False Awakening

False Awakening 

           

I was standing there—in the middle of Times Square. Rubble was everywhere, and people were running in all directions. I couldn’t move, and my legs were planted into the ground. Dust clouds were starting to surround me when I heard someone calling my name.

“Skylar!” screamed someone.

            I started running in the direction of the voice.

            “Skylar!” beamed the voice again.

            Then I felt arms grabbing my shoulders and shaking me—it was a dream. I sat up rubbing my eyes.

            “Wake up! We’re leaving!” my sister Lilly screamed in my face.

            “Get out,” I screamed back, “And close the door!”

She ran out laughing and without shutting my door. I threw my pillow at it to shut it, but I completely missed. I lay back down and covered my head with my blanket. Soon enough, my mom came in and started yelling at me.

            “Alright, alright, I’m getting up!” I said back to her.

            “The car’s packed and ready to go. We are leaving in ten minutes.”

            We are going to New York for like the fifth time this month, and I really don’t want to go. We go all the time because we are only an hour away from the city. It just gets boring after going all the time. I knew I couldn’t get out of going, so I decided to get up and get ready, pulling on an oversized sweater and a pair of jeans. I slipped on my shoes, and I was out the door.

            My parents were in the front seat talking about the latest episode of Criminal Minds, while my sister, right next to me, was screaming all the songs on her iPod. I decided not to bring my headphones, and I was immediately regretting it. I tried to fall asleep, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen with loud mouth right next to me.

            “Mom, can we stop so I can get breakfast?” I asked.

            “You didn’t eat?”

            “I didn’t have time,” I said back.

            “Now whose fault is that?”

            I hated when she did that. I didn’t answer, and I just stared out the window. She turned around and looked at me, then went right back to talking to my father.

            “What if I starve and die?” I asked, with an attitude. “I’m going to die of hunger, and you aren’t even going to care.”

            My mom didn’t even stop to look at me. She was definitely ignoring me; I mean it wouldn’t be the first time. We were almost to New York City, and I knew this because Lilly yelled that she could see the Empire State building.  She gets so excited, even though, she has seen it plenty of times. She still sat there looking in awe at all of the skyscrapers and buildings out her window.

            We got to the tollbooth and paid, then drove right through with the other five hundred cars. We arrived at our hotel and got out and grabbed our bags while the man took our car to park it. Our hotel was right in Times Square—that is one of the only things that I like about coming here because my parents let me go out by myself.

            “Skylar, would you go get us ice please,” my father requested.

            So I grabbed the ice bucket and walked down to the lobby. I was filling it with ice when someone grabbed my arm. I turned around quickly, just to find out it was my sister.

            “What are you doing?” I shouted at her. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

            “Sorry. Mom told me to tell you that they were going out to dinner, and that you didn’t grab the right buc…” She was cut off by someone screaming to get out of the hotel.

Everyone was flooding out of the hotel, and we had to go with. I grabbed my sister and started running to try to get away from everyone, but it seemed like we were running the wrong direction. My heart was beating so fast, and I kept tripping over my own feet. I didn’t know what was happening, and my sister was hooked onto my arm, crying. I handed her my phone and told her to turn on the radio to figure out what was going on. She was shaking but she finally found the right thing.

            “There has been report that Times Square has been set on fire. The fire is growing rapidly,” the man on the radio had said.

             I hadn’t even thought to look up, and surely, it was on fire. The flames were quickly setting other buildings on fire—it was like a crazy chain reaction. My breaths were becoming faster and faster.                                                                                                          Pieces of buildings were falling, and soon I realized that my sister was not hooked on to my arm anymore. I looked down to my side. She was lying on the ground with a giant piece of glass in her chest. I just screamed and dropped to my knees. Most people were gone from Times Square—except for my sister and I. I didn’t know what to do. My parents are nowhere to be found, and my sister is dead. Rubble was falling around me, as tears streamed down my face.

            That’s when I heard the voice again and sat up in my bed.

Unexplainable

Unexplainable

I came up gasping for air—wanting to grab ahold of something. I went back under; I tried to kick my legs and move my arms, but they just felt more tired and heavy. The water was filling my lungs faster and faster. I was screaming for help with everything I had, but I knew there was no one around—no one to save me. My body moved with the current, pulling me under, and forcing me quickly along with the water. Every thing was still except for me.

I could feel my fingers and toes go numb. There was this burst of numbness that started to work its way up my legs and arms. It felt like there were needles pricking my body because the water was as cold as ice. My body temperature was dropping as well as my hopes of making it out alive.  

