Use today and tomorrow to write a short story of 500 words about how a secret drastically altered a life or lives. Your story should employ first- person narration, and should be proofread for errors before being posted to the blog.
This morning I woke up dead. Not dead exactly, but not alive either. I woke up dead and realized that my wife wasn’t in bed next to me. Debbie spent many nights sleeping on the couch instead of in the bed. She said she preferred it there. I got up and walked through the living room, but realized she wasn’t there. As I stared at the empty couch I heard a noise coming from one of our back rooms. A slow repetitive squeak. I walked carefully down the hallway, confused as to what she could be doing back there. We never used our back rooms. There was no reason to, it was just us anyway. The creaking got louder as I stood outside the door. I rubbed my eyes before opening the door, trying to wipe away my morning tiredness. When the door opened I found my wife and my brother in bed together. They stopped and turned to me, both of them completely stunned, but I wasn’t. I just stood there, unfazed. “Don’t stop on my account,” I turned around and closed the door behind me.
Tristain smiled, panting heavily. “Heh, someone needs to learn how to take a punch.” “Yeah, and someone needs to learn how to take a blade to the neck.” The man saw the smirk on Tristain’s face, and a smile emerged onto his face. “You enjoyed it.” Tristain looked at the ground, his eyes jumping from one scarlet drop to another as they appeared. “My family’s dead, and you’re asking me if I enjoyed beating the hell out of you? Yeah, I did, actually.” “No,” The man took a step closer, “Not just beating me down, but the beating in general. The blood, the struggle, the pain, hell even that little cut I gave you. You enjoyed the whole thing.” Tristain looked at his hands, one covered with his own blood, and the other with a mix of his own and the man’s. He realized he didn’t care whose blood was whose anymore. Just the sight of it thrilled him. “What have you done to me?” “Hah! You act like I cast a spell on you while you were denting my face. I just exposed you true colors.” He started walking towards Tristain, who instinctively brought his fists up. The man kept coming though, and Tristain backed up until he hit the wall. The man stopped inches away from Tristain and a smirk crossed his face as he put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, this is the easy part. You and I both know that now that you’ve had a taste of this you’re gonna want more. Actually, I know that more than you do. I know who you are.” The man coughed right after he said that and shied away, like he said something he wasn’t supposed to. “What do you mean you know who I am?” “Are you in or are you out?” “Of what? Your little assassin club?” “See? You don’t even see us as murderers anymore.” Tristain paused before answering. He sighed, “Can I at least go back and pay my respects?” “Dude, seriously, they’re just slabs of meat now. It’s pretty much like talking to yourself, if you think about it.” Tristain opened the door and stormed down the stairs. He didn’t hear the door slam shut behind him like he’d intended it to, so he knew that the man was following him. Tristain sighed heavily and turned around. “Look, let me do this and I’ll hear you out.” “You already heard me out, I don’t have anything else to tell you. Either you can come with me, get to kill a bunch of people that deserve to die, and get a kick ass mask like mine, or you can let me kill you. Honestly, I don’t wanna have to take any more of your punches, but it’s up to you.” Tristain looked at the ground and kicked some dirt. Was he really going to join up with a guy that killed his family? Well, technically he wasn’t the one that killed them, but he still had a hand in it. He smiled as an idea started forming in his head. “Okay, I’ll join you guys.”
A monkey climbed across the Bars of the zoo Climbing and jumping, swinging and swaying Dangling from the metal bars that Enclosed him. It prevented him From escaping into the jungle that is Gary, Indiana. He watched as people walked passed Inconsiderate to his imprisonment. Joking with him, throwing pieces of pretzels into his cage. The Koala across the way was more popular than him. The people Loved that Koala. He would perform tricks with the Manager of the zoo. Nothing the monkey did could make the audience like him more than that Koala. Over on the other side of the zoo, by the Parking lot, there sat a Quiet tortoise Relaxed in his own shell Slow as any tortoise could be Totally boring to all the people that came to the zoo Unless you enjoyed watching slow tortoises Very weak the old tortoise grew as it aged. When the tortoise started having trouble eating X-rays were taken You may be asking why, because that is what happens at the Zoo.
This secret changed their whole lives. They thought they were living with someone that adored them and they thought they had the perfect father figure that loved his wife so much and never would have done something so bad in order to hurt her. John and Maria were married for 17 years and had been together for 20 years. They both had two daughters. The oldest daughter was 17 and her name was Shelby, the youngest daughter was 13 and her name was Cristina. Shelby was always the rebellious one and she was a very good observer too. Both Shelby and Cristina thought that they had a perfect family and they thought they had the perfect father until one day Shelby went out to get the mail. Shelby wasn’t looking through the mail to see if there was any correspondence for her and she came across one that was for John from the Child Support Agency. She thought that it was a mistake or that if her mom filed for it for one of them but she wanted to make sure. Once her parents went to work early on a Saturday and Cristina was still sleeping, she went through her father’s stuff as fast as she could but she couldn’t find anything suspicious so the last place she looked into was the closet under the second floor stairs. She remembered that her father put in his very important documents for his job and that he said no one was allowed to go in there or else they’ll get punished. She ran to the closet and saw that there was a safe that her father accidentally forgot to lock. She got on her knees and opened it up; it was not a happy sight. Every mail that was in the safe was the same exact one she saw the other day. She opened some of them up and saw two names there, John J.R and Sandra De La Hoya, it was her fathers and hers last name. She started looking through everything and saw that the boy was 12 years old and the girl was 7 years old, she broke down in tears and couldn’t believe that her father had done this to them so she saved some of the mail in her room, she was angry but she stayed quiet until her mom came from work. Her mom comes later than her father does from work but he had to go to this family party at his sister’s house so she waited until he left. He left around 8 at night and Maria stayed at the house cooking for the Shelby and Cristina. Once Maria stopped cooking, Shelby asked her to go with her in the garage that they needed to talk about something serious, Maria was worried so she followed her to the garage. Shelby broke down in tears again and gave her mail but Maria couldn’t understand some of the words there since she didn’t know that much English but Spanish. Shelby explained to her what it said on that letter and all Maria did was to keep calm and asked Shelby not to say a word about it until she came to the bottom of it. John came home a little bit drunk and Maria asked him to explain to her why he was receiving mail from the Child Support Agency and no words came out of his mouth. Maria went to the girls’ room and slept with them but she couldn’t sleep at all and not even Shelby. Maria got out of bed around 12 in the afternoon and didn’t even prepare breakfast or lunch for anyone except that she went out with the girls to eat and left John home alone. John kept calling her but she wouldn’t answer so he left a voicemail saying that if she can come back home to talk about what she asked last night. Maria dropped off Cristina at her sister in laws house and took Shelby with her back home to talk with John. Shelby didn’t want to speak at all but John couldn’t stay quiet anymore so he confessed about the two kids he has, Maria cried and cried and Shelby was so angry to see her mother like that, that she asked her father to leave now. Maria, Cristina, and Shelby got to meet the two kids and their mother for the first time in court and everything went well until Maria found out that he cousin knew about it but never said anything.
Shelby wasn’t acting the same anymore and her perspective of marriage changed for a long time, Cristina didn’t love her father like before and was so angry at him that now if someone asks about him all she says is that he died a long time ago, and Maria couldn’t be the same anymore and sometimes at night she cries herself to sleep. They aren’t the big old happy family anymore and once they found out that some people knew, all they did was to keep their distance from them.
Marc had a very very dark secret that he wanted to tell Carol that he did something that she possibly couldn't forgive him for. what he did was wrong because he did something that someone should never do, But little did he know that she had the same very dark secret but they just didn't know how to tell each other. So the two love birds decided to go on a date and tell each other their secrets,but both of them struggled to say it so they decided to tell each other on thre; One Two Three in harmony they said I cheated on you both stood still for a moment and said i can't beleive you again in harmony. it was like they was one with everything so Carol said that you go first Marc so mark began his story that he cheated on her with donna her best friend and he said that donna and i really have alot in common with each other she smart funny beautiful Carol interuppted with beautiful and said i thought you loved me and he said i do but she forgot she did the samething that he did. so she started to begin her story she said that Cecil was eyeing her all the time at work On her break so they decided to have lunch with each other and things happened that she could not tell at the restaurant. so they forgave each other that and the next day Marc and Carol had another secret that would change their lives with Cecil and Donna.now these new secrets are much much much much much much much much worse then first ones. know they really did not know how to tell cecil and Donna this. Ironicly enough they again decided to tell Cecil and Donna together even they could not belive this horror that Cecil and Carol were cousins and Marc and Donna were cousins they still have yet to tell them this deep and horrible secret so they finaly told them they both Cecil and Donna stood in shock And then they both puked on the floor at leat five times then they were staring at each other stood in silence as if someone had froze them in time To Be Continued...
He sat across the room from me in history class. I could never take my eyes off of him, he was gorgeous. One of the most attractive guys in the school was in my AP History class and I had the biggest crush on him. I jumped in my seat as the bell rang interrupting my thoughts. I threw my stuff into my backpack and headed towards the door. “Ricky could stay after for a few minutes. I would like to talk to you about your grades.” Mr. Davidson said. “Yes, Mr. Davidson?” I asked. He gave me a look of concern. I began to worry about what he was going to say. “Rick, your grades have been slipping a lot lately. You got A’s the first two marking periods and now you have dropped to a C-. What’s going on? Are you okay?” He questioned. “Yeah, I’m fine. I guess the material has just gotten harder for me.” “Are you sure that’s all?” he said. I thought that maybe I should tell him what was going on but I was not sure how he would react to it. Mr. Davidson was my favorite teacher in school and I could talk to him about a lot, but this was huge news. I debated over it in my head for a few seconds until I finally gave in. I sat down at a desk and took a deep breath. “Actually, Mr. Davidson, there is something bothering me. But you need to promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. I haven’t even told my parents about this yet and I don’t really want to tell them.” “You’re gay.” He said matter-of-factly. I gave him a look of confusion as to ask how he knew that. “Ricky, it’s not that hard to tell.” I began to laugh at the fact that he knew I was gay. “So is that the reason you haven’t been doing as well in class, or is there something else on your mind?” “Well, I think I like one of the guys in our class. I can’t stop looking at him and every time I see him or hear his name or think about him I can’t help but smile.” I said as I began to blush and a smirk spread across my face. “Oh, really? Who is it?” he asked. I started to think that maybe I should not tell him. Maybe I have already told him too much. “I’m such a woman when it comes to stuff like this. You’ve already told me so much you might as well just continue telling me about and tell me who it is.” I nodded, I knew he was right and I knew that he would not go around telling everyone about this. “Alright, it’s Cody…” I said waiting for a reaction. But he showed no reaction. He stood there thinking it over, as if contemplating if that was possible. “Hmmmm.. I can see that. It’s okay, he’s a good-looking kid, so I can understand why.” He chuckled. “So now I know why your grades have dropped. You’re so focused on him you can’t focus on your work. I got it now.” “Mr. Davidson, I don’t know what to do. This is all so confusing.” “It’s okay Ricky, I’ll help you get through this. Don’t worry at all. You’ll work everything out. You’re a smart kid, I believe in you.” “Thanks Mr. Davidson. This really means a lot.”
At this point I think everyone should know what is wrong with me. I make it too obvious but it’s like everyone around me is just too blind to see it. It’s either they are blind to see it or they are just scared to come up to me and tell me. I wonder? Can everybody know about this little secret that I’m hiding. No they can’t know. I’m just too good of lair that nobody can know the difference. Well I can only keep this lie on for so long. I know that when everybody finds out that life will change for everyone. It was time for school and I’ve been debating with myself about when I should tell my friends about this secret that has slowly been eating me up. I put on my dress, threw on wedges, and fishtailed my hair. I went downstairs ate a piece of a muffin grabbed my keys for it was time for my daily coffees. I went in the car took out my IPhone and dialed Janeé. Janeé has been my best friend ever since we were children. The funny part is that we were born in the same hospital but of course I’m older by a day. I think we have always been destined to be best friends. The other funny part of us being best friends is that we both have the same big secret and we told each other the same exact time on the same exact day. “Hey boo I’m on my way to pick you up and during lunch I’m going to tell everyone to go out and I will tell them the big secret. You don’t need to tell your but I feel like it is necessary for me to tell them. Friends don’t keep lies from each other and I don’t want to start lying to them now. I’ll be there in a few so soon you soon. Bye boo.” I said. I hung up put my phone in my purse threw the purse on the ground and pulled out of the driveway. The drive to Janeé’s house was the most suspenseful ride I’ve ever had. I don’t know why because she already knew about my dirty little secret. There is no way she could forget either because we share the same secret. Once I arrived I noticed that she was standing in front of her door. She waved and I waved back. She held out her hand signaling me that I should wait for her until she finished. I put my car in park and took out my phone. I just received a unknown message I ignored it and looked up to see that she was standing right next to the door. I forgot that I had locked it. I unlocked it and she came in. “I think it’s time to come out of the closet. I feel bad for them. I just don’t want them to think that I don’t trust them because I do. I need them know like now.” I cried. We both stayed quiet in the car ride and I when we arrived at the school I slammed the door and went out the car. When I got inside the school I went straight to my friends who were crowding around my locker. I tapped them all on their shoulders and they looked at me. If eye contact would kill I would probably be dead. “ Hey I need to tell you something. Now don’t interrupt me I need to talk. Well um you know how my ex-boyfriend went missing, right?....... Well I was the one who made him go missing. I killed him because he got me pregnant and he didn’t want to take responsibility of the baby. He turned around I couldn’t help to see him leave so I ran to the kitchen grabbed a knife and killed him. And of course this was at his house. I’m so sorry. So yeah I’m two month in with my pregnancy and you can go tell the authorities if you want too. So I’m so sorry you guys. Well bye.” I whispered.
