Scattered Dreams & Dragonflies

Past's chasing bullets

Amongst the chaos, I found myself running, desperately looking for a ray of sunshine, a sanctuary amongst the physical phantoms that chased me. I, a mere mortal, sought to escape men's free will, imposed by another. Lead capsules pushed into a chamber had our names on them. All while knowing what was upon others, and therefore me due to fate, I moved along the corridors of this empty yet familiar home. One empty, and yet, filled with an air reminiscent of this residential aura that overcame me. Dashes of memories flew by as I moved along the rooms. None in particular with a story to tell, but the random things they accommodated. Rooms with a particular theme anchoring themselves in my mind, as memories of what I used to do in these rooms flew by. A room with students' desks, a roomy chamber with a bunk bed, a warm church chapel. All in tow, all not connected to each other, but bound by the same space, the same event.

I surfed through these thoughts, all the while, in the back of my mind, I heard my soul call to me. Pleading me to hide, pleading me to run. Without a clue as to where this whole event began, I continued to look for sanctuary, regardless of why, regardless of how. My body moved on its own, with each step frantically in hopes of finding a place wary of danger, one where my life would be spared. As I stood along the corridors of this place, a voice called to me. Two men, in their mid to late 20s, close to my age, pleaded with me to follow them. Just like the rooms, they felt familiar. As if I knew them for a long time. A complete enigma to my present mind. And yet, in this place, in this train of thought, I felt like I knew them. Their faces were a mix between familiarity and confusion. Their presence felt like a roomy, warm campfire, a place set for me to warm my hands after along travel, and gracefully rest. Within seconds, I found myself following their lead. The two of them running close in front, moving fluidly, but with a sense of urgency along the corridors of the building I had yet to explore. I wanted to see more of this place; I loved the feeling it brought me.

I craved to know more about the rooms, about the memories they fabricated in me as I looked inside. I wanted to see, the curiosity in me had reached its peak. But a separate entity had different plans. A being unbeknownst to us had created an atmosphere of danger, and we traversed this small ecosystem, with a pair of lives in order to flee from it. With every step, it felt as if I was leaving a part of me; every step in the opposite direction of the rooms made me feel emptier. And yet, my mind fought with it, understanding that the danger of meeting our enemy face to face might spell the end.

As we moved along the corridors, more and more people frantically joined in, in hopes of finding the exit. I was flabbergasted at the sight. The multiplying numbers of people dashing through the corridors that connected to ours, pushing, pulling to get out. It made me think, just how much danger lay behind us. I would soon get a taste of it. As we moved, the sound of gunfire echoed through the corridor we were in. The enemy was closer than we thought. For less than a moment, my eyes traveled back, almost instinctively, catching a glimpse of the room that simulated a chapel. I could remember seeing the wine-colored threads serving as carpet for the altar, its bottom, serving as footing and ornament to a hand-carved wooden podium set in the middle. The beautiful sight of the room was short-lived, as my vision was slowly covered by a black entity moving into my view from the side of the corridor. It was what I believed to be a man, covered in black, holding an assault rifle in his arms. He moved slowly, without urgency. I managed to get one last look at him, as I felt the tight pull of one of my friends on my forearm, pushing me forward as they continued to run.

With a few more steps, we finally arrived out into the open. I took a deep breath, but not out of relaxation—more out of disbelief. We were at the top of a flight of stairs that showed a long way down. The descent expanded with every step, to the point where the way down seemed endless. On the sides of the building, there was nothing but trees and wide-open grasslands, but they were unreachable on foot. Everything was separated from the space we had come out of. A dark drop and a seemingly infinite flight of stairs were the only options we had at our disposal.

In a matter of moments, and without a word exchanged between us, our hand was forced as gunfire unhesitatingly came out of the door we had just opened. I instinctively ran towards the first step, managing to grab one of my friends and push his head down against the first step, which was big enough to cover both of us. I remember putting my chest on top of his head, as if to shield it from anything. Then and there, with one hand covering the moving dust and debris from half of my face, I tilted my head to the side, managing to see some of what was around us. I saw bullets fly, people just like us being mercilessly impacted by that lead rain. In a matter of moments, more and more gunshots could be heard, prompting me to believe that there was more than one shooter. The sound of the guns as they detonated around us danced along the air, while the unrelated smell of rain surrounded us without a single drop. Bodies continued to fall around us, down the infinite stairs, as shrieks of yelling and pain competed with the gunshots. In that moment, all I could do was hold on to the remaining friend I had managed to help, hoping to be spared.

Soon, the gunshots dissipated. I decided to open my eyes, only to find that the men were before me, waiting at the foot of the step we had decided to hide on. Without so much as a word, one of them shot the friend I had tried to cover, causing his blood to explode briefly in every direction, managing to cover some of my face. My body tilted back instinctively in surprise. Now alone and with little left to do but expect my turn to be next, to suffer the same fate as those before me, still without understanding how I ended up here, how this situation came to be. I began to immediately pray to God. I remember my exact words. Still without a tear, but with the urgency to say everything I wanted to before I was stripped from this terrestrial plane.

"I love you, God." "Thank you for everything." "I am pleased with all you have given me." "I have no regrets." "See you soon."

Not a single gunshot was heard after that. The men slowly walked down the stairs past me into the darkness, never to be seen again. Then I opened my eyes...