My Creative Writing Journal

"A Car, A Torch, A Death"

(We were suppose to incorporate a lyric of a song into our entry, but I decided to use the whole song. The song is "A Car, A Torch, A Death" by Twenty One Pilots, and all the lyrics will be underlined. This is also my longest entry!)

The air begins to feel a little thin as I start the car and then I begin... I drive down the road with no direction ahead of me. My head swirls in mindless thoughts. I drive for no real purpose other than to add the miles piled up behind me, and, as I creep along the road, I barely feel a smile deep inside me. I feel nothing for the most part, just a void in my soul. But, I begin to envy the headlights driving south, with their direction and goals seemingly so clear in their heads as mine is barely on my shoulders. Gray trees fly by across flat monochrome land; my search for color coming up fruitless. I find as desperation builds, I want to crack the door so I can just fall out. The shadow resting in my eyes takes over my hands when I fumble with the radio, desperate for distraction. The white static that greeted me served no purpose to add color to this weary road, so I turned the buzzing off. My next thought was to reach for the door as my speed races up, but then I remember when you pack my car; you reached in the back and buckled up your heart for me to drive away with. Thinking back on all the sins I committed, the crimes and terrors I was the cause of, and yet you still showed me kindness. The slits in my heart that you kissed shut, even knowing I'm the one who put them there. I began to understand why God died. Surely, if God died for my sins, I can respect His death by forgiving myself in the same way you loved me. No, loves me. I'm still here. With my head clear, I turned the car around to head south with the headlights, knowing you rest in the same direction. The demons said, "They're waiting on her porch", so I pressed the gas as far as it could go. The demons could move at any moment, and I couldn't let the one who made my life worth living fall to the shadow. I quickly pulled into your driveway, frantic to get to you in time. I noticed your lights were off, and the demons stood patiently, with the leader holding an arm up to still his group. It was a little dark so he held a makeshift torch that he used to cast a deathly glare onto my car door. I warned him to stay away and he promised he meant no harm. I refused to abandon you but his spells were too strong, and I felt myself drive away again. I was told that he forced me away, and when my car was far out of sight, he "crept in her room and stayed there for the night". Unknown to me, who was still under his spell, until finally I got far enough to break the range of his cast. I stopped aside the road to quickly collect myself, and assess my surroundings. Looking back south, where I knew you laid, anger seeped in for the demon who flashed his torch at me. once again, I reversed my car's way forward and sped to your home, intending to confront the lead demon, stronger this time. I pulled up to find the porch barren, though, and then I felt chills in my bones. I turned in a circle, my eyes searching the landscape for a sign of you, but none could be found. Facing the door again, I closed my eyes and breathed a quick sigh to prepare myself, though when I opened my eyes again, the breath I saw was not my own. Staring at me was the demon with flaring red eyes and a gaping, snarling grin. With one clawed hand, he grabbed me by my shirt and threw me far from the house. My back slammed a tree and I felt the wind fly out of my lungs. That's when I knew my skin that wrapped my frame wasn't made to play this game. When my vision cleared, the demon had disappeared. Shaking my head clear, filling my lungs, I stood hesitantly, when I heard a clearing throat behind me. Swiftly turning on my heels, a shroud of mist cleared, and then I saw Him, the Lord in flesh, torch in hand. He knelt to me, and He laid it out, what He had planned. He told me I could save you. That I could keep you safe forever, but it would require war and sacrifice. I looked God in the eye, prepared for the demons, and then I said "I'll take the grave, please just send them all my way. Fighting all the shadows, sacrificing my life for yours, I began to understand why God died.

The air began to feel a little thin, sitting with you on this porch before we say goodbye forever. As we're waiting for the morning to begin, knowing morning begins mourning of our last moment. But, for now, you told me to hold this jar with a resolved look in your eyes, and when I looked inside, I saw it held your heart for me to walk away with. The sun rose and you faded away, and I began to understand why God died.

He died for a car, a torch, and a death.