Random Short Stories/Poems

By the River

We found his body by the river. It was the middle of the night, and we had been wandering around talking, the two of us. But it came to a stop when we saw him. Face down on the ground, our old friend still held on to his beloved music player. But the rhythm coming through his headphones could not seem to align with his heart, which had stopped entirely. Since the music fell on deaf ears now, I picked up the player. Out of respect for him, I decided to keep his playlist the same, and so, I began to listen. But the thoughts began to form like a dark fog, that was kept in only by the earbuds.

What was he thinking about when he listened to this song?

How many times was it his only comfort in the world?

Did he write stories to these sounds? 

What song was he listening to as his own very life slipped from his grasp?

And just like that, I collapsed into the ground. Tears ran down my face as blood began to pour out of my mouth. My friend, whom I had wandered to the river with, helped me back home. When we reached there, father tried to wash the blood out of my mouth. It just kept bleeding. It grew hard to talk much through the thick liquid that I couldn't swallow down, and through it all, I couldn't stop crying.

So went my dream. But when I woke up, my mouth was sore and tasted of iron.