Death of a Child

                The darkness swallowed me whole leaving nothing but silence. Some might call it peace or an ending. I call it utter torture. That’s when I felt it. The dagger pierced my back, digging into my spine, twisting its way through. The scream caught in my throat. The darkness swallowed that too. The gargle of blood was the only noise I heard. The digging stopped and the knife just stayed there. Logged into my spine.

I lay there. Where ever it was. Just hoping the pain would stop. As if my wish were suddenly answered I felt the fire lick my fingers and my toes. It burned its way up my arms and legs leaving black marks. I couldn’t see the happening but by the intensity of the fire I could only assume that’s what was going on. As if someone turned a light switch, all the pain disappeared.

I woke up panting, sweat dripping down my face and back. I looked around the dark room then slipped out of my covers. I put on my slippers and made my way out the door and into the hall that was lit up by one candle. I continued down the steps and into the kitchen.

 The light was already on when I walked in. Bo stood in the middle of the room sipping a glass of water.

“You dreamt it too?” I asked making my way around her.

She nodded.

I grabbed a glass and turned the tap on letting the water run for a while so it could turn cold. Bo liked drinking warm water. When it filled I turned off the tap and took a long drink of the icy water. Some of it fell on my chin and I whipped it away.

Silence consumed us. Until finally Bo said. “It was a boy this time.”

My fingers wrapped around the glass tightly. “How do you know?”

“I could feel him resisting.”

A flash of anger crosses me. “So? Girls could fight the death too. Stop being sexist.”

Her lips pursed. “I’m not!”

I sighed. “Go to sleep, Bo. We have to wake up for school in three hours. You’ll need your rest.”

I walked out of the room before she could complain. In my bed room I place the glass on my bedside table and climbed into my bed. My eyes don’t close for the longest time. I can’t stop thinking about the child who died today. The children who die everyday. But as time drifted on my eye lids grew heavy and I slipped into the dreams that scare me.