I walked away and went to the main doors. When I looked back I saw they all took out their phones. My life here was over with. I guess it’s time to move out. I looked outside the see through mirrors and looked at my best friend. She shook her head and I understood that she wanted me to tell everyone the truth too. “HEY! Janeé did the same thing the only difference is that she is one month. Oh yeah and her boyfriend abused her. So go on tell the cops I don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.” I yelled. I pushed the doors and went running out to the car. When I got in a gave her a sweet smile and we drove off. I dropped her off in another town far away. I went to another town close to hers but once again away from the accident. We are planning to move to another state and start all over again with these little gifts of life that we are going to have soon.
Today I found out something that has honestly changed how I treat people. I am Carolina, I am sixteen, and I just found out that my family has been holding a secret from me about my father. If I knew this secret a long time ago than things would be different between him and I. I wouldn’t talk to him like how I talk to him now. With no respect and always giving him attitude. I found out that my dad has cancer, he has had this for five years and he was always able to get treatment but it always came back to him. My family has been hiding this so that I won’t be sad and have to think about it all the time. I understand why they would hide this but, then again I’m saying bye to him as if I’m going to see him again when any time he could just be gone. My father and I have always had a good relationship but then again not the best relationship. I never had any secrets from him; I always came right out with everything. That’s the one thing he liked the best about me because, than he knows he can trust me. My dad was the sweetest person I know; he always had someone smiling, respectful, and funny. Now that I know his secret I’m going to treat him a lot better than I used. But I know that he won’t like that because than things won’t be the same. He likes how I treat him sometimes because, it shows that were not hiding feelings or acting like were the perfect family. I don’t like how my dad couldn’t just tell me this himself, if he would have told me himself than I would of token things a lot better than how everything went. Now I feel like he can’t tell me anything because he is too scared. Instead my brothers and mom had to tell me by sitting me down at dinner and telling me as if I was going to have a heart attack. I was upset when they told me but at the same time I was mad. I was mad at the fact that this has been going on for so long and they finally want to tell me and the fact that my father couldn’t tell me when he had so many chances to. A few days later after I found out my father and I went to the doctors for his check up’s and they talked about treatment again. He liked the idea but at the same time he didn’t want to because he was just starting to get to tired. He told the doctor that he would let him know by next week. As my dad and I walked towards the car we talked about it and I told him how much I would like for him to get the treatment so that he can go through my tough times with me. It took him five minutes to say yes to the treatment. So he went back to the doctor and told him he wanted to the be treated again.
I’m a kid of few words. I don’t really speak unless I want to hoist my opinion. I’m taller than my dad, and am 19 years of age. My mother has been lying to me my entire life. They were When I was born, my parents named me Daryl. I was the most precious thing they have ever seen. I was seven pounds and seven ounces, with eyes a mix of grey and blue. I first learned to walk when I was 8 months old. That sounds like that would never happen, but it’s true. I stood up, and made my way down the hallway all on my own. My parents seemed to be the best people in the world. They helped me whenever I needed it, and taught me everything I needed to know. They didn’t seem like the kind of people who would go out on a killing spree, but looks can be deceiving; I learned that the hard way… My parents were always out on business trips, so they say. I was home alone almost every day when my parents were traveling to different states, and working their butts off. Being nineteen, I wasn’t worried about being alone. I was starting off my freshman year of college at the community college down the street. Since my parents worked at the same company, they went on business trips together, leaving days at a time. One day my parents came home after midnight on a Tuesday during the summer. I was sleeping in my bed, after a long day of studying. When I heard the front door open, I sat up in bed, but still had my eyes closed. I heard footsteps walk slowly up the stairs and stopped in front of my door. The doorknob turned and my parents walked into my room to check up on me. Being so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and barely made out which parent was which. After they were talking to me for a while, I started to focus a little more, and I saw my dad wearing gloves for some reason. My dad never wears gloves, not even in the winter. When my dad saw me observing them, he put his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. My mother was carrying a ginormous bag that had a knife in there. At first I thought it was my dad’s, but his knife was in his pocket. The knife wasn’t like the ones you would carry in your pocket. It looked like a butcher knife. But I was too tired to really care all that much to ask any questions. My parents said goodnight, and walked out of my room and let me go back to sleep. It has been about a week or two since my parents went on any business trips. But things got weird around the house. I remember when mom and dad went to the food store and I went snooping around their bedroom. I walked into the bedroom, and looked around for anything suspicious. I looked under the bed, and saw nothing. I looked in the closet, and there, things were revealed. I stepped into the big closet, and saw pictures of people, victims really, and saw weapons upon weapons. My parents were serial killers. They’ve been lying to me about the business trips and working in the same company. Well, they kind of worked together. As I was staring in disgust, the front door opened. My parents were home. I couldn’t let them know that I was in their room. I stood still, listening to where they were going. As I took a step to the door, the floor creaked. The talking that my parents were doing stopped, and then they came upstairs. My options? Watching so many spy movies as a kid, I thought I could jump out the window, or hide somewhere in the room. My parents probably thought that whoever was in the room would hide, and that is what I thought too. So, I jumped out the window. With the way the roof was, I landed on it, and waited for my parents to go away before I could jump on the trampoline. When the coast was clear, I jumped on the trampoline, and landed onto the ground. It turned out that I slipped into a coma for some reason. The rest was all a blank to me, being I was in the coma for 6 weeks. When I woke up, the doctors notified my parents, who were on another “business” trip, but they didn’t tell the doctors where. I just laid on the bed, again, in disgust. My parents were at it again, and now, who knows where they are...
Hi my name is Karen Jones and I’m now twenty-four years old. My life was perfect, I had the perfect family, so I thought. Everything worked in my favor for as long as I could remember, too bad my entire life changed on my eighteenth birthday. I’m going to tell you the story of how it happened and how I have no family right now. It was a week before my eighteenth birthday and my parents were more excited than I was. They told me they were getting me a car, I didn’t know why, considering the fact that I couldn’t drive my freshmen year of college anyway. I live in Richmond, Virginia and am going to college in New Jersey. One day I was looking for pictures in my parents’ room and I couldn’t find any. Well any pictures of me, I started becoming very curious. Did my parents keep my pictures in another place? Maybe there were some in the attic, so I went to check, I found nothing. My parents were downstairs and so I went to ask them where they kept my baby pictures.
“Mom, where do you and Dad keep my baby pictures?” I asked her, while she read her newspaper. “Oh, remember that storm a few years back? We lost all of them. Sorry honey.” My mom responded, not looking up from the newspaper. That’s it? No memories of me what so ever? They’re all gone? What really aggravated me was the fact that my mom didn’t seem like she really cared. I wonder if she even tried to get them back. Since I was turning eighteen, my parents decided to throw me a house party. I didn’t really want to do anything big, so a party was good enough. My high school was actually huge and not to brag or anything, but I was pretty popular. Everybody came to my party. I didn’t have enough time to do invitations, so the party was just a friendly-open event. My party started at 8:00 P.M and by 10:00 P.M my entire life came crashing down. While everyone was downstairs dancing and having a good time, I came upstairs to change into something more comfortable. I was tired of those heels that my mom insisted I’d wear. As I was walking to my room, I overheard my parents having a talk in their room. “John, she’s eighteen now. I think it’s about time we tell her the truth.” My mom said to my dad in a calm tone. “What are you talking about? We can’t tell her that! It will break her heart. When the time is right we will tell her.” My dad responded. “She came downstairs last week and asked me why there were no pictures of her John. I can’t keep lying to her. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes when I spoke to her.” “If you want to tell her, do it. Just know if she hates you, don’t blame me.” At that moment, I had heard enough. I was tired of living in the dark and my parents keeping secrets. I knew I wasn’t losing my mind, my parents were keeping something from me. I had to know what it was. “Tell me what?” I asked, as I walked into their bedroom. “Karen! Oh, nothing sweetie. Go back downstairs and enjoy your night with your friends.” My Dad responded to me. “No! I’m tired of you two hiding things from me! What are you keeping from me? What do I have to know?!” I yelled. My dad looked at my mom and shook his head. My mom was crying. “Darling, we didn’t want you to find out this way!” My mom yelled, trying to ease the situation. “Tell me!” I screamed. I heard the music downstairs get quiet and people began whispering. I wasn’t leaving this room until I found out what my parents were hiding from me. Just then my mom came up to me and hugged me and then she whispered in my ear. “You’re adopted and that’s why you couldn’t find any baby pictures of yourself. We’re sorry! We wanted to tell you, but we could never find the right time.” She said softly. At that moment, I literally felt my heart break inside of my chest. Tears began streaming down my face. All these years they lied to my face! I ran to my room, locked my door and began packing my bags. My parents were banging on the door and telling me to let them in. I didn’t even know who my real parents were, but I was determined to find out. I changed out of my party dress and had a book bag. By the time my parents finally got the door open, I was gone. I am now twenty-four and in search of my biological parents.
You can say that my whole life has been like the Twilight zone. It seems I’m always in the middle of every bazar event that occurs, and this was no exception. Every once in a while, I used to feel strange energies that didn’t seem to be related to the physical world, and I would sometimes feel a chill running through me for no reason at all. I never told anyone this, fearing that whoever I told would put me into counseling or think I was crazy. Now though, these strange things have been happening more and more often. What’s more, each occurance seemed stronger in a way. Whenever I felt the strange energy, I would see a figure or hear a faint voice, but I couldn’t ever understand a word. Many nights, I would suddenly have strange dreams which would cause me to wake up shivering. I never dared tell anyone, but I still longed to get answers for this before I let it ruin my life. “Alicia, what is going on with you?” my friend, Vanessa was asking. It was the start of winter break, and we were walking home after a crazy day. I could only prey that for Christmas, I could go through at least one day without any supernatural interuptions. Clearly, it wasn’t going to happen today. “You seem to be always freaking out about something,: Vanessa continued. “but it’s impossible to tell what is going on. You’ve been doing this for days, and I don’t know if I should be worried about you or what.” “It’s nothing,” I said, flatly. “just some stomach problems.” I’ve had a history of throwing up over anything that made me nervous, but no one ever knew the cause of it; they just knew I had a queasy stomach almost all the time. Now for instance, I wanted to get home as quickly as possible before I hurled in public. The energy I felt was so impossible to ignore now, it was making me sweat. I had to confront whatever it was some time, but I was too frightened to do so. I couldn’t help thinking about “The Sixth Sense,” which I’ve watched recently. When I had reached the part when the boy told the psychologist that he saw dead people, I just wanted to jump through the screen and scream out “I think I do too!” It was so difficult to watch, I had to stop it.
You can say that my whole life has been like the Twilight zone. It seems I’m always in the middle of every bazar event that occurs, and this was no exception. Every once in a while, I used to feel strange energies that didn’t seem to be related to the physical world, and I would sometimes feel a chill running through me for no reason at all. I never told anyone this, fearing that whoever I told would put me into counseling or think I was crazy. Now though, these strange things have been happening more and more often. What’s more, each occurance seemed stronger in a way. Whenever I felt the strange energy, I would see a figure or hear a faint voice, but I couldn’t ever understand a word. Many nights, I would suddenly have strange dreams which would cause me to wake up shivering. I never dared tell anyone, but I still longed to get answers for this before I let it ruin my life. “Alicia, what is going on with you?” my friend, Vanessa was asking. It was the start of winter break, and we were walking home after a crazy day. I could only prey that for Christmas, I could go through at least one day without any supernatural interuptions. Clearly, it wasn’t going to happen today. “You seem to be always freaking out about something,: Vanessa continued. “but it’s impossible to tell what is going on. You’ve been doing this for days, and I don’t know if I should be worried about you or what.” “It’s nothing,” I said, flatly. “just some stomach problems.” I’ve had a history of throwing up over anything that made me nervous, but no one ever knew the cause of it; they just knew I had a queasy stomach almost all the time. Now for instance, I wanted to get home as quickly as possible before I hurled in public. The energy I felt was so impossible to ignore now, it was making me sweat. I had to confront whatever it was some time, but I was too frightened to do so. I couldn’t help thinking about “The Sixth Sense,” which I’ve watched recently. When I had reached the part when the boy told the psychologist that he saw dead people, I just wanted to jump through the screen and scream out “I think I do too!” It was so difficult to watch, I had to stop it. When I finally reached my house, and turned on the television the music channel that was on was just finishing “Merry Christmas darling,” a song that usually soothed me every time I heard it. This time though, I couldn’t help thinking to myself “Isn’t the girl who sang that song dead?” I couldn’t help but cringe at that thought. As though that weren’t bad enough, the next song that played was Nat King Cole’s version of “Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire,” another dead singer. As I was trying to ignore this energy, I couldn’t help thinking, what if it was coming from every dead singer on the television? But what would they want from me of all people? I flipped on TLC to see if there were any trash shows that would put my mind off of all this. Of course though, “The Long Island Medium” has to be on. So I decided to just watch whatever Christmas movie was on ABC family. It was no use, though. It seemed like this sixth sense was just getting stronger and stronger all the time. Not even Buddy the Elf fighting with the Santa at Gimbles could get rid of what I was sensing. It was a woman, and her name was something along the lines of Anna, or Anita. I could sense her lying in a hospital bed with a baby in her arms, her body growing weaker and weaker. Her heart seemed to slow down, until it finally stopped. I didn’t necessarily see this; it was as though someone was putting a vivid picture in my mind. There seemed to be something significant about the baby, but I couldn’t grasp it. Neither did I want to.