My lips were purple and my skin pale.  I didn’t think I would last much longer. The water was ice cold, and my body was shaky.  My senses were becoming incompetent; I started losing feeling throughout my entire body. All at once, everything went black. I was falling through a darkness that I couldn’t comprehend. I didn’t know what was happening, until I looked up and saw the blinding hospital light.

My throat was burning, and when I looked down, I saw an IV going into my arm. Someone shouted, “He’s awake!” Soon all of the doctors were surrounding me, and people started asking questions; it was all so complex.

“Why were you in the water, Jax?” They would ask, but I couldn’t remember. I had no memory of anything before the water. It’s like someone had taken an eraser to my brain. It felt as if all the images and memories of everything I’d ever known was just thrown away.

“I… I can not remember anything before being in the water,” I said, with a slight hint of confusion in my voice.

“What do you remember?” one of the older doctors questioned.

I just sat there staring blankly at each one of the doctors in the room. I didn’t answer their questions because I had questions of my own. But before I could ask any questions, two tall men in black suits walked into my room.

            “Where did he go after he pushed you?” the taller of the two asked me, with no expression in his voice.

            I had no idea who these men were.

            “After who pushed me?” I responded. “I was alone.”

            The two men were looking at each other—probably trying to figure out what to do. They asked the doctor to come with them, and they left the room. As soon as they came back, they were unhooking me from the IV. I was still a little out of it as the man pulled me out of the hospital bed, and dragged me along with him and the other man. They took me out to the parking lot. When we got out there, there was a big black SUV with tinted windows.

            “Get in,” the man demanded.

            “Where are we going?” I asked, hoping for a response.

            “Get in,” he said again, with a harsh smile.

            I got in the car—there was nowhere else to go because the men were on both sides of me. The car smelt of leather and I there was a little scent of chlorine, I have no idea why.

            It was really dark in the car—I could barely make out any other faces in there, but I could tell I was not the only one in there. I kept asking questions, but no one would answer them. All of the sudden I felt this wet rag go over my mouth. The guy who put it over my mouth started to count. I tried to scream, but it made it worse. My mouth was burning. The rag was not wet from water—it was chloroform. I passed out.

            I woke up, and I was kneeling down with a bag over my head. My throat burned of the chemical. Four men were standing behind me, and one had pulled the bag off. There was a small man in a desk a couple of feet in front of me. The man had a big name tag on his desk, which read: “Mr. Bracks.” He stood up and started walking towards me.

            “Stand up,” Mr. Bracks ordered me.

            So I did.

            “Bring him in, Jonathan.” Mr. Bracks said to the tall man who was asking me questions earlier.

            He left and came back with a scrawny man; he looked like he had only been 80 pounds. He had bruises and blood everywhere—he couldn’t even look up.

            “Do you see this?” Bracks shouted, pointing at me. “Why is he still alive?”

            There was no answer.

            “You know what happens to people who don’t get their jobs done, right?” said Bracks.

            “Sir. Please, I did what you told me. I tried to kill him, I really did! Please don’t kill m…” the scrawny man didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Bracks pulled out the gun and shot him.

            “You’re next,” he said to me, holding the gun to my head.

            That was the end of my unexplainable death.

           

           

            

Open Your Eyes

        Open Your Eyes

             If only there were a world where people didn’t lie, cheat, or steal. If only a world existed where no one suffered from starvation, diseases, or poverty—a world with no fighting, no war—a world where the only choice is peace. That’s all Josh ever wanted.

            Josh was quiet; he didn’t talk to many people. He was confined to his own little world; he didn’t like people judging him. He never wanted to go out and do anything or meet anyone. He didn’t want to make connections. He didn’t like to open up to people because he figured that they’d just leave him and take all of his secrets with them. He’d rather be safe than sorry. Josh was displeased with the world because the world had displeased him.

            Nobody cared about him. That’s why he felt so betrayed by the world; so unloved. That’s the only reason that he never bothered to care about anyone else or never bothered to make friends. He didn’t bother to live his life.

            He would say nothing ever turns out how you want it to because the terrifying sight of reality crushes your amazing expectations of how life should be, and really all he needed was someone willing to show him that the world wasn’t such a bad place and that life is beautiful.

            Josh was walking home from school, back slouched over, not making eye contact with any of the other kids on the street—his usual routine—until this girl bumped into him knocking him over.

            “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!” she said reaching out her hand to help him up.

            “I’m fine,” he gestured, swatting her hand away.

            “No, It’s my pleasure,” she said with an overexcited smile.

            Josh let her help him up, but not because he wanted to, only because he knew she wasn’t going to go away until he let her help.

            “I have legs. I can get up on my own,” Josh said annoyed, brushing of the dirt and grass on his knees and elbows, “What’s your name anyways?”

