Goodnight Mother

Good Lessons are Short

We trampled on the leaf covered ground attempting to distract ourselves from how cold it was. "Mother is gonna kill me for sure this time..." I muttered following Tommy. "I didn't think it was that late, I thought we—"
"Did you text her explaining that we're heading back right now?" Tommy pushed his brown hair out of his eyes..
"No, my phone died... Hey Tommy, do you know where you are going?"
"No... Well, I'm working on it," He scratched his head, "don't worry, it isn't too cold."
I quickly shot Tommy a dirty face, "Yes it is!!" I paused hearing something a bit of a distance. "Do you hear that? It sounds like an animal?"
"Then let's hurry up." Tomas took a few larger steps. "Or it might eat you!"
After a few moments of walking while I kept an ear on what sounded like footsteps, when I  began hearing heavy breathing. "Tom, someone is following us! I can hear them, I can hear them breathing."
"Oh? Well good! That means we might find a way out of here. We should ask for directions."
"WHAT?! No–"
"Hey?! Can you help us?? We're a little lost and need to get back to town!" Tom hollered down the hill. The footsteps got closer, and instead of one person it was two, large men.

     The two men exchanged looks while looking back and forth between Tommy and I. Backing up from the two of them getting a twist in my gut. Both of the men kept their hands in their pockets. Both of them looked filthy. Both of them looked at us with an awful yellow grin. The silence was filled in my head with thought. Anxiety, and fear started to fill my head. "Something is going to go sour," was the loudest thought. "Something... Something bad is going to happen. We need to leave. We need to go now!"
     Both of the men pulled out small guns and pointed them at us. We both froze, I had never before felt fear run  through my chest and hands like that before. It felt like a burn that made me want to scream. "RUN!!" I heard Tom say it, although my mind couldn't make my feet move. Run? Run... Run. Tommy was running off into the woods, one of those men following him. "Tom?" I finally processed what just happened and I still could not move an inch.
     He is at least three times my size, with those big yellow teeth, and a body odor that could kill a horse. I step back, he steps forward. My mind starts to panic; I can feel my blood pumping through my hands, my legs shake and my lungs pick up speed. Run run run run run. RUN! I turn to run in the other direction, run run run!! Unfortunately even for a very large man, he kept up, and grabbed my arm.
   I panic further, "WHAT IS GOING ON?!"screaming pulling my arm away. "Stay back!!", trying to seem intimidating by lowering my voice at him whipping out my pocket knife. He chuckles at me while backing me into a tree. Trying to focus on what to do as he narrows in. Letting out a scream I charge at him, only to be put in a headlock. "Let me go!!" The awful sound of my small blade going through the layers of  his arm. Soft crunching, but the feeling was worse. Almost like stabbing a chicken breast, only with stronger muscles to go through. He pulls away wailing.
   I begin to run the original path I had laid out.  When I reach the top of the hill I'm stunned to see the man that was chasing Tom and based off his face, the feeling was mutual. Out of breath, panting, and pointing a gun at me. •bam• before realizing that I was on the ground. "YOU SHOT ME!!!" I screeched at him. My leg bleeds profoundly while I clutch the wound. The smell of my own blood was nauseating. Clenching my teeth at the pain only helped a bit. "No es bueno." He says before shooting me again. I felt this one, although it seemed more numbed. Like it was all just a dream. It was really painful, but that was only because I was watching myself bleed out.
     My chest full with pain while I tried to scream out.  "I can't breath..." I think looking down at it. I gasp continuing to stare at it until I started to feel numb. I look around, noticing that my sight is blurry, "How long have I been crying?... " I look up to the dim sky; choking, spitting my own blood. Everything either felt numb or like it was being twisted into braids. I try taking a breath in hopes of air; only to feel I was suffocating.
    I'm suffocating.
                          Will this be the end?
      I blinked slowly, my vision blurs with a darkness. I can feel the weight on my eyes as I close them again. I'm so sorry mom, I'm sorry I won't come home. I'm sorry that I messed up. I could feel the many hot tears running down my face.

                                                                          Mom, sweet dreams.