“Stop!” I shouted. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to hear your life story! Please, stop!” My shouts became pleads as I became more and more frightened. “Alicia,” said a voice. It was a female’s voice with a Spanish accent. “If you would just listen to me, you will realize...” “No!” I bellowed from the top of my lungs. “I am not listening to you! I need you to leave me alone! Please, please!” Hot tears were running down my face, and I threw myself down on the leather sofa, pressing my face against the cushions. It was a good thing no one was home at this time, or who knows what everyone would think. I would probably end up in a rehab center for Schizofrenia or something terrible like that. I just couldn’t believe what these spirits were putting me through; I knew they were spirits now for sure. “Uh, Alicia?” “Leave... me... alone!” I yelled yet another time. “I said I don’t want anything to do with you!” “Wow, someone’s in a mood today.” I looked over to see my brother, Brian standing there with his coat still on. He had clearly just gotten home from his job at Duncan Doughnuts. Have I been sitting here for that long? Was it already 5:00? “Oh sorry,” I said briskly, wiping my eyes. “I was just um, practicing for my Spring musical audition.” “Really now?” Brian said in denile. “In what play is there someone lying on the couch with the TV on, crying to be left alone? Does this musical take place in a mental institution or what?” “Can you just shut up,” I snapped. “It’s none of your business.” “Ok,” Brian replied, laughing. “Just be lucky Mom and Dad didn’t see this. They’d be freaked out.” Like I didn’t know that already. The next day was Christmas Eve, a day I normally couldn’t wait for. For me, it meant escaping dinner with my cousins when all the adults started talking about politics, and hanging out in the living room. Now though, I had the worst feeling that I would sense a spirit again. If it was that woman who died after child birth again, maybe I would get the courage to confront her and tell her to leave me alone. Or maybe I could just help her and get it over with. Either way, I hoped that somehow, things would work out. All day, there wasn’t one encountering, which was a blessing. As the hours went bye, I braced myself less and less until I was completely assured that I was safe for at least this day.
When everyone started coming over, I was in my joyful Christmas mood. I didn’t have to fake my happiness like I thought I’d had to. I even found myself singing along to the music playing on the radio. For a few prescious moments, everything was going perfectly. We all gorged on ham, pasta and meatballs. Later, my cousins, Kristie and Amy, and I went into the living room to talk. We caught up with each other on what was going on in our lives. All of a sudden, I felt it again, that strange energy in the room. As I felt it getting stronger, and the chills coming on me. I said to my cousins, “I need to go look for something. I’ll be back in a sec.” “You want help?” Amy asked. I quickly dismissed her offer and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. Shutting the door, I sat on my bed and let the spirit say whatever she had to. “Ok,” I said. “I’m going to listen to you.” “Alicia,” it was that same voice I heard yesterday. “I have to tell you something very important. Since your parents will never tell you, it’s up to me.” Now, I could see her figure up close. It was impossible to see all her features, but her figure was still visible. “What do you mean my parents won’t tell me,” I asked, confused. “Do you know them? Who are you anyway, and why are you constantly following me around?” “My name is Anita Cortez,” she answered. “and I am your biological mother.” “What?” I scoffed, raising my voice. “I wasn’t adopted. You probably have the wrong...” “I do not have the wrong person,” Anita interupted. “I held you for enough time to know what you looked like. And yes, I knew your adoptive mother. I was one of her close friends. I asked her to be your godmother before you were born.” I couldn’t believe what this woman was saying. “If you were so close,” I argued. “Then how come she’s never mentioned you?” “She was furious at me when I became pregnant,” Anita replied. “She knew it wasn’t good for me because of my heart problems.” If this was true, then my mother, or at least the woman I’d known as my mother, would have to get ready for some confruntation. The thought that I was part of a serious secret hurt and angered me. How dare my parents not tell me something that major. And how dare this woman tell me this on Christmas Eve. Now filled with rage and disbelief, I stormed out of my bedroom and down the long staircase. I burst into the dining room and made my way to where my “mother” was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, I snapped, “You’re not my real biological mother, are you!”
When everyone started coming over, I was in my joyful Christmas mood. I didn’t have to fake my happiness like I thought I’d had to. I even found myself singing along to the music playing on the radio. For a few prescious moments, everything was going perfectly. We all gorged on ham, pasta and meatballs. Later, my cousins, Kristie and Amy, and I went into the living room to talk. We caught up with each other on what was going on in our lives. All of a sudden, I felt it again, that strange energy in the room. As I felt it getting stronger, and the chills coming on me. I said to my cousins, “I need to go look for something. I’ll be back in a sec.” “You want help?” Amy asked. I quickly dismissed her offer and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. Shutting the door, I sat on my bed and let the spirit say whatever she had to. “Ok,” I said. “I’m going to listen to you.” “Alicia,” it was that same voice I heard yesterday. “I have to tell you something very important. Since your parents will never tell you, it’s up to me.” Now, I could see her figure up close. It was impossible to see all her features, but her figure was still visible. “What do you mean my parents won’t tell me,” I asked, confused. “Do you know them? Who are you anyway, and why are you constantly following me around?” “My name is Anita Cortez,” she answered. “and I am your biological mother.” “What?” I scoffed, raising my voice. “I wasn’t adopted. You probably have the wrong...” “I do not have the wrong person,” Anita interupted. “I held you for enough time to know what you looked like. And yes, I knew your adoptive mother. I was one of her close friends. I asked her to be your godmother before you were born.” I couldn’t believe what this woman was saying. “If you were so close,” I argued. “Then how come she’s never mentioned you?” “She was furious at me when I became pregnant,” Anita replied. “She knew it wasn’t good for me because of my heart problems.” If this was true, then my mother, or at least the woman I’d known as my mother, would have to get ready for some confruntation. The thought that I was part of a serious secret hurt and angered me. How dare my parents not tell me something that major. And how dare this woman tell me this on Christmas Eve. Now filled with rage and disbelief, I stormed out of my bedroom and down the long staircase. I burst into the dining room and made my way to where my “mother” was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, I snapped, “You’re not my real biological mother, are you!” “What,” my mother gasped jumping up. “Who told you that?” “Just answer the question,” I demanded. “Did you, or did you not adopt me after my biological mother died of heart failure?” “Alicia,” my mother said firmly. “I don’t want to talk about this now. It’s Christmas Eve, we have the whole family over, let’s just enjoy...” From that, I knew Anita had to be telling the truth. I stormed out of the dining room and back up the stairs to my bedroom. I just realized that everything in the house had gone quiet. I din’t care though, All that matter now, was that I had just found out a secret that had changed everything. I thought I was never going to forgive anyone who knew it. There was no way I would go back down there and face them. “I don’t want you to be angry.” It was Anita. She had obviously not been finished with her business. “Your mother isn’t the only one with a major secret.” That was very true. If I had my reasons for not telling anyone about my ability to speak to the dead, then there had to be reasons why I was never told about Anita and how she was my real mother. Sighing, I put on a festive smile, and slowly walked out of my room and down the stairs to join the others. I knew I would eventually figure out how to fix these problems, and maybe help my first dead person.
I’m from the Amish. I’ve lived my whole life in Pennsylvania, separating myself from society and their customs. I still live under my parents’ roof and have become engaged to a young man on the other side of our small town. We’re due to be married next month.
James Peterson is his name. Tall and handsome. Strong and brave. A hard worker and loyal companion. He is everything I always dreamed of when I was a girl. The only problem with James is he isn't very understanding. He is a devote Amish. I have broken the rules a few times, telling myself it was ok in God’s eyes. But James is different. If he finds out about the things I’ve done in my life….well I guess I’ll find out what he would do. Because I’m going to tell him about my real past.
A few weeks after our marriage, James is leaning over the fire, examining the stew I have prepared for dinner. The light outside grows dim and he goes to light the gas lamp sitting on the kitchen table. I watch him from behind the doorway leading to the kitchen. I bite my lips, getting nervous of what his reaction will be. I know I have sinned. And I know the town will shun me if they find out. But I have to be loyal and at least tell my husband. I move into the kitchen, still partially in the doorway. “James?” I almost whisper in a mouse-like voice. He didn’t hear me. “James?” I repeat a little louder.
He turns from the lamp and smiles at the sight of his wife. My hands begin to sweat and my voice trembles. He notices and strides over to me. My vision begins to blur but returns to normal as he guides me to a chair and gives me a glass of water to drink.
“What’s wrong?” he asks in his deep voice, very concerned.
I turn my head and look straight into his eyes. “I…I haven’t been…completely honest with you,” I manage to let out.
James straightens his back and his eyebrows arch. “What do you mean?”
“I have…lied…about my past.”
His eyes widen and he reminds me, “Lying is a sin.”
“I know.” I sweat more and turn away. “But there is another sin I have committed.”
I look back to see his reaction. His eyes are focused on me and refuse to turn away. Very serious and very curious. He doesn’t say anything as if expecting me to continue.
“I was once…married...to another man…”
His green eyes turn to complete circles as the shock sets in. I continued looking in his direction, wanting to burst into tears. He gazes into his folded hands and sighs. Then he gets up and opens the front door.
“James!” I call after him. “You don’t have to leave! We can still be together!”
“No. No. I can’t,” he responds, his back to me.
There is a long pause as my husband remains in the doorway, me still in the entrance to the kitchen.
“I expect you to be gone in the morning,” he concludes and shuts the door behind him as he leaves.
A moment had to pass before I realize what has happened. This is his house and he doesn’t want to be married any longer. I have to leave my home, my husband, my life. And never come back to the town because everyone will view me as an outcast, an outsider, a nobody.
That’s the day my whole life changed and I began a new one in New York. But that’s a story for another time.
As I sat waiting, my entire body was riveting with anxious energy. My palms were clammy and my stomach was in tight knots. My foot tapped nervously on the cold sterile floors as my mind raced through the events of the day. Everything had been going smoothly. I had arrived at work on time and collected. I was prepared for the day. I had to be, as I am surgeon. I have to be ready because unlike other careers, the consequence of doing something wrong or making a mistake could be the loss of someone’s life. This puts an immense amount of pressure that can eat away at you unless you learn to control it. I had thought that I had finally been able to manage the stress and constant worry after the years I had in training. I knew that the key to reducing the number of mistakes that can be made is being able to trust in your abilities and to never doubt yourself; however, I still made errors despite my strong resolve to not and the one that I made today may have cost a patient’s life.
I had meticulously readied myself for over a week for the surgery that I had performed today. It was a heart valve replacement on a sixty-year old man. It was not a complicated surgery, but it still required two surgeons and many nurses. Throughout the operation, everything was being carried out according to plan and it seemed as if it would go without a hitch. Although, towards the conclusion of the procedure, I felt the nail of my index finger cause a slight incision in my latex glove. This may seem like a mundane and minor fault, but my finger, even after being properly sterilized, could have introduced thousands of harmful bacteria and pathogens to the patient which could lead to a life threatening infection. In addition to this, my nail could have also inflicted a small nick in one of the important components of the heart which could in turn promote the possibility of internal bleeding that could be hard to detect. After noticing this, I had kept it to myself, thinking that it probably wouldn’t cause any serious problems. We completed the procedure and monitored the patient afterwards.
Everything started to go wrong about an hour after the patient had been transported to the recovery room. His blood pressure began to drop, causing the heart monitor to go wild with a series of sharp, high pitched beeps. The nurses and I had rushed into the room and checked all of his vitals. After a careful and quick processing of the information recorded, we confirmed that he was suffering from internal bleeding. As I came to this realization, I glanced down at my index finger and an image came into my mind of the nail causing a small opening in one of the heart’s arteries. A tremor ran through me as I wondered with horror if I had been the cause of the patient’s emergency. Unable to admit my mistake, I continued to remain quiet, unwilling to take the fall if the patient should die. Other physicians and I decided the patient had to undergo another surgery so that we could locate the bleeder and repair it. As the second surgery was underway, my hands were unsteady and wavering due to the guilt that consumed me. We were able to successfully find the bleeder and effectively mend it. We then brought the patient to the intensive care unit where he would be under scrutinizing observation for the next twenty-four hours.
The Chief of Surgery had been informed of the incident and wanted to question all of the attending physicians and nurses that were involved in the first surgical procedure. Complications during surgeries were common, but the Chief still wanted an exact and truthful account of what had transpired. Complications during surgeries usually prompted the patient to question the competency of the surgeon and may even want to sue for malpractice. I was the second employee that was to be questioned and I waited apprehensively for my name to be called. With my mind fluttering from though to thought, I began to reflect back on my life. I was usually a skilled secret keeper. Not to say that I lied, but I knew that in most situations, if I had to, I would be capable of doing so. My colleagues and friends always seemed to trust me with their secrets and I had always thought myself to be equally adept in keeping my own; however, I knew that it would be extremely difficult for me to not confess my mistake. I knew that the right and honest action to take would be to tell the truth, no matter what the consequences. I reviewed the possible penalties for my mistake, like being sued for malpractice or even having my surgical license and reputation taken away from me. After working so hard, I did not want to risk losing all that I had worked for.