            “Elizabeth,” she said with a smile. “I’ve seen you around, Josh.”

            “Cool,” Josh spoke, turning away from her wanting the conversation to be over. “Goodbye now.”

            “No, wait! I want to talk to you,” Elizabeth said quickly.

            “I don’t even know you!” Josh screamed at her, trying to walk away.

            “Josh I see you! I know you think that everything is unfair,” said Elizabeth, as he was walking away. “You can’t just disappear from the world. You need to live your life.”

            He was just like my father, she thought. So tucked away from the world. He was so mad at the way people ran society; he never saw the beauty in it. She wanted to help Josh see that life is something great—something worth living for. She wanted to show him that there was so much more than what he had been seeing. When her father passed, she wished she could of showed him the world—showed him the magic. Time is precious, and her father let it eat him alive.

            Josh’s face was blank with no emotion, except for the slight look of hurt in his eyes.

             He knew he had seen her before; he saw her every Sunday at church. She would always come with her mother because her father had passed away from cancer about a year and a half ago.  Josh always saw her look back at him from three rows in front of him, but he always thought she was looking at someone else.

            “Why me?” he asked. “Why do you care so much about me?”

            “You just remind me of someone I know,” Elizabeth said, as she looked away from him. “I am going to show you what life is all about.”

            “What does that even mean?” Josh asked

            Elizabeth said, “Meet me on Central Street after school on Friday.”

            Josh nodded his head motioning that he would be there. He wondered if she was planning on murdering him or something. He was kind of worried because he barely knew her, but he figured she wouldn’t do that.

            After school on Friday, Josh walked down to Central Street. All he saw was homeless people. He kept walking down the street, and he saw Elizabeth; she was carrying a bunch of boxes.

            “I could use some help you know!” she screamed at him, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

            He ran over to grab the boxes from her.

            “What’s in these anyways?” Josh questioned.

            “Blankets, water, and food,” Elizabeth said with a smile, “for them,” as she pointed over to a homeless person.

            “Why?” Josh asked.

            “I am going to show you the beauty in helping people,” she said, turning her back.

            They walked up to one of the men, and handed him a couple of things from the boxes. The man stood up and blessed the both of them. He had tears of joy in his eyes, and he asked if he could give them a hug.

            They spent all day talking with the people, and giving them food and clothes. Josh had so much empathy for them. How could they live in these conditions and still be happy and grateful for everything, he thought. How could they not hate the world for doing this? He learned that doing things for other people, and making other people happy, made him happy. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

            “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Elizabeth asked.

            “That was…” Josh said, “so beautiful.”

            Elizabeth grabbed his shoulders, and said, “I just want to help you open your eyes to the world. I want you to see the beauty in it. I want you to live your life, and be grateful for what you have. I want you to have sympathy for the less fortunate. I want you to put all your trust into the future, and I want you to believe that your life will be good no matter what. I want you to let go of all your fears and be you because you are beautiful.”

                       

           

           

           

Sleep

Sleep

Laying there

As you breathe the air,

And just stare

At the wall

And try to fall

Into your sleep.

Counting the sheep,

But you lie awake.

Your head starts to ache,

The day flashes by

Right before your eyes.

Middle of the night.

Forgot to turn the light,

But you’re too lazy.

Mind goes crazy.

Eyes drift shut.

Starting to sleep.

Blinking fast.

It didn’t last.

Eyes watering

You saw slaughtering

Of pigs in a pen.

Shut your eyes again

Dreaming of bacon,

But you awaken.

Can’t fall asleep

Start to weep,

You want is sleep.

Wishing for daylight,

Staying up all night.

Just past midnight.

You want a snack.

Leave the door open

Just a crack.

Creep down the hall.

Lean on the wall.

Into the kitchen.

You smell chicken

Turn the light on,

The Dorito’s are gone.

Walk sadly back to you’re room.

You are doomed.

You can’t sleep,

And you can’t eat.

Cars pass by

On the street,

As you lie

On the bed sheet.

Wishing you were out.

Without a doubt.

It’s been an hour,

So you glower.

Count the endless seconds.

Finally learning your lesson.

Go to bed earlier

You’d feel sturdier.

Still lying awake in bed.

Wishing it would just end.

Focus on sleeping

Rather than keeping

Your eyes awake.

It’s too late.

Staring at the wall again,

Finally reaching the end.

Walk out

To the living room

As you slouch.

Passed out,

On the couch

Waking up,

You’ve had enough.

Turn on the TV.

Grab some tea.

Slowly creeping.

On to the pillow.

Sleep