𝙄𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙨, 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨

Nothing was working. [SHORT STORY]

"Josh!" I screamed.

His feet drifted slowly and thoughtfully towards the edge of the rock, his arms held to his side by the bricks tied to them.

I could see him as he slowly walked to the edge of the rock. I could see him through the wire fence door that he had locked shut. I tried desperately with my cold, numb hands to break the rusty chains, the chains that stood between me and him. Nothing was working.

"Josh please!" I desperately yelled.

He continued walking to the edge of the rock. My hands were getting cut open by the rough parts on the door's chains. It didn't hurt. I saw him stop at the edge of the rock. I saw him lift his head up to look out at the lake.

I forgot how to breathe. I could feel a heaviness sitting in my throat that hurt more than anything ever had. I had hot, salty tears coming our my eyes, making it hard for me to see him through the gaps in the locked wire door.

I desperately tried to get the tears out of my eyes but there just seemed to always be more. I stepped away from the locked wire door and tried to find a way for me to climb up the ten-foot-high concrete wall. Nothing was working.

"Josh please, you can't," I sobbed to him.

My throat felt closed and my stomach felt like it was eating itself. My head was pounding and there was a salty taste in my mouth. I felt like I was burning in the cold.

He turned around. I could barely breathe. He had tears on his face along with a broken smile. A smile of two chapped lips and the thought of calm behind his eyes.

"Charlie, if it will make everything stop," He said with a voice as broken as his smile, "then it's not a matter of if I can or not." He turned back around.

"No!" I screamed with everything I had in me, like I was trying to make him feel what he was putting me through. I could feel my lungs pushing my breath out of my throat and my head was aching and throbbing as if they were trying to break something, anything.

I ran back at the door. I kicked and punched at it. I threw myself against it. I banged my fists against it in pure desperation. I yelled out in hurt while my vision continued to swim with tears and my throat started to close back up. Nothing was working.

"I love you, Charlie," he spoke without facing me.

Time slowed and I felt the weight of the universe working against me. Silence filled my head though it continued to throb. My mouth was wide open and I could feel that I was screaming. My tears knew no end as Josh jumped.

"Josh!" I screamed so painfully it was as if I was the one soon to be dead.

Dead. As I endlessly sobbed, screamed, and pounded on the locked wire door, reality felt unreal. This was some sort of cruel joke, right?

"I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I promise I'm sorry!" I pleaded to the sky as my voice began to give out. "I'm sorry that I wasn't a good enough brother, that I couldn't save him. I which it was me, just, please, please, let Josh be alive! Please!"

I kept yelling at the sky in frustration, waiting for something. I still don't know what that something is. After what might as well have been forever, I collapsed against the locked wire door and cried until I heard sirens and felt myself being pulled away.

"Josh," I whispered to the door one last time, "I'm so sorry."

9/09/2020