As I thought and thought, I realized that I should not have to make any decision because I already knew what the right judgment was, even if it was the most difficult. I understood that I had to tell the truth; otherwise I would not be capable of living with myself. It was an honest mistake and one that I had no control over. As I heard my name being called by the secretary, I put aside my hesitations and readied myself to admit the truth.
We’re all surrounding the dining room table. The silence in deafening and the tension is sharp enough to cut with a knife. Everyone’s eyes are shooting frantically from one to the other. Single sweat drop leaves my forehead as Aaron’s foot tapes against the floor in a continuous beat. Indi moves her gaze down to the wooden table as if studying each and every line that lies across it. I look down and begin to soothe my shaking hands when I hear a sudden mumble from the other side of the room. I look up and see Steve. “What?” I asked in a confused tone. He whispered still looking down at the table with a fierce gaze. Its strange how the light doesn’t seem to hit his face, instead a dark shadow seems to cover it. “We need to tell them what we did Keri” he said again this time with a grim expression on his face. I looked to him with anger and fear in my eyes. I shouted “Are you crazy? The last thing in the world we should do is-“ “Is what?” He interrupted me this time looking me dead in the face. “Admit to the crimes we committed. Tell them the truth. Get this heavy burden off of our shoulders. Is that really the last thing we must do?” He questioned me with an angry face. “Well would you rather be hung?” Indi asked trembling as the words left her mouth. “Of course! Seeing how my life has turned into shambles because of this I might as well.” Steve said with large amounts of venom. “Now let’s me see my family has disowned me, I can’t return to my home, and I’ve been on the run for months now. I feel like some animal that just broke lose form the zoo. I would definitely rather die than deal with this. At least then my soul will be at rest and I can be free.” Aaron stood up and shouted “I swear if you tell a living soul what we did I’ll-“ “You’ll what? Kill me? I told you already that would be a great relief to my life.” Steve said again. My heart beat started to rise and I could hear an alarm going off outside. I quickly jumped up and shut my blinds before the flashing lights could shine in my window. “They know we did it.” I said with a brief pause as I slowly turned back to the group at the table. “They’ll be outside in what ten minutes. I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been running for too long. I’m turning myself in.” “Well I refuse to go to jail for this. My part was small. I barely did anything.” Indi said still shaking. “Well duh all you did was drive the car, but what is that called again? Oh yeah being an accessory to the crime!” Steve said in a sarcastic tone. “Face it Indi we all have an equal part in this and our time is up”. With that the door busted open and the police ran into my house. “GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR! IF ANY OF YOU TRY TO RUN WE WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT!” someone in the crowd shouted. Aaron tried to make a dash for the back door, but was shot with a tranquilizer and fell. The rest of us dropped to our knees on the floor while we were placed in hand cuffs. “You all are under arrest for the 26 murders of Fashton County. You are allowed to get a lawyer….” I zoned out to what was being said to me as I was being pushed into the back of a police car. At least now all the running can end.
Secret that changed everything One morning I woke up and realized she wasn’t by my side. Every day I used to wake up with her next to me or her up and looking at me kissing me saying “good morning baby” with a kiss on the forehead. Her sweet lips on connected with mine and we both felt our hearts beat faster. But that all changed when the secret came out. I thought I trusted my best friend to tell him my words. I thought when I tell him my words they would stay in his mouth like a bird in a cage, but my friend let the bird free. One day I was stressed out and I needed to talk to someone, I needed to let my feelings out. So I went to my best friend that I knew for years now. I opened my heart out to him; I told him what was bothering me. I told him I cheated on my girlfriend with another girl. I trusted him and he gave me his word not to tell anyone. So I thought he was going to keep my words looked in his mouth but that didn’t happen. Days later after I go home and see my girl waiting for me in the bedroom, I ask her what has gone into her why she bagged all her cloth and why she looked like she’s about to leave. She tells me that she knows what had happened with me and the girl I hooked up with. I didn’t know what to say because I was in shocked; I didn’t tell anyone about what happened nor did the girl. So the only person that I had in mind was my best friend. I didn’t know what to tell my girlfriend but she left me. I could go after her because I know I messed up and I can’t change the past. When my girlfriend walked out the house I knew my best friend told her what happened. I was mad at myself because how could I trust anyone with my words. From that day I knew I would never trust a friend or anyone. This secret had changed my life. I wake up in the morning feeling lonely no one there to wake me up neither to go to work nor to give me a good morning kiss. Friends are not to be trusted with anything, I think if there is a secret that you think would change your life don’t open up to anyone. My secret changed my life not for now also for the future. The things that are happening know are going to affect your future so keep your secrets in side of you and your future wouldn’t change. Know I wake up feelings lonely and every time I wake up I think she’s next to me and roll around and there she goes. Trust no one your best friend turns to be your worst enemy.
Fran Hershingwell was my name. I was twenty three years old and I lived in a run-down apartment, alone. I’ve been an orphan all my life, without anyone to care for me. Not that family mattered to me anyway. I enjoyed my life the way it is, without a care for the world. I’ve been in a few relationships, but none of them last. There was this one guy who I remember clearly, Daniel Shimerhood. I remembered him because he was the worst guy that I’ve been with so far. He beat me and asked me for money, and when I finally called an end to it, he didn’t accept it. I moved around a lot to get away from him because I knew if I got caught, it will be the end of my life. I moved to Connecticut a month ago and he followed me there. He rang my doorbell and when I opened the door, he barged in. I argued with him for a little, and I was very angry. Finally, I could not stand it anymore, and I hit him with a vase nearby. When I came to my conscious, he was dead already. I moved him into my car and I dumped him in the nearby river. The river was so polluted that you could barely see anything. I was sure that no one saw me, but I guess I was wrong. The landlord, Mr. Deever, saw me. He confronted me about, but I couldn’t let him ruin my life and have me end up in jail. When he turned his back to me, I grabbed my Swiss army knife in my handbag and stabbed him. I cleaned up all my fingerprints and the blood, and I dumped him in the same river. I went back home and took a shower and went to sleep. Though, I was so scared that those two people will come haunt me back, and I kept all the lights on. My life went on like that for two weeks. I always turned my head to make sure there was no one or nothing behind me. Then, the police came to me. They asked me when the last time I saw Mr. Deever was. I answered that the last time I saw him was a few weeks ago. It didn’t surprise me that no one came to ask for Daniel. Well, he had no family and no friends, so no one in this world probably still remembered him. Well, except for me. The police came back for me a few times after, but I managed to escape every time, even by faking my death once. I burned someone’s house and I dropped my jewelry with my name on it by the body of the person that the house belonged to. It was the bracelet that Daniel gave me for the three month anniversary, so I didn’t care about it. I went through plastic surgery and swapped my identity with the person I burned, and went to Puerto Rico. Maybe God wanted to punish me, the ship sunk on its way to Puerto Rico and everyone died, including me. Now, I am in Hell, suffering for eternity, paying back the debts for the people I killed.
I waited for my little brother by the school entrance. The high-schoolers always got out of the building before the elementary school. I yawned as I contemplated what to make for dinner tonight. The door next to me swung open and smacked me lightly. A hoard of children ran out of the building screaming. I backed up a bit to avoid being trampled while keeping an eye out for a familiar head of blonde hair. “Big sis!” I turned to see my 10 year old brother run up to me. He leaped into my outstretched arms and I twirled him around. Laughing, I stopped spinning and put him on the ground. He grinned brightly at me. “Again! Again!”
I shook my head. “Not right now. That made me a bit dizzy.” My brother pouted, but I could tell that he wasn’t mad at me. His sky blue eyes sparkled with joy, he could never be angry at anyone. I sighed. His bright and cheery features were so unlike my own. I had straight black hair and black eyes. My skin always looked sickly pale too. I looked like the Grudge Girl. No joke. Kids have actually ran away from me screaming, “It’s the Grudge!” Even now I could see the uneasy looks kids were giving me.
I grabbed his hand. “C’mon, let’s go home.” I started down the road towards our house. He giggled as he skipped next to me. Reaching our house I threw open the door to our empty house. Yelling, my younger brother ran straight to the kitchen. I sighed and closed the door behind me. Even though I constantly told my brother to settle down, I enjoy it when he fills the house with noise. Ever since our parents disappeared, it’s been lonely in our home. My brother’s screams and lighter has made the house seem full again.
The sound of my brother slamming a cabinet shut broke me out of my thoughts. “Big sis, can I have a cookie for a snack?” He called from the kitchen.
“Just one!” I replied. He squealed in delight and more cabinets were slammed. I chuckled and walked up the stairs to our bedrooms. Plopping my backpack on my bed, I decided to mix up today’s routine. I was going to check my brother’s room to make sure it was clean; just to see if he actually did clean it when I told him to. Turning the knob, I pushed open my brother’s door and nearly had a heart attack.
His room was so clean! To think, my little brother might actually be the neatest 10 year old in the world! It was too good to be true! I giggled as I looked around. I was defiantly going to reward him with brownies tonight. No dust, no clothes under the bed, no toys outside of the toy box, and no dirty clothes lying around. For a final inspection, I opened the closet door to make sure he didn’t hide everything in there. The clothes were folded nicely, the dress shirts were hung up, and his shoes were lined up!
I was about to leave the closet when noticed a letter on the top shelf. I grinned mischievously. Oh? So did my little man have a secret admirer? Not wanting to be discovered by my brother, I snatched the letter from the shelf and opened it. However, my excitement quickly turned to confusion. This wasn’t a confession. This wasn’t even a elementary-schooler’s handwriting. This was-!
“What are you doing!?” I whirled around to find my brother staring at me in shock. His eyes drifted down to the letter in my hands and his eyes widened. “Y-you found it.” He shifted his gaze to his feet. Ashamed he whispered, “I-I didn’t want to show you it. You’re already having a hard time and I didn’t want to make you hurt more.” I tried to swallow the lump that formed in my throat, but I couldn’t. Suicide. It was a suicide note, from my parents. T-they committed suicide. They left us alone, for the rest of our lives.
Angrily, I started to rip the letter to shreds. “S-sister!” My brother cried in surprise.
Watching the pieces float to the floor, I scowled. “We don’t need them! They decided to leave us alone, so why should we feel sorry for them?”
My brother gave me a teary eyed look. “B-but I thought you loved Mommy and Daddy…”
Blinking back hot tears, I seethed with rage. “Not anymore. Not after this! How could they just leave us like that!? H-how could they…” I took a deep breath and counted to 10. Slowly. Then I gave my little brother a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry, we don’t need them! From now on, we’ll forget about them ok? I’ll take care of you from now on, I promise.” I bent down and gathered him into my arms as he sobbed. Something changed that day. I made a vow never to leave my brother alone. I couldn’t. We were all we had left.
She wasn’t sad. That was her secret. As many times as she had thanked people for their condolences or she had feigned grief, she was not sad. He had been drunk. That was not unexpected, not an unusual occurrence. She had smelt it on his breath as he stumbled past her. He had slurred something indecipherable, his shirt was un-tucked, collar loosened, hair a mess. She had not said a word. She just watched him as he struggled down the grand stair case, gripping the ebony banister for support. In fact, she let him walk out the door and get into his car. When the police came to the house, she wasn’t surprised. She was calm and collected. She let them in, served them coffee, while they questioned her about her husband and his accident. A terrible accident. His shiny new car, purchased with the money from his trust fund, had been found wrapped around an ancient oak. His body mangled and bloody amongst the broken glass and twisted metal. Such a tragedy. Everyone thought so. They would dearly miss his handsome face, his smile and his glittering green eyes. They would miss his charisma and his humor. They would miss his lean figure gliding across the dance floor and his booming laughs that echoed across ballrooms. They would miss the good things about him. They brought her to the morgue, to identify the body. He was cleaned up, but the cuts on his face and body still remained. As did the bruise on his face, where his head had slammed into the steering wheel. His eyes were shut tight and his skin looked cold to the touch, but she had never felt more alive than in that moment. He was dead, it dawned on her then, what that really meant. She was free from him. She was free from his rages, from his cruelty. For the first time in years, she could breathe easy. She could walk through her own home without fear of disturbing him. It wasn’t so much him as the beast that lay within him. It awoke every night, lured out of its slumber by the amber liquid that he kept in his great-grandfather’s crystal decanter. The set of handmade glasses that matched had been smashed against various walls throughout the years, trails of liquor and broken glass to be cleaned up by the help. She wasn’t sure when this feeling had planted itself inside her, but not too long ago something new had begun to consume her. She thought about it day and night. It was a constant voice inside her head. She locked it away. Deep inside of her. That night, though, she had felt her heart pounding as that thought fought to resurface. It had taken her over, robbed her of her voice and movement. It had made her helpless to stop him from making his fateful decision. It was the thought of life without him. And now that was her reality.
This morning I woke up dead. Not dead exactly, but not alive either. I woke up dead and realized that my wife wasn’t in bed next to me. Debbie spent many nights sleeping on the couch instead of in the bed. She said she preferred it there.
ReplyDeleteI got up and walked through the living room, but realized she wasn’t there. As I stared at the empty couch I heard a noise coming from one of our back rooms. A slow repetitive squeak.
I walked carefully down the hallway, confused as to what she could be doing back there. We never used our back rooms. There was no reason to, it was just us anyway.
