Hendrix was walking to school when he slipped and fell into a puddle on the sidewalk, effectively dirtying his jeans Naomi had gotten him for the first day of eighth grade. He slowly rose to his knees, staring deep into the water, watching the oil shine different colors of the rainbow. He reached out to swirl the water with a fingertip, but the moment it touched the water it dried up before his eyes.
The entire concrete sidewalk was burning hot, singing his palms and his muddy knees. He scrambled to his feet and looked around, bewildered as the familiar buildings around him turned into dust, which coated his almond skin. He tried to brush it off, but the dust just dug into his skin, causing crimson liquid to slowly trickle to the sidewalk and sizzle like yellow butter on a slate grey pan.
"Where am I?" He wondered out loud, but a raven flew by, stealing the words from his mouth and crowing menacingly at him with a strange glow in its beady eyes. Hendrix tried to shout, but was silenced by another cry from the bird before it flew away with his words. He chased after it, but his shoes fell off and the burning ground soon made it difficult to run. He watched the bird fly away into the ultramarine sky that matched his sister's dyed hair... And he got an idea.
He held his arms our and focused on the bird... And flew. Hendrix was lifted into the air and soared after the bird, letting the wind ruffle his frizzy black hair. He looked down in wonder of the city streets below as the dust from ruined buildings flew around in swirls, slowly rebuilding itself piece by piece. Red brick building slowly formed just below him, rising up like sproats poking up from dark earth.
The raven was edging closer as he soared fast enough that everything was a blur of red, grey, white, and silver under him. Hendrix reached out for the bird's ebony feathers and gripped them. The bird disappeared into ash and he fell fast, spiraling like a tornado... And he hit the sidewalk, splashing into a puddle. His head hit the hard concrete and he blacked out as blood poured into his eyes, obscuring his vision.
"Am I bleeding?" His voice was back! He had no time to celebrate as he tried his hardest not to bleed out, but the blood never stopped pouring. It seeped through his fingers and trickled down his entire body, soaking him in nothing but rusty red. He managed to look up to see his sister looking down at him, blue hair obscuring the brown eyes they both shared.
Blue. Blue is the color of stained tongues from slushies, the color of clear skies and playing catch with Naomi, but Blue was also the color of eyes swollen shut, the color of faces when they're found hanging from a ceiling fan, the color of veins contrasting against pale skin.
"Can't you see?" Lyra said, a tongue running over her black and yellow braces. "Hendrix, can't you see?" She repeated, leaning down and sneering at him. He shuffled back and shook his head, tried to tell her that he needed help. He was bleeding out. He can't see, he can't breathe.
"I can't! I can't!" He shouted the blood puddled around him rose into thin walls that surrounded him and made his world fade to nothing but shadows and blurry shapes that can barely be made out from the veil. He tried to speak once again but fell into tortured silence that hung thick in the air. "I-I'm bleeding." He whispered, drawing his knees to his chest and rocking himself slightly as the voices began around him. "I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding..." His whimpers turned into a battle cry, effectively shattering the blood walls around him and sending his entire world into black.
He sat up with a scream on his lips, gasping for air and groping the nightstand for his glass of water. He didn't find it, but he sat there for a while, blinking his eyes and trying to get used to the oblivion that he has lived in for three months... It's been three months since he saw any type of color in his own useless eyes.
"Hendrix?" Naomi's voice. "I made cheerios. Do you want to go for a walk? I can get your cane."
He was silent. The raven still loomed over his head, whispering words into his ear, which he repeated to his mom.
"Sure, can you get me my blood-red shirt, please?" Nevermore speaks.
YOU ARE READING
Cancer (Their Story.)
Aktuelle Literatur(Yo, writing club kids, this is the story.) Two people are connected in a way that they can't even imagine. A profound connection that leads both of them to recovery in the face of mental illness and abuse. They both stand through the storm, letting...
