perilous endeavor

No.

I stepped onto the porch and I was ment with the blaze of a midsummer evening sun. The sun bounced against my golden blonde hair. It shone against my deep blue eyes like the flair of life against a deep blue sea. there was a overwhelming stench of corn, blood, and sweat. Beyond the crops was a endless line of trees on both side which at a singular road leading onward like a cage. Lifting my pale white dress which seemed to blend with my lily white skin slightly upward as to avoid the debris and dirt but truthfully Sometimes, I look at it in disgust. You can almost see the blood stains of the man and woman who picked it. I'd draped myself in their suffering. Yet, I wear it all the same. I disregarded my last thought and continued onward in an effort to retrieve my father for dinner. My brothers, couldn't be bothered to leave their guns alone, and mother was once again distressed with the idea of going to "the pens." A term she often used in reference to the farm quarters.

I approached the building gingerly with my back as straight as an arrow, the balms of my flat shoes dressed my feet quietly, elegantly blessing the dirt path I followed. a refined ballerina with my head high like my fathers. An eerie screech from the barn couldn't wipe the grimace from my otherwise porcelain face. My mother's porcelain doll. Words couldn't describe the growing terror from a desperate whisper, to pleading growl, until it finally evolved into a gut wrenching scream.

My head hurled as my steps stuttered and my toes curled on approached. Just turn back. I often wonder what kind of story this would be if I had. I slowed my pace regaining my composure. Just another day. Life is a dance and right now I had to be a thief in the night: Quiet, swift, and sure with my will unfettered. Apon approach i stumbled unto the sound of two sets of footsteps both with their own personalities. One was loud, unsteady, and aggressive. The other was light, level headed, almost silent yet fleeting.

My instructor would say it was like a dance. One running away yet, leading the other forward. spider, no, a black widow. A spider who hunts the deadliest prey. The other blind with lust falling gleefully into the trap. A predator that longs for a feast. The sound mingled within the scream creating an orchestra of despair my quite steps etching ever forward as my breathing hastened. Should I slam the door open? As if I could be so bold. Should I stand outside and wait? I didn't have the heart too. A sharp flat silence etched it's way into the pens. I closed my eyes and let my mind paint the image of the silence that followed.

I could do nothing. Tragedies like this accompany me every day and every day I could do nothing. The silence somehow raced my heart pounded at a steady even tone as if in mockery of my cowardice. My heart stopped momentarily at the sound of a screech that seemed to pierce the air, shake the earth, and quiet literally shatter the world. Indeed it was that very sound that would shape my destiny. It challenged the fearful mouse that these simple noises has forced apon me. It pulled me up from the pit of hell itself and left me with chills that I could only describe as spine tingling. Was this the trumpets?

The hand of fate setting things back into place? Courage that scoffed at my livelihood. the volcano had finally erupted. Those words were followed by a series of steps. brazen, slow, mighty, and sure they moved toward the pair reshaping this "les miserables" song of despair. It crawled from the depths of the world to devour everything for this moment. Yet, this was no icarus, this was simply the will of a fool. Yet, it was ferocious. The larger of the original pair could be heard flailing."MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS BOY!" It was my father's voice, supposedly flailing for his "trusty .38". Tenesa, the fool in question, footsteps eased into the left corner side like a primordial beast ravaged, starving and stalking. The sound of his footprints was like a crouching tiger readying himself for the kill.

Tenesa could be heard shoving my father into the right farm side wall. Away from the house. Finally, I gathered the courage to peek inside. The light above swung like a pendulum first illuminating Tenesa, standing with his back facing against the owner of the smaller footsteps, which belonged to his mother. His eyes wild, yet focused, brow furried, his hair dangerously unkempt and as thick as wool. clothes tattered, and wretched rags really. You could see a multitude of scars across his back as if they were branded on his soul. Hands like mini cannonballs, blistered, rogued, and as tough as thick leather. The boy stood at humble 6'0 but in this moment he might as well have been a goliath.

The light swung viciously in the other direction dampening the barn against my father his eyes bewildered before this mighty beast. Again the light floated over tenesa suddenly the boy took a deep breathe, and roared from the top of his lungs. The veins from his face popped, like a rising volcano reading to burst. His eyes dilated as if honing in on his target. Sweating profusely, over the hey ridden barn, that wreached of some unknown alignment. The swinging barn lightbulb glazed brilliantly across his face for a moment and it left me shaking. My father now quivering was like a lion to us all. Taking whatever he wanted without a care in the world, free to have whatever, and whomever he desired on his land among his flock of fearful sheep another predator lied in wait anxiously waiting for his time to strike. The lion had been meant by the might of a tiger. It's funny come think of it. he had uttered only one word among that last gut wrenching scream. It was simply, "No."

•

My father reach hazardly for his gun, kicking and swearing fumbling around to stand as tenesa closed in on him. My father let out a feeble desperate cry before finally gripping his gun. It's grip was soaked in sweat glistening against the barn light you could see my father swing wide to find his aim as tenesa powered forward the very inbodiment of rage he knocked my father's arm away yet, In fear of his own death my father closed his eyes and clutched the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off a shovel burying itself in tenesa's mother's heart and as she gasped for her final breath. The two men wrestled onward but The next shot echoed against everything that I'd known to be true. I figured something like this might happen to my father one day, that one day it'd bite him in the ass. Today, my father lies dead in a puddle off his own blood in a hey infested, urine soaked barn with his breeches against his ankles.

Tenesa Turned around to find his mother, eyes wide in the absence of what once contained a human soul, her face motionless with her tired eyes at rest while open, her cheeks no longer sinking in fear or excitement, the corners of her mouth never would form a smile again, and her extremities no longer twitched with life. Tenesa covered his stomach with his arms as if he was going to puke the grief sweep over him swiftly, as the powerful latches of loss sunk deeper, he began to fall to his knees. Tenesa's face contorted as if to fight the onslaught of emotions he'd been faced with. Once again, he was lost. Once again, he hungered for freedom from what was his reality. I only became aware of myself after hearing the crunch of something leafy against the balls of my shoes as my body ventured forward. I closed my eyes and listened for the sound of my heart as it raced and slowly steadied itself, breathing deeply, exhaling lightly, feeling my chests light pitfalls as I did so. Something about seeing him so flustered was so... calming. I had crooned in like a moth to a flame. I gently pressed my hand against his cheek the light above us had finally steadied on my person and a single word found itself at the forefront of my thoughtless pursuit forward. I spoke as if to ease the demons that wrestled within him. I stood lightly stroking his cheek with my thumb as the heat against my palm was slowly warming up I said "rise."