Many people approached me, and I didn't know any of them. They were all asking questions that I didn't know the answer to, or that I just didn't want to answer. Many asked if I knew if their kid was alive or not, and I didn't even know who their kid was.
I was just sitting there, shaking my head, when my parents finally arrived. They gave me the biggest hug I had ever received, ignoring my stiff, blood stained clothes and hair. When they pulled away, my mother was crying and my father was smiling with relief. But I wouldn't smile back.
"We were so worried, what happened in there? Why are you covered in blood? This isn't your blood is it?" My mother kept going on and on with questions that I just didn't want to respond to. She didn't seem to get that I just wanted to be left alone.
So, I just walked away on shaky legs. I didn't know where I was going; my feet just led me blindly. The pavement didn't make the same noise the hallway had; this was a less rebounding thud, it just clopped lightly. Barely noticeable if you weren't trying to listen to it.
People made way for me, looking at me like I was the strangest thing to walk this earth. Maybe I was, I had survived after all, hadn't I? Maybe that was weird to them, that I had survived. Though, there were many other survivors in the crowd and they didn't look at them the same way. Perhaps it was the blood; they were probably wondering if it was their kids blood that covered my body. For all I know, it might have been.
All the people I passed looked after me, as if I didn't know. Or maybe they just didn't care if I knew. Maybe they wanted me to feel guilty for surviving, or just guilty for carrying other people's blood on my clothes.
My feet led me to the school's baseball field, where I heavily sat on the home base. The dandelions were softly plucked by my hands, and I blew the seeds off each one. I watched the seeds float, magically spinning. Like they were dancing, happy, then each one would get blown away, too far for my eyes to see.
I remembered, back when Anna and I were younger we would pick all the dandelions and hold them out in the air. We would spin and spin and spin in endless circles, watching the seeds fly off slowly, fighting to stay on.
When some seeds wouldn't go, we would pull them off with our hands and drop them from high up, so we could watch them gracefully fall to the ground. Then we would hunt for more, and spin once again.
We would do that for hours, two little kids easily amused by the wonders, the beauty, and the mysteries of the world. After a while, Anna's mother would call us in the house, or my mother. It all depended whose house we were at.
Anna's mom would give us newly made chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate milk. My mom would either give us lettuce, or brownies. Depending if she was on one of her health kicks, which were the worst. We wouldn't be able to eat anything that had sugar in it. It was disgusting, and Anna would always make sure to let her know that.
A small sigh escaped my lungs and I smiled lightly. The past was so easy to get caught up in, so peaceful. My mind couldn't recall one bad thing Anna had ever done, but I knew we had been in fights. I just didn't want to remember them so, I didn't.
I didn't want to stop thinking about Anna, and the dandelions, and the food. But I knew that the past was the past, and it wouldn't change anything that was happening in the present. So, I laid down on the base as my tears fell down the side of my face. I guess I wasn't all out of tears after all.
YOU ARE READING
The Gunman
General Fiction*||COMPLETED||* A bang, a pop, an explosion. Whatever you choose to call it, made its way through Melbrough High School, changing lives in an instant. A gunman had entered the building, out to make a statement. This story follows many different per...