The creaking got louder as I stood outside the door. I rubbed my eyes before opening the door, trying to wipe away my morning tiredness.
When the door opened I found my wife and my brother in bed together. They stopped and turned to me, both of them completely stunned, but I wasn’t. I just stood there, unfazed. “Don’t stop on my account,” I turned around and closed the door behind me.
Tristain smiled, panting heavily.
ReplyDelete“Heh, someone needs to learn how to take a punch.”
“Yeah, and someone needs to learn how to take a blade to the neck.”
The man saw the smirk on Tristain’s face, and a smile emerged onto his face.
“You enjoyed it.”
Tristain looked at the ground, his eyes jumping from one scarlet drop to another as they appeared.
“My family’s dead, and you’re asking me if I enjoyed beating the hell out of you? Yeah, I did, actually.”
“No,” The man took a step closer, “Not just beating me down, but the beating in general. The blood, the struggle, the pain, hell even that little cut I gave you. You enjoyed the whole thing.”
Tristain looked at his hands, one covered with his own blood, and the other with a mix of his own and the man’s. He realized he didn’t care whose blood was whose anymore. Just the sight of it thrilled him.
“What have you done to me?”
“Hah! You act like I cast a spell on you while you were denting my face. I just exposed you true colors.”
He started walking towards Tristain, who instinctively brought his fists up. The man kept coming though, and Tristain backed up until he hit the wall. The man stopped inches away from Tristain and a smirk crossed his face as he put a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry, this is the easy part. You and I both know that now that you’ve had a taste of this you’re gonna want more. Actually, I know that more than you do. I know who you are.” The man coughed right after he said that and shied away, like he said something he wasn’t supposed to.
“What do you mean you know who I am?”
“Are you in or are you out?”
“Of what? Your little assassin club?”
“See? You don’t even see us as murderers anymore.”
Tristain paused before answering. He sighed, “Can I at least go back and pay my respects?”
“Dude, seriously, they’re just slabs of meat now. It’s pretty much like talking to yourself, if you think about it.”
Tristain opened the door and stormed down the stairs. He didn’t hear the door slam shut behind him like he’d intended it to, so he knew that the man was following him.
Tristain sighed heavily and turned around. “Look, let me do this and I’ll hear you out.”
“You already heard me out, I don’t have anything else to tell you. Either you can come with me, get to kill a bunch of people that deserve to die, and get a kick ass mask like mine, or you can let me kill you. Honestly, I don’t wanna have to take any more of your punches, but it’s up to you.”
Tristain looked at the ground and kicked some dirt. Was he really going to join up with a guy that killed his family? Well, technically he wasn’t the one that killed them, but he still had a hand in it. He smiled as an idea started forming in his head.
“Okay, I’ll join you guys.”
A monkey climbed across the
ReplyDeleteBars of the zoo
Climbing and jumping, swinging and swaying
Dangling from the metal bars that
Enclosed him. It prevented him
From escaping into the jungle that is
Gary, Indiana.
He watched as people walked passed
Inconsiderate to his imprisonment.
Joking with him, throwing pieces of pretzels into his cage. The
Koala across the way was more popular than him. The people
Loved that Koala. He would perform tricks with the
Manager of the zoo.
Nothing the monkey did could make the audience like him more than that Koala.
Over on the other side of the zoo, by the
Parking lot, there sat a
Quiet tortoise
Relaxed in his own shell
Slow as any tortoise could be
Totally boring to all the people that came to the zoo
Unless you enjoyed watching slow tortoises
Very weak the old tortoise grew as it aged.
When the tortoise started having trouble eating
X-rays were taken
You may be asking why, because that is what happens at the
Zoo.
This secret changed their whole lives. They thought they were living with someone that adored them and they thought they had the perfect father figure that loved his wife so much and never would have done something so bad in order to hurt her. John and Maria were married for 17 years and had been together for 20 years. They both had two daughters. The oldest daughter was 17 and her name was Shelby, the youngest daughter was 13 and her name was Cristina. Shelby was always the rebellious one and she was a very good observer too. Both Shelby and Cristina thought that they had a perfect family and they thought they had the perfect father until one day Shelby went out to get the mail. Shelby wasn’t looking through the mail to see if there was any correspondence for her and she came across one that was for John from the Child Support Agency. She thought that it was a mistake or that if her mom filed for it for one of them but she wanted to make sure. Once her parents went to work early on a Saturday and Cristina was still sleeping, she went through her father’s stuff as fast as she could but she couldn’t find anything suspicious so the last place she looked into was the closet under the second floor stairs. She remembered that her father put in his very important documents for his job and that he said no one was allowed to go in there or else they’ll get punished. She ran to the closet and saw that there was a safe that her father accidentally forgot to lock. She got on her knees and opened it up; it was not a happy sight. Every mail that was in the safe was the same exact one she saw the other day. She opened some of them up and saw two names there, John J.R and Sandra De La Hoya, it was her fathers and hers last name. She started looking through everything and saw that the boy was 12 years old and the girl was 7 years old, she broke down in tears and couldn’t believe that her father had done this to them so she saved some of the mail in her room, she was angry but she stayed quiet until her mom came from work. Her mom comes later than her father does from work but he had to go to this family party at his sister’s house so she waited until he left. He left around 8 at night and Maria stayed at the house cooking for the Shelby and Cristina. Once Maria stopped cooking, Shelby asked her to go with her in the garage that they needed to talk about something serious, Maria was worried so she followed her to the garage. Shelby broke down in tears again and gave her mail but Maria couldn’t understand some of the words there since she didn’t know that much English but Spanish. Shelby explained to her what it said on that letter and all Maria did was to keep calm and asked Shelby not to say a word about it until she came to the bottom of it. John came home a little bit drunk and Maria asked him to explain to her why he was receiving mail from the Child Support Agency and no words came out of his mouth. Maria went to the girls’ room and slept with them but she couldn’t sleep at all and not even Shelby. Maria got out of bed around 12 in the afternoon and didn’t even prepare breakfast or lunch for anyone except that she went out with the girls to eat and left John home alone. John kept calling her but she wouldn’t answer so he left a voicemail saying that if she can come back home to talk about what she asked last night. Maria dropped off Cristina at her sister in laws house and took Shelby with her back home to talk with John. Shelby didn’t want to speak at all but John couldn’t stay quiet anymore so he confessed about the two kids he has, Maria cried and cried and Shelby was so angry to see her mother like that, that she asked her father to leave now. Maria, Cristina, and Shelby got to meet the two kids and their mother for the first time in court and everything went well until Maria found out that he cousin knew about it but never said anything.
ReplyDeleteShelby wasn’t acting the same anymore and her perspective of marriage changed for a long time, Cristina didn’t love her father like before and was so angry at him that now if someone asks about him all she says is that he died a long time ago, and Maria couldn’t be the same anymore and sometimes at night she cries herself to sleep. They aren’t the big old happy family anymore and once they found out that some people knew, all they did was to keep their distance from them.
DeleteMarc had a very very dark secret that he wanted to tell Carol that he did something that she possibly couldn't forgive him for. what he did was wrong because he did something that someone should never do, But little did he know that she had the same very dark secret but they just didn't know how to tell each other. So the two love birds decided to go on a date and tell each other their secrets,but both of them struggled to say it so they decided to tell each other on thre; One Two Three in harmony they said I cheated on you both stood still for a moment and said i can't beleive you again in harmony. it was like they was one with everything so Carol said that you go first Marc so mark began his story that he cheated on her with donna her best friend and he said that donna and i really have alot in common with each other she smart funny beautiful Carol interuppted with beautiful and said i thought you loved me and he said i do but she forgot she did the samething that he did. so she started to begin her story she said that Cecil was eyeing her all the time at work On her break so they decided to have lunch with each other and things happened that she could not tell at the restaurant. so they forgave each other that and the next day Marc and Carol had another secret that would change their lives with Cecil and Donna.now these new secrets are much much much much much much much much worse then first ones. know they really did not know how to tell cecil and Donna this. Ironicly enough they again decided to tell Cecil and Donna together even they could not belive this horror that Cecil and Carol were cousins and Marc and Donna were cousins they still have yet to tell them this deep and horrible secret so they finaly told them they both Cecil and Donna stood in shock And then they both puked on the floor at leat five times then they were staring at each other stood in silence as if someone had froze them in time To Be Continued...
ReplyDeleteHe sat across the room from me in history class. I could never take my eyes off of him, he was gorgeous. One of the most attractive guys in the school was in my AP History class and I had the biggest crush on him. I jumped in my seat as the bell rang interrupting my thoughts. I threw my stuff into my backpack and headed towards the door. “Ricky could stay after for a few minutes. I would like to talk to you about your grades.” Mr. Davidson said.
ReplyDelete“Yes, Mr. Davidson?” I asked. He gave me a look of concern. I began to worry about what he was going to say.
“Rick, your grades have been slipping a lot lately. You got A’s the first two marking periods and now you have dropped to a C-. What’s going on? Are you okay?” He questioned.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess the material has just gotten harder for me.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” he said. I thought that maybe I should tell him what was going on but I was not sure how he would react to it. Mr. Davidson was my favorite teacher in school and I could talk to him about a lot, but this was huge news. I debated over it in my head for a few seconds until I finally gave in. I sat down at a desk and took a deep breath.
“Actually, Mr. Davidson, there is something bothering me. But you need to promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. I haven’t even told my parents about this yet and I don’t really want to tell them.”
“You’re gay.” He said matter-of-factly. I gave him a look of confusion as to ask how he knew that. “Ricky, it’s not that hard to tell.” I began to laugh at the fact that he knew I was gay. “So is that the reason you haven’t been doing as well in class, or is there something else on your mind?”
“Well, I think I like one of the guys in our class. I can’t stop looking at him and every time I see him or hear his name or think about him I can’t help but smile.” I said as I began to blush and a smirk spread across my face.
“Oh, really? Who is it?” he asked. I started to think that maybe I should not tell him. Maybe I have already told him too much. “I’m such a woman when it comes to stuff like this. You’ve already told me so much you might as well just continue telling me about and tell me who it is.” I nodded, I knew he was right and I knew that he would not go around telling everyone about this.
“Alright, it’s Cody…” I said waiting for a reaction. But he showed no reaction. He stood there thinking it over, as if contemplating if that was possible.
“Hmmmm.. I can see that. It’s okay, he’s a good-looking kid, so I can understand why.” He chuckled. “So now I know why your grades have dropped. You’re so focused on him you can’t focus on your work. I got it now.”
“Mr. Davidson, I don’t know what to do. This is all so confusing.”
“It’s okay Ricky, I’ll help you get through this. Don’t worry at all. You’ll work everything out. You’re a smart kid, I believe in you.”
“Thanks Mr. Davidson. This really means a lot.”
At this point I think everyone should know what is wrong with me. I make it too obvious but it’s like everyone around me is just too blind to see it. It’s either they are blind to see it or they are just scared to come up to me and tell me. I wonder? Can everybody know about this little secret that I’m hiding. No they can’t know. I’m just too good of lair that nobody can know the difference. Well I can only keep this lie on for so long. I know that when everybody finds out that life will change for everyone.
ReplyDeleteIt was time for school and I’ve been debating with myself about when I should tell my friends about this secret that has slowly been eating me up. I put on my dress, threw on wedges, and fishtailed my hair. I went downstairs ate a piece of a muffin grabbed my keys for it was time for my daily coffees. I went in the car took out my IPhone and dialed Janeé. Janeé has been my best friend ever since we were children. The funny part is that we were born in the same hospital but of course I’m older by a day. I think we have always been destined to be best friends. The other funny part of us being best friends is that we both have the same big secret and we told each other the same exact time on the same exact day.
“Hey boo I’m on my way to pick you up and during lunch I’m going to tell everyone to go out and I will tell them the big secret. You don’t need to tell your but I feel like it is necessary for me to tell them. Friends don’t keep lies from each other and I don’t want to start lying to them now. I’ll be there in a few so soon you soon. Bye boo.” I said.
I hung up put my phone in my purse threw the purse on the ground and pulled out of the driveway. The drive to Janeé’s house was the most suspenseful ride I’ve ever had. I don’t know why because she already knew about my dirty little secret. There is no way she could forget either because we share the same secret. Once I arrived I noticed that she was standing in front of her door. She waved and I waved back. She held out her hand signaling me that I should wait for her until she finished. I put my car in park and took out my phone. I just received a unknown message I ignored it and looked up to see that she was standing right next to the door. I forgot that I had locked it. I unlocked it and she came in.
“I think it’s time to come out of the closet. I feel bad for them. I just don’t want them to think that I don’t trust them because I do. I need them know like now.” I cried.
We both stayed quiet in the car ride and I when we arrived at the school I slammed the door and went out the car. When I got inside the school I went straight to my friends who were crowding around my locker. I tapped them all on their shoulders and they looked at me. If eye contact would kill I would probably be dead.
“ Hey I need to tell you something. Now don’t interrupt me I need to talk. Well um you know how my ex-boyfriend went missing, right?....... Well I was the one who made him go missing. I killed him because he got me pregnant and he didn’t want to take responsibility of the baby. He turned around I couldn’t help to see him leave so I ran to the kitchen grabbed a knife and killed him. And of course this was at his house. I’m so sorry. So yeah I’m two month in with my pregnancy and you can go tell the authorities if you want too. So I’m so sorry you guys. Well bye.” I whispered.
