen. He was making his standard breakfast of bacon and eggs. Around 10:45 a.m., he received a phone call. He dashed to get to his phone. Bailey had applied for a job as a stock trader at a company near his home. He went for an interview last week and has been told that they would let him know whether or not he got the job. He was becoming irritated."Hello?"

"Hello, is Darla there?"

It's another call congratulating her on the awards she'd received. Bailey felt an inch of jealousy rage up in him again, "No. She's not here, don't call this number!" He screamed into the phone and hung up. Darla was standing there in the kitchen, she startled Bailey. "Was that for me?" She asked politely. Bailey jumped up in fear, "I need to put a bell on you."