The Book of Life: Sweet Poison

4. Sharp

Pari's POV

I watched the kids play silently as I sat on the bench. This was where I saw her for the first time. She hasn't been here ever since that day. I even asked mother about who she could've been but she also didn't seem to know anything. That was quite surprising considering she knows almost every person living in this town.

I ponder staring deeply at a spot while licking my ice cream.

"Hey Pari, wanna grab some chips on the way?"

One of my friends asked, probably noticing me zoning out. I glance back at him in a questioning way before finally understanding his words.

"Nah, I'm good. I need to get going. Bye guys!"

I glance one last time at the centre of the park before turning around to leave. I wasn't hallucinating that day, right? Is hallucinating a side effect of PTSD?

'Nah, she was definitely there. She handed me the bag, even talked to me a little. And left. There's no way she wasn't real. But then, how were all the butterflies following her? Doesn't that only happen in fantasy novels?'

Unlimited thoughts were going inside my head, making me walk much slower than usual. I came back to reality as I felt the ice cream flowing through my hand, making it sticky and uncomfortable. I immediately licked my hand to stop the ice cream from falling on my clothes. That's when I heard it. Footsteps creeping slowly behind me, walking as slowly as I was. Thinking I was being followed, I didn't dare look back and just fastened the pace of my walking. The footsteps followed. I started fast-walking as panic slowly started climbing onto my back. Slowly. I still had control over myself.

Should I start running? No. I check my pockets to find my phone, remembering I put it on charge before coming to play.

I'm full-blown panicking now.

What should I do? I don't know.

"Excuse me! Are you Pari Agrawal?"

I stopped on my tracks as I heard the voice. Turn around, or not? I slowly turned around to see the face of a young woman standing in front of me. Well, she doesn't seem threatening at all.

"Yes, it's me. How do you know me, though? I haven't seen you around here before."

"Oh, well, someone asked me to give this to you."

She said as she took out an envelope from her pocket and handed it out to me. I took it from her hands.

"You seemed to be startled before. I'm sorry if I scared you in any away. Anyways, I have to go now."

She didn't even wait for my reply as she turned around to leave immediately. No bye no nothing. That's rude. I thought as I turned back to go home.

*****

Reaching home, Mama immediately gave me a shit ton of work to do. Wash the dishes, clean your room, complete your assignments, wash your undergarments, blah, blah, blah. Finally finishing all the work and eating dinner, I plopped right onto bed and took a deep breath. That's when I remembered the letter. I picked it up from the table, scanning it carefully.

No address, name, nothing? Boy didn't learn letter writing yet. But the envelope sure was beautiful. It was a dark red colour, with golden hearts on it. Wait, perhaps, could this be a love letter? A foolish smile formed on my face at the thought. I'm 11, but its okay.

I immediately opened the envelope, excitingly. But what came into my view was a small plastic bag with a note. Taking out the note, I read the contents of it.

This was one of your favourites, wasn't it. I still love you, you know that, right?

Huh? What does that mean? Not understanding the note, I opened that plastic bag instead. A small nail-cutter sized thing falling from it. It had some buttons on it. Pressing it, a sharp blade popped out.

A pocket knife....?

A pocket knife!

My eyes widened as memories slowly creeped up on me. I started breathing louder, and faster. Tears started flowing down my face. It was suffocating. The air was no longer there. There was only blood in my sight.

There was blood on that knife.

There was blood on the floor.

There was blood on my hands.

My breathing started going crazy, reminding me of the same day I lived for a whole year.

I still love you, you know that, right?

It all makes sense now. It all makes sense. Tears started flowing nonstop down my face as I stared at the knife, trying to calm down my breathing. Another panic attack, but this time, it was different.

The situation was different.

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door open.

"Pari! Are you okay? What happened? Are you having a panic attack?"

She rushed to me as she grabbed a glass of water and brought it near my mouth. My eyes were still fixated on the knife. Mama seemed to notice my eyes as she turned around to look at the envelope. Her eyes widened.

"Pari, look at me. Look at me, Pari!"

I stopped staring at the knife as I looked into her eyes. There was a stiff expression on her face. She was angry. She was here to protect me. But...

"Ma..."

I said, trying to control my voice from shaking, calming down my breathing.

"Was I the one who hurt dad?"

Mama froze. She didn't say anything.

A small chuckle left my lips.