I walked away and went to the main doors. When I looked back I saw they all took out their phones. My life here was over with. I guess it’s time to move out. I looked outside the see through mirrors and looked at my best friend. She shook her head and I understood that she wanted me to tell everyone the truth too.
Delete“HEY! Janeé did the same thing the only difference is that she is one month. Oh yeah and her boyfriend abused her. So go on tell the cops I don’t want to keep them waiting any longer.” I yelled.
I pushed the doors and went running out to the car. When I got in a gave her a sweet smile and we drove off. I dropped her off in another town far away. I went to another town close to hers but once again away from the accident. We are planning to move to another state and start all over again with these little gifts of life that we are going to have soon.
Today I found out something that has honestly changed how I treat people. I am Carolina, I am sixteen, and I just found out that my family has been holding a secret from me about my father. If I knew this secret a long time ago than things would be different between him and I. I wouldn’t talk to him like how I talk to him now. With no respect and always giving him attitude.
ReplyDeleteI found out that my dad has cancer, he has had this for five years and he was always able to get treatment but it always came back to him. My family has been hiding this so that I won’t be sad and have to think about it all the time. I understand why they would hide this but, then again I’m saying bye to him as if I’m going to see him again when any time he could just be gone.
My father and I have always had a good relationship but then again not the best relationship. I never had any secrets from him; I always came right out with everything. That’s the one thing he liked the best about me because, than he knows he can trust me. My dad was the sweetest person I know; he always had someone smiling, respectful, and funny. Now that I know his secret I’m going to treat him a lot better than I used. But I know that he won’t like that because than things won’t be the same. He likes how I treat him sometimes because, it shows that were not hiding feelings or acting like were the perfect family.
I don’t like how my dad couldn’t just tell me this himself, if he would have told me himself than I would of token things a lot better than how everything went. Now I feel like he can’t tell me anything because he is too scared. Instead my brothers and mom had to tell me by sitting me down at dinner and telling me as if I was going to have a heart attack. I was upset when they told me but at the same time I was mad. I was mad at the fact that this has been going on for so long and they finally want to tell me and the fact that my father couldn’t tell me when he had so many chances to.
A few days later after I found out my father and I went to the doctors for his check up’s and they talked about treatment again. He liked the idea but at the same time he didn’t want to because he was just starting to get to tired. He told the doctor that he would let him know by next week. As my dad and I walked towards the car we talked about it and I told him how much I would like for him to get the treatment so that he can go through my tough times with me. It took him five minutes to say yes to the treatment. So he went back to the doctor and told him he wanted to the be treated again.
I’m a kid of few words. I don’t really speak unless I want to hoist my opinion. I’m taller than my dad, and am 19 years of age. My mother has been lying to me my entire life. They were
ReplyDeleteWhen I was born, my parents named me Daryl. I was the most precious thing they have ever seen. I was seven pounds and seven ounces, with eyes a mix of grey and blue. I first learned to walk when I was 8 months old. That sounds like that would never happen, but it’s true. I stood up, and made my way down the hallway all on my own. My parents seemed to be the best people in the world. They helped me whenever I needed it, and taught me everything I needed to know. They didn’t seem like the kind of people who would go out on a killing spree, but looks can be deceiving; I learned that the hard way…
My parents were always out on business trips, so they say. I was home alone almost every day when my parents were traveling to different states, and working their butts off. Being nineteen, I wasn’t worried about being alone. I was starting off my freshman year of college at the community college down the street. Since my parents worked at the same company, they went on business trips together, leaving days at a time. One day my parents came home after midnight on a Tuesday during the summer. I was sleeping in my bed, after a long day of studying. When I heard the front door open, I sat up in bed, but still had my eyes closed. I heard footsteps walk slowly up the stairs and stopped in front of my door. The doorknob turned and my parents walked into my room to check up on me.
Being so tired, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and barely made out which parent was which. After they were talking to me for a while, I started to focus a little more, and I saw my dad wearing gloves for some reason. My dad never wears gloves, not even in the winter. When my dad saw me observing them, he put his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. My mother was carrying a ginormous bag that had a knife in there. At first I thought it was my dad’s, but his knife was in his pocket. The knife wasn’t like the ones you would carry in your pocket. It looked like a butcher knife. But I was too tired to really care all that much to ask any questions. My parents said goodnight, and walked out of my room and let me go back to sleep.
It has been about a week or two since my parents went on any business trips. But things got weird around the house. I remember when mom and dad went to the food store and I went snooping around their bedroom. I walked into the bedroom, and looked around for anything suspicious. I looked under the bed, and saw nothing. I looked in the closet, and there, things were revealed. I stepped into the big closet, and saw pictures of people, victims really, and saw weapons upon weapons. My parents were serial killers. They’ve been lying to me about the business trips and working in the same company. Well, they kind of worked together. As I was staring in disgust, the front door opened. My parents were home.
I couldn’t let them know that I was in their room. I stood still, listening to where they were going. As I took a step to the door, the floor creaked. The talking that my parents were doing stopped, and then they came upstairs. My options? Watching so many spy movies as a kid, I thought I could jump out the window, or hide somewhere in the room. My parents probably thought that whoever was in the room would hide, and that is what I thought too. So, I jumped out the window. With the way the roof was, I landed on it, and waited for my parents to go away before I could jump on the trampoline. When the coast was clear, I jumped on the trampoline, and landed onto the ground.
It turned out that I slipped into a coma for some reason. The rest was all a blank to me, being I was in the coma for 6 weeks. When I woke up, the doctors notified my parents, who were on another “business” trip, but they didn’t tell the doctors where. I just laid on the bed, again, in disgust. My parents were at it again, and now, who knows where they are...
Hi my name is Karen Jones and I’m now twenty-four years old. My life was perfect, I had the perfect family, so I thought. Everything worked in my favor for as long as I could remember, too bad my entire life changed on my eighteenth birthday. I’m going to tell you the story of how it happened and how I have no family right now.
ReplyDeleteIt was a week before my eighteenth birthday and my parents were more excited than I was. They told me they were getting me a car, I didn’t know why, considering the fact that I couldn’t drive my freshmen year of college anyway. I live in Richmond, Virginia and am going to college in New Jersey. One day I was looking for pictures in my parents’ room and I couldn’t find any. Well any pictures of me, I started becoming very curious. Did my parents keep my pictures in another place? Maybe there were some in the attic, so I went to check, I found nothing. My parents were downstairs and so I went to ask them where they kept my baby pictures.
“Mom, where do you and Dad keep my baby pictures?” I asked her, while she read her newspaper.
ReplyDelete“Oh, remember that storm a few years back? We lost all of them. Sorry honey.” My mom responded, not looking up from the newspaper.
That’s it? No memories of me what so ever? They’re all gone? What really aggravated me was the fact that my mom didn’t seem like she really cared. I wonder if she even tried to get them back.
Since I was turning eighteen, my parents decided to throw me a house party. I didn’t really want to do anything big, so a party was good enough. My high school was actually huge and not to brag or anything, but I was pretty popular. Everybody came to my party. I didn’t have enough time to do invitations, so the party was just a friendly-open event. My party started at 8:00 P.M and by 10:00 P.M my entire life came crashing down.
While everyone was downstairs dancing and having a good time, I came upstairs to change into something more comfortable. I was tired of those heels that my mom insisted I’d wear. As I was walking to my room, I overheard my parents having a talk in their room.
“John, she’s eighteen now. I think it’s about time we tell her the truth.” My mom said to my dad in a calm tone.
“What are you talking about? We can’t tell her that! It will break her heart. When the time is right we will tell her.” My dad responded.
“She came downstairs last week and asked me why there were no pictures of her John. I can’t keep lying to her. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes when I spoke to her.”
“If you want to tell her, do it. Just know if she hates you, don’t blame me.”
At that moment, I had heard enough. I was tired of living in the dark and my parents keeping secrets. I knew I wasn’t losing my mind, my parents were keeping something from me. I had to know what it was.
“Tell me what?” I asked, as I walked into their bedroom.
“Karen! Oh, nothing sweetie. Go back downstairs and enjoy your night with your friends.” My Dad responded to me.
“No! I’m tired of you two hiding things from me! What are you keeping from me? What do I have to know?!” I yelled.
My dad looked at my mom and shook his head. My mom was crying.
“Darling, we didn’t want you to find out this way!” My mom yelled, trying to ease the situation.
“Tell me!” I screamed.
I heard the music downstairs get quiet and people began whispering. I wasn’t leaving this room until I found out what my parents were hiding from me. Just then my mom came up to me and hugged me and then she whispered in my ear.
“You’re adopted and that’s why you couldn’t find any baby pictures of yourself. We’re sorry! We wanted to tell you, but we could never find the right time.” She said softly.
At that moment, I literally felt my heart break inside of my chest. Tears began streaming down my face. All these years they lied to my face! I ran to my room, locked my door and began packing my bags. My parents were banging on the door and telling me to let them in. I didn’t even know who my real parents were, but I was determined to find out. I changed out of my party dress and had a book bag. By the time my parents finally got the door open, I was gone.
I am now twenty-four and in search of my biological parents.
You can say that my whole life has been like the Twilight zone. It seems I’m always in the middle of every bazar event that occurs, and this was no exception. Every once in a while, I used to feel strange energies that didn’t seem to be related to the physical world, and I would sometimes feel a chill running through me for no reason at all. I never told anyone this, fearing that whoever I told would put me into counseling or think I was crazy. Now though, these strange things have been happening more and more often. What’s more, each occurance seemed stronger in a way. Whenever I felt the strange energy, I would see a figure or hear a faint voice, but I couldn’t ever understand a word. Many nights, I would suddenly have strange dreams which would cause me to wake up shivering. I never dared tell anyone, but I still longed to get answers for this before I let it ruin my life.
ReplyDelete“Alicia, what is going on with you?” my friend, Vanessa was asking. It was the start of winter break, and we were walking home after a crazy day. I could only prey that for Christmas, I could go through at least one day without any supernatural interuptions. Clearly, it wasn’t going to happen today.
“You seem to be always freaking out about something,: Vanessa continued. “but it’s impossible to tell what is going on. You’ve been doing this for days, and I don’t know if I should be worried about you or what.”
“It’s nothing,” I said, flatly. “just some stomach problems.”
I’ve had a history of throwing up over anything that made me nervous, but no one ever knew the cause of it; they just knew I had a queasy stomach almost all the time. Now for instance, I wanted to get home as quickly as possible before I hurled in public. The energy I felt was so impossible to ignore now, it was making me sweat. I had to confront whatever it was some time, but I was too frightened to do so. I couldn’t help thinking about “The Sixth Sense,” which I’ve watched recently. When I had reached the part when the boy told the psychologist that he saw dead people, I just wanted to jump through the screen and scream out “I think I do too!” It was so difficult to watch, I had to stop it.
You can say that my whole life has been like the Twilight zone. It seems I’m always in the middle of every bazar event that occurs, and this was no exception. Every once in a while, I used to feel strange energies that didn’t seem to be related to the physical world, and I would sometimes feel a chill running through me for no reason at all. I never told anyone this, fearing that whoever I told would put me into counseling or think I was crazy. Now though, these strange things have been happening more and more often. What’s more, each occurance seemed stronger in a way. Whenever I felt the strange energy, I would see a figure or hear a faint voice, but I couldn’t ever understand a word. Many nights, I would suddenly have strange dreams which would cause me to wake up shivering. I never dared tell anyone, but I still longed to get answers for this before I let it ruin my life.
ReplyDelete“Alicia, what is going on with you?” my friend, Vanessa was asking. It was the start of winter break, and we were walking home after a crazy day. I could only prey that for Christmas, I could go through at least one day without any supernatural interuptions. Clearly, it wasn’t going to happen today.
“You seem to be always freaking out about something,: Vanessa continued. “but it’s impossible to tell what is going on. You’ve been doing this for days, and I don’t know if I should be worried about you or what.”
“It’s nothing,” I said, flatly. “just some stomach problems.”
I’ve had a history of throwing up over anything that made me nervous, but no one ever knew the cause of it; they just knew I had a queasy stomach almost all the time. Now for instance, I wanted to get home as quickly as possible before I hurled in public. The energy I felt was so impossible to ignore now, it was making me sweat. I had to confront whatever it was some time, but I was too frightened to do so. I couldn’t help thinking about “The Sixth Sense,” which I’ve watched recently. When I had reached the part when the boy told the psychologist that he saw dead people, I just wanted to jump through the screen and scream out “I think I do too!” It was so difficult to watch, I had to stop it.
When I finally reached my house, and turned on the television the music channel that was on was just finishing “Merry Christmas darling,” a song that usually soothed me every time I heard it. This time though, I couldn’t help thinking to myself “Isn’t the girl who sang that song dead?” I couldn’t help but cringe at that thought. As though that weren’t bad enough, the next song that played was Nat King Cole’s version of “Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire,” another dead singer. As I was trying to ignore this energy, I couldn’t help thinking, what if it was coming from every dead singer on the television? But what would they want from me of all people?
