All Around Us

Dragging Back Memories

I leaned back against the concrete wall, waiting for word on Jon's arrest. The man in the cell across from me glared at me. A cocky grin revealed his yellow, chipped teeth. I pressed my back harder against the wall behind me. His grin grew wider, showing the black teeth in the back of his mouth. He laughed and winked at me. Psycho, I thought, He's sick in the head!

My eyes started to feel heavy; I hadn't slept well in days. I knew I shouldn't forcefully deprive myself of sleep, so I allowed my eyes to close. The last thing I heard was the clinking of the cell across from me.

*Dream*

Shots were fired at the crazed woman. She had just finished stabbing my father to death in our kitchen. My mother was sobbing over the lifeless body of her lover, all while paramedics were zipping him up into a black bag. He was hauled into the back of an ambulance and carried away. As paramedics were zipping up the deranged woman, my mother started throwing punches and kicks at the deceased body. She was yanked back and thrown down by a cop. I stood in the backyard, watching the scene take place. Monsters were closing in on me. I didn't have my parents to protect me from the dangers in this world. I held Ickstien, my stuffed bear, close to me. "Take me away from here, Icky, take me away!" I shut my eyes tight and waited for the horror to end....

I was jerked awake by the blasting sound of an alarm. Red lights were dimly flashing about the hall.

"What's going on??!" I screamed, "Help me!" An officer came running down the hall. 

"One of our suspects escaped his cell," the cop said, "He killed Frank, and Aj, and Shawn!" He was unlocking my cell door when a loud shriek echoed throughout the hall.

"Karen!" the cop yelled. He sprinted in the direction of the scream, leaving me locked in this cage.

"Don't leave me here!" I begged after him, but he ignored my plea. I curled up into a ball, the sirens, the screams, the flashing lights; it was all to much for me.

I grasped for any courage within reach and sat back up. Tears had started to dry on my face, when an ear-splitting creak took over my sobs. I looked up and saw him. The man across from me, blood smothering his clothing, gun in hand, aiming to shoot me. Petrified, I covered my ears and ducked my head down. All of the courage I owned washed away from me, sloshing back into the sea. I waited for seconds, hours, months, years. I waited for the bullet to end my life. I waited for the loud bangs to arrive. Eternity's seemed to pass before it actually happened. I looked back up at the man. He was closer than before. He raised the gun to my forehead.

"You should've said hi." he said before pulling the trigger.