I flipped on TLC to see if there were any trash shows that would put my mind off of all this. Of course though, “The Long Island Medium” has to be on. So I decided to just watch whatever Christmas movie was on ABC family. It was no use, though. It seemed like this sixth sense was just getting stronger and stronger all the time. Not even Buddy the Elf fighting with the Santa at Gimbles could get rid of what I was sensing. It was a woman, and her name was something along the lines of Anna, or Anita. I could sense her lying in a hospital bed with a baby in her arms, her body growing weaker and weaker. Her heart seemed to slow down, until it finally stopped. I didn’t necessarily see this; it was as though someone was putting a vivid picture in my mind. There seemed to be something significant about the baby, but I couldn’t grasp it. Neither did I want to.
ReplyDelete“Stop!” I shouted. “I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to hear your life story! Please, stop!” My shouts became pleads as I became more and more frightened.
“Alicia,” said a voice. It was a female’s voice with a Spanish accent. “If you would just listen to me, you will realize...”
“No!” I bellowed from the top of my lungs. “I am not listening to you! I need you to leave me alone! Please, please!” Hot tears were running down my face, and I threw myself down on the leather sofa, pressing my face against the cushions. It was a good thing no one was home at this time, or who knows what everyone would think. I would probably end up in a rehab center for Schizofrenia or something terrible like that. I just couldn’t believe what these spirits were putting me through; I knew they were spirits now for sure.
“Uh, Alicia?”
“Leave... me... alone!” I yelled yet another time. “I said I don’t want anything to do with you!”
“Wow, someone’s in a mood today.” I looked over to see my brother, Brian standing there with his coat still on. He had clearly just gotten home from his job at Duncan Doughnuts. Have I been sitting here for that long? Was it already 5:00?
“Oh sorry,” I said briskly, wiping my eyes. “I was just um, practicing for my Spring musical audition.”
“Really now?” Brian said in denile. “In what play is there someone lying on the couch with the TV on, crying to be left alone? Does this musical take place in a mental institution or what?”
“Can you just shut up,” I snapped. “It’s none of your business.”
“Ok,” Brian replied, laughing. “Just be lucky Mom and Dad didn’t see this. They’d be freaked out.” Like I didn’t know that already.
The next day was Christmas Eve, a day I normally couldn’t wait for. For me, it meant escaping dinner with my cousins when all the adults started talking about politics, and hanging out in the living room. Now though, I had the worst feeling that I would sense a spirit again. If it was that woman who died after child birth again, maybe I would get the courage to confront her and tell her to leave me alone. Or maybe I could just help her and get it over with. Either way, I hoped that somehow, things would work out. All day, there wasn’t one encountering, which was a blessing. As the hours went bye, I braced myself less and less until I was completely assured that I was safe for at least this day.
ReplyDeleteWhen everyone started coming over, I was in my joyful Christmas mood. I didn’t have to fake my happiness like I thought I’d had to. I even found myself singing along to the music playing on the radio. For a few prescious moments, everything was going perfectly. We all gorged on ham, pasta and meatballs. Later, my cousins, Kristie and Amy, and I went into the living room to talk. We caught up with each other on what was going on in our lives. All of a sudden, I felt it again, that strange energy in the room. As I felt it getting stronger, and the chills coming on me. I said to my cousins, “I need to go look for something. I’ll be back in a sec.”
“You want help?” Amy asked.
I quickly dismissed her offer and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. Shutting the door, I sat on my bed and let the spirit say whatever she had to.
“Ok,” I said. “I’m going to listen to you.”
“Alicia,” it was that same voice I heard yesterday. “I have to tell you something very important. Since your parents will never tell you, it’s up to me.”
Now, I could see her figure up close. It was impossible to see all her features, but her figure was still visible. “What do you mean my parents won’t tell me,” I asked, confused. “Do you know them? Who are you anyway, and why are you constantly following me around?”
“My name is Anita Cortez,” she answered. “and I am your biological mother.”
“What?” I scoffed, raising my voice. “I wasn’t adopted. You probably have the wrong...”
“I do not have the wrong person,” Anita interupted. “I held you for enough time to know what you looked like. And yes, I knew your adoptive mother. I was one of her close friends. I asked her to be your godmother before you were born.”
I couldn’t believe what this woman was saying. “If you were so close,” I argued. “Then how come she’s never mentioned you?”
“She was furious at me when I became pregnant,” Anita replied. “She knew it wasn’t good for me because of my heart problems.”
If this was true, then my mother, or at least the woman I’d known as my mother, would have to get ready for some confruntation. The thought that I was part of a serious secret hurt and angered me. How dare my parents not tell me something that major. And how dare this woman tell me this on Christmas Eve. Now filled with rage and disbelief, I stormed out of my bedroom and down the long staircase. I burst into the dining room and made my way to where my “mother” was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, I snapped, “You’re not my real biological mother, are you!”
ReplyDeleteWhen everyone started coming over, I was in my joyful Christmas mood. I didn’t have to fake my happiness like I thought I’d had to. I even found myself singing along to the music playing on the radio. For a few prescious moments, everything was going perfectly. We all gorged on ham, pasta and meatballs. Later, my cousins, Kristie and Amy, and I went into the living room to talk. We caught up with each other on what was going on in our lives. All of a sudden, I felt it again, that strange energy in the room. As I felt it getting stronger, and the chills coming on me. I said to my cousins, “I need to go look for something. I’ll be back in a sec.”
“You want help?” Amy asked.
I quickly dismissed her offer and ran up the stairs to my bedroom. Shutting the door, I sat on my bed and let the spirit say whatever she had to.
“Ok,” I said. “I’m going to listen to you.”
“Alicia,” it was that same voice I heard yesterday. “I have to tell you something very important. Since your parents will never tell you, it’s up to me.”
Now, I could see her figure up close. It was impossible to see all her features, but her figure was still visible. “What do you mean my parents won’t tell me,” I asked, confused. “Do you know them? Who are you anyway, and why are you constantly following me around?”
“My name is Anita Cortez,” she answered. “and I am your biological mother.”
“What?” I scoffed, raising my voice. “I wasn’t adopted. You probably have the wrong...”
“I do not have the wrong person,” Anita interupted. “I held you for enough time to know what you looked like. And yes, I knew your adoptive mother. I was one of her close friends. I asked her to be your godmother before you were born.”
I couldn’t believe what this woman was saying. “If you were so close,” I argued. “Then how come she’s never mentioned you?”
“She was furious at me when I became pregnant,” Anita replied. “She knew it wasn’t good for me because of my heart problems.”
If this was true, then my mother, or at least the woman I’d known as my mother, would have to get ready for some confruntation. The thought that I was part of a serious secret hurt and angered me. How dare my parents not tell me something that major. And how dare this woman tell me this on Christmas Eve. Now filled with rage and disbelief, I stormed out of my bedroom and down the long staircase. I burst into the dining room and made my way to where my “mother” was sitting. Tapping her on the shoulder, I snapped, “You’re not my real biological mother, are you!”
“What,” my mother gasped jumping up. “Who told you that?”
“Just answer the question,” I demanded. “Did you, or did you not adopt me after my biological mother died of heart failure?”
“Alicia,” my mother said firmly. “I don’t want to talk about this now. It’s Christmas Eve, we have the whole family over, let’s just enjoy...”
From that, I knew Anita had to be telling the truth. I stormed out of the dining room and back up the stairs to my bedroom. I just realized that everything in the house had gone quiet. I din’t care though, All that matter now, was that I had just found out a secret that had changed everything. I thought I was never going to forgive anyone who knew it. There was no way I would go back down there and face them.
“I don’t want you to be angry.” It was Anita. She had obviously not been finished with her business. “Your mother isn’t the only one with a major secret.”
That was very true. If I had my reasons for not telling anyone about my ability to speak to the dead, then there had to be reasons why I was never told about Anita and how she was my real mother. Sighing, I put on a festive smile, and slowly walked out of my room and down the stairs to join the others. I knew I would eventually figure out how to fix these problems, and maybe help my first dead person.
I’m from the Amish. I’ve lived my whole life in Pennsylvania, separating myself from society and their customs. I still live under my parents’ roof and have become engaged to a young man on the other side of our small town. We’re due to be married next month.
ReplyDeleteJames Peterson is his name. Tall and handsome. Strong and brave. A hard worker and loyal companion. He is everything I always dreamed of when I was a girl. The only problem with James is he isn't very understanding. He is a devote Amish. I have broken the rules a few times, telling myself it was ok in God’s eyes. But James is different. If he finds out about the things I’ve done in my life….well I guess I’ll find out what he would do. Because I’m going to tell him about my real past.
A few weeks after our marriage, James is leaning over the fire, examining the stew I have prepared for dinner. The light outside grows dim and he goes to light the gas lamp sitting on the kitchen table. I watch him from behind the doorway leading to the kitchen. I bite my lips, getting nervous of what his reaction will be. I know I have sinned. And I know the town will shun me if they find out. But I have to be loyal and at least tell my husband.
I move into the kitchen, still partially in the doorway. “James?” I almost whisper in a mouse-like voice. He didn’t hear me. “James?” I repeat a little louder.
He turns from the lamp and smiles at the sight of his wife. My hands begin to sweat and my voice trembles. He notices and strides over to me. My vision begins to blur but returns to normal as he guides me to a chair and gives me a glass of water to drink.
“What’s wrong?” he asks in his deep voice, very concerned.
I turn my head and look straight into his eyes. “I…I haven’t been…completely honest with you,” I manage to let out.
James straightens his back and his eyebrows arch. “What do you mean?”
“I have…lied…about my past.”
His eyes widen and he reminds me, “Lying is a sin.”
“I know.” I sweat more and turn away. “But there is another sin I have committed.”
I look back to see his reaction. His eyes are focused on me and refuse to turn away. Very serious and very curious. He doesn’t say anything as if expecting me to continue.
“I was once…married...to another man…”
His green eyes turn to complete circles as the shock sets in. I continued looking in his direction, wanting to burst into tears. He gazes into his folded hands and sighs. Then he gets up and opens the front door.
“James!” I call after him. “You don’t have to leave! We can still be together!”
“No. No. I can’t,” he responds, his back to me.
There is a long pause as my husband remains in the doorway, me still in the entrance to the kitchen.
“I expect you to be gone in the morning,” he concludes and shuts the door behind him as he leaves.
A moment had to pass before I realize what has happened. This is his house and he doesn’t want to be married any longer. I have to leave my home, my husband, my life. And never come back to the town because everyone will view me as an outcast, an outsider, a nobody.
That’s the day my whole life changed and I began a new one in New York. But that’s a story for another time.
As I sat waiting, my entire body was riveting with anxious energy. My palms were clammy and my stomach was in tight knots. My foot tapped nervously on the cold sterile floors as my mind raced through the events of the day. Everything had been going smoothly. I had arrived at work on time and collected. I was prepared for the day. I had to be, as I am surgeon. I have to be ready because unlike other careers, the consequence of doing something wrong or making a mistake could be the loss of someone’s life. This puts an immense amount of pressure that can eat away at you unless you learn to control it. I had thought that I had finally been able to manage the stress and constant worry after the years I had in training. I knew that the key to reducing the number of mistakes that can be made is being able to trust in your abilities and to never doubt yourself; however, I still made errors despite my strong resolve to not and the one that I made today may have cost a patient’s life.
ReplyDeleteI had meticulously readied myself for over a week for the surgery that I had performed today. It was a heart valve replacement on a sixty-year old man. It was not a complicated surgery, but it still required two surgeons and many nurses. Throughout the operation, everything was being carried out according to plan and it seemed as if it would go without a hitch. Although, towards the conclusion of the procedure, I felt the nail of my index finger cause a slight incision in my latex glove. This may seem like a mundane and minor fault, but my finger, even after being properly sterilized, could have introduced thousands of harmful bacteria and pathogens to the patient which could lead to a life threatening infection. In addition to this, my nail could have also inflicted a small nick in one of the important components of the heart which could in turn promote the possibility of internal bleeding that could be hard to detect. After noticing this, I had kept it to myself, thinking that it probably wouldn’t cause any serious problems. We completed the procedure and monitored the patient afterwards.
Everything started to go wrong about an hour after the patient had been transported to the recovery room. His blood pressure began to drop, causing the heart monitor to go wild with a series of sharp, high pitched beeps. The nurses and I had rushed into the room and checked all of his vitals. After a careful and quick processing of the information recorded, we confirmed that he was suffering from internal bleeding. As I came to this realization, I glanced down at my index finger and an image came into my mind of the nail causing a small opening in one of the heart’s arteries. A tremor ran through me as I wondered with horror if I had been the cause of the patient’s emergency. Unable to admit my mistake, I continued to remain quiet, unwilling to take the fall if the patient should die. Other physicians and I decided the patient had to undergo another surgery so that we could locate the bleeder and repair it. As the second surgery was underway, my hands were unsteady and wavering due to the guilt that consumed me. We were able to successfully find the bleeder and effectively mend it. We then brought the patient to the intensive care unit where he would be under scrutinizing observation for the next twenty-four hours.
The Chief of Surgery had been informed of the incident and wanted to question all of the attending physicians and nurses that were involved in the first surgical procedure. Complications during surgeries were common, but the Chief still wanted an exact and truthful account of what had transpired. Complications during surgeries usually prompted the patient to question the competency of the surgeon and may even want to sue for malpractice. I was the second employee that was to be questioned and I waited apprehensively for my name to be called. With my mind fluttering from though to thought, I began to reflect back on my life. I was usually a skilled secret keeper. Not to say that I lied, but I knew that in most situations, if I had to, I would be capable of doing so. My colleagues and friends always seemed to trust me with their secrets and I had always thought myself to be equally adept in keeping my own; however, I knew that it would be extremely difficult for me to not confess my mistake. I knew that the right and honest action to take would be to tell the truth, no matter what the consequences. I reviewed the possible penalties for my mistake, like being sued for malpractice or even having my surgical license and reputation taken away from me. After working so hard, I did not want to risk losing all that I had worked for.
DeleteAs I thought and thought, I realized that I should not have to make any decision because I already knew what the right judgment was, even if it was the most difficult. I understood that I had to tell the truth; otherwise I would not be capable of living with myself. It was an honest mistake and one that I had no control over. As I heard my name being called by the secretary, I put aside my hesitations and readied myself to admit the truth.
We’re all surrounding the dining room table. The silence in deafening and the tension is sharp enough to cut with a knife. Everyone’s eyes are shooting frantically from one to the other. Single sweat drop leaves my forehead as Aaron’s foot tapes against the floor in a continuous beat. Indi moves her gaze down to the wooden table as if studying each and every line that lies across it. I look down and begin to soothe my shaking hands when I hear a sudden mumble from the other side of the room. I look up and see Steve.
ReplyDelete“What?” I asked in a confused tone. He whispered still looking down at the table with a fierce gaze. Its strange how the light doesn’t seem to hit his face, instead a dark shadow seems to cover it.
“We need to tell them what we did Keri” he said again this time with a grim expression on his face. I looked to him with anger and fear in my eyes.
I shouted “Are you crazy? The last thing in the world we should do is-“
“Is what?” He interrupted me this time looking me dead in the face. “Admit to the crimes we committed. Tell them the truth. Get this heavy burden off of our shoulders. Is that really the last thing we must do?” He questioned me with an angry face.
“Well would you rather be hung?” Indi asked trembling as the words left her mouth.
“Of course! Seeing how my life has turned into shambles because of this I might as well.” Steve said with large amounts of venom. “Now let’s me see my family has disowned me, I can’t return to my home, and I’ve been on the run for months now. I feel like some animal that just broke lose form the zoo. I would definitely rather die than deal with this. At least then my soul will be at rest and I can be free.”
Aaron stood up and shouted “I swear if you tell a living soul what we did I’ll-“
“You’ll what? Kill me? I told you already that would be a great relief to my life.” Steve said again. My heart beat started to rise and I could hear an alarm going off outside. I quickly jumped up and shut my blinds before the flashing lights could shine in my window.
“They know we did it.” I said with a brief pause as I slowly turned back to the group at the table. “They’ll be outside in what ten minutes. I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been running for too long. I’m turning myself in.”
“Well I refuse to go to jail for this. My part was small. I barely did anything.” Indi said still shaking.
“Well duh all you did was drive the car, but what is that called again? Oh yeah being an accessory to the crime!” Steve said in a sarcastic tone. “Face it Indi we all have an equal part in this and our time is up”.
With that the door busted open and the police ran into my house.
“GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR! IF ANY OF YOU TRY TO RUN WE WILL BE FORCED TO SHOOT!” someone in the crowd shouted. Aaron tried to make a dash for the back door, but was shot with a tranquilizer and fell. The rest of us dropped to our knees on the floor while we were placed in hand cuffs.
“You all are under arrest for the 26 murders of Fashton County. You are allowed to get a lawyer….” I zoned out to what was being said to me as I was being pushed into the back of a police car. At least now all the running can end.
Well, you know what they say. "Meat is murder, but murder is also murder."
DeleteSecret that changed everything
ReplyDeleteOne morning I woke up and realized she wasn’t by my side. Every day I used to wake up with her next to me or her up and looking at me kissing me saying “good morning baby” with a kiss on the forehead. Her sweet lips on connected with mine and we both felt our hearts beat faster. But that all changed when the secret came out.
I thought I trusted my best friend to tell him my words. I thought when I tell him my words they would stay in his mouth like a bird in a cage, but my friend let the bird free. One day I was stressed out and I needed to talk to someone, I needed to let my feelings out. So I went to my best friend that I knew for years now. I opened my heart out to him; I told him what was bothering me. I told him I cheated on my girlfriend with another girl. I trusted him and he gave me his word not to tell anyone. So I thought he was going to keep my words looked in his mouth but that didn’t happen. Days later after I go home and see my girl waiting for me in the bedroom, I ask her what has gone into her why she bagged all her cloth and why she looked like she’s about to leave. She tells me that she knows what had happened with me and the girl I hooked up with. I didn’t know what to say because I was in shocked; I didn’t tell anyone about what happened nor did the girl. So the only person that I had in mind was my best friend. I didn’t know what to tell my girlfriend but she left me. I could go after her because I know I messed up and I can’t change the past. When my girlfriend walked out the house I knew my best friend told her what happened. I was mad at myself because how could I trust anyone with my words. From that day I knew I would never trust a friend or anyone. This secret had changed my life. I wake up in the morning feeling lonely no one there to wake me up neither to go to work nor to give me a good morning kiss. Friends are not to be trusted with anything, I think if there is a secret that you think would change your life don’t open up to anyone. My secret changed my life not for now also for the future. The things that are happening know are going to affect your future so keep your secrets in side of you and your future wouldn’t change. Know I wake up feelings lonely and every time I wake up I think she’s next to me and roll around and there she goes. Trust no one your best friend turns to be your worst enemy.
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ReplyDeleteFran Hershingwell was my name. I was twenty three years old and I lived in a run-down apartment, alone. I’ve been an orphan all my life, without anyone to care for me. Not that family mattered to me anyway. I enjoyed my life the way it is, without a care for the world. I’ve been in a few relationships, but none of them last. There was this one guy who I remember clearly, Daniel Shimerhood. I remembered him because he was the worst guy that I’ve been with so far. He beat me and asked me for money, and when I finally called an end to it, he didn’t accept it. I moved around a lot to get away from him because I knew if I got caught, it will be the end of my life. I moved to Connecticut a month ago and he followed me there. He rang my doorbell and when I opened the door, he barged in. I argued with him for a little, and I was very angry. Finally, I could not stand it anymore, and I hit him with a vase nearby.
ReplyDeleteWhen I came to my conscious, he was dead already. I moved him into my car and I dumped him in the nearby river. The river was so polluted that you could barely see anything. I was sure that no one saw me, but I guess I was wrong. The landlord, Mr. Deever, saw me. He confronted me about, but I couldn’t let him ruin my life and have me end up in jail. When he turned his back to me, I grabbed my Swiss army knife in my handbag and stabbed him. I cleaned up all my fingerprints and the blood, and I dumped him in the same river. I went back home and took a shower and went to sleep. Though, I was so scared that those two people will come haunt me back, and I kept all the lights on. My life went on like that for two weeks. I always turned my head to make sure there was no one or nothing behind me. Then, the police came to me. They asked me when the last time I saw Mr. Deever was. I answered that the last time I saw him was a few weeks ago. It didn’t surprise me that no one came to ask for Daniel. Well, he had no family and no friends, so no one in this world probably still remembered him. Well, except for me.
The police came back for me a few times after, but I managed to escape every time, even by faking my death once. I burned someone’s house and I dropped my jewelry with my name on it by the body of the person that the house belonged to. It was the bracelet that Daniel gave me for the three month anniversary, so I didn’t care about it. I went through plastic surgery and swapped my identity with the person I burned, and went to Puerto Rico. Maybe God wanted to punish me, the ship sunk on its way to Puerto Rico and everyone died, including me. Now, I am in Hell, suffering for eternity, paying back the debts for the people I killed.
I waited for my little brother by the school entrance. The high-schoolers always got out of the building before the elementary school. I yawned as I contemplated what to make for dinner tonight. The door next to me swung open and smacked me lightly. A hoard of children ran out of the building screaming. I backed up a bit to avoid being trampled while keeping an eye out for a familiar head of blonde hair. “Big sis!” I turned to see my 10 year old brother run up to me. He leaped into my outstretched arms and I twirled him around. Laughing, I stopped spinning and put him on the ground. He grinned brightly at me. “Again! Again!”
ReplyDeleteI shook my head. “Not right now. That made me a bit dizzy.” My brother pouted, but I could tell that he wasn’t mad at me. His sky blue eyes sparkled with joy, he could never be angry at anyone. I sighed. His bright and cheery features were so unlike my own. I had straight black hair and black eyes. My skin always looked sickly pale too. I looked like the Grudge Girl. No joke. Kids have actually ran away from me screaming, “It’s the Grudge!” Even now I could see the uneasy looks kids were giving me.
I grabbed his hand. “C’mon, let’s go home.” I started down the road towards our house. He giggled as he skipped next to me. Reaching our house I threw open the door to our empty house. Yelling, my younger brother ran straight to the kitchen. I sighed and closed the door behind me. Even though I constantly told my brother to settle down, I enjoy it when he fills the house with noise. Ever since our parents disappeared, it’s been lonely in our home. My brother’s screams and lighter has made the house seem full again.
The sound of my brother slamming a cabinet shut broke me out of my thoughts. “Big sis, can I have a cookie for a snack?” He called from the kitchen.
“Just one!” I replied. He squealed in delight and more cabinets were slammed. I chuckled and walked up the stairs to our bedrooms. Plopping my backpack on my bed, I decided to mix up today’s routine. I was going to check my brother’s room to make sure it was clean; just to see if he actually did clean it when I told him to. Turning the knob, I pushed open my brother’s door and nearly had a heart attack.
His room was so clean! To think, my little brother might actually be the neatest 10 year old in the world! It was too good to be true! I giggled as I looked around. I was defiantly going to reward him with brownies tonight. No dust, no clothes under the bed, no toys outside of the toy box, and no dirty clothes lying around. For a final inspection, I opened the closet door to make sure he didn’t hide everything in there. The clothes were folded nicely, the dress shirts were hung up, and his shoes were lined up!
ReplyDeleteI was about to leave the closet when noticed a letter on the top shelf. I grinned mischievously. Oh? So did my little man have a secret admirer? Not wanting to be discovered by my brother, I snatched the letter from the shelf and opened it. However, my excitement quickly turned to confusion. This wasn’t a confession. This wasn’t even a elementary-schooler’s handwriting. This was-!
“What are you doing!?” I whirled around to find my brother staring at me in shock. His eyes drifted down to the letter in my hands and his eyes widened. “Y-you found it.” He shifted his gaze to his feet. Ashamed he whispered, “I-I didn’t want to show you it. You’re already having a hard time and I didn’t want to make you hurt more.” I tried to swallow the lump that formed in my throat, but I couldn’t. Suicide. It was a suicide note, from my parents. T-they committed suicide. They left us alone, for the rest of our lives.
Angrily, I started to rip the letter to shreds. “S-sister!” My brother cried in surprise.
Watching the pieces float to the floor, I scowled. “We don’t need them! They decided to leave us alone, so why should we feel sorry for them?”
My brother gave me a teary eyed look. “B-but I thought you loved Mommy and Daddy…”
Blinking back hot tears, I seethed with rage. “Not anymore. Not after this! How could they just leave us like that!? H-how could they…” I took a deep breath and counted to 10. Slowly. Then I gave my little brother a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry, we don’t need them! From now on, we’ll forget about them ok? I’ll take care of you from now on, I promise.” I bent down and gathered him into my arms as he sobbed. Something changed that day. I made a vow never to leave my brother alone. I couldn’t. We were all we had left.
She wasn’t sad. That was her secret. As many times as she had thanked people for their condolences or she had feigned grief, she was not sad.
ReplyDeleteHe had been drunk. That was not unexpected, not an unusual occurrence. She had smelt it on his breath as he stumbled past her. He had slurred something indecipherable, his shirt was un-tucked, collar loosened, hair a mess. She had not said a word. She just watched him as he struggled down the grand stair case, gripping the ebony banister for support. In fact, she let him walk out the door and get into his car.
When the police came to the house, she wasn’t surprised. She was calm and collected. She let them in, served them coffee, while they questioned her about her husband and his accident. A terrible accident. His shiny new car, purchased with the money from his trust fund, had been found wrapped around an ancient oak. His body mangled and bloody amongst the broken glass and twisted metal. Such a tragedy. Everyone thought so. They would dearly miss his handsome face, his smile and his glittering green eyes. They would miss his charisma and his humor. They would miss his lean figure gliding across the dance floor and his booming laughs that echoed across ballrooms. They would miss the good things about him.
They brought her to the morgue, to identify the body. He was cleaned up, but the cuts on his face and body still remained. As did the bruise on his face, where his head had slammed into the steering wheel. His eyes were shut tight and his skin looked cold to the touch, but she had never felt more alive than in that moment. He was dead, it dawned on her then, what that really meant.
She was free from him. She was free from his rages, from his cruelty. For the first time in years, she could breathe easy. She could walk through her own home without fear of disturbing him. It wasn’t so much him as the beast that lay within him. It awoke every night, lured out of its slumber by the amber liquid that he kept in his great-grandfather’s crystal decanter. The set of handmade glasses that matched had been smashed against various walls throughout the years, trails of liquor and broken glass to be cleaned up by the help.
She wasn’t sure when this feeling had planted itself inside her, but not too long ago something new had begun to consume her. She thought about it day and night. It was a constant voice inside her head. She locked it away. Deep inside of her. That night, though, she had felt her heart pounding as that thought fought to resurface. It had taken her over, robbed her of her voice and movement. It had made her helpless to stop him from making his fateful decision. It was the thought of life without him. And now that was her reality.