I remember the day with clarity. Yet, I remember it with an ancient feel of age and a deep ache. I don't quite remember what she looked like in those last moments, but I do remember how her blood stained the earth a beautiful crimson.
We were playing in a field, she was ranting on about how beautiful the day was, while I merely tried to walk nonchalantly back to the house so I could hopefully get out of the blistering heat. She would spastically tug on my arm, trying to get me to move faster towards the long grass, while I simply walked in the opposite direction, pulling her with me. She would did her heels into the soft earth, gouging it and leaving trenches behind, exposing the deep rich soil of the underground.
We would always hang out in the tall grass together, but today, on this muggy, July day, I was just not in the romantic mood. Still, I let myself be led sideways, towards the tall grass. The grass swooshed around our legs, coating our clothes with pointy burrs and causing our legs to tickle. The sun bounced off of the blades causing them to reflect a bright white color, while the wind caused them to shiver.
We reached our destination; a small circle-like clearing in the middle of the grass. She immediately plopped down on the dusty, russet ground, dragging my arm- and me down with her.
I un-gracefully fell down next to her, causing the dust from the ground to poof up around us in a brown haze. It seemed to sparkle as it fell in a swirling mass.
She fell onto the ground as well, giggling as her tawny brown hair fanned out around her head like an angelic halo. While she stared at the clear blue sky, I too stared, but not at the sky, but instead into her honey eyes. They glimmered with love and warmth. I smiled.
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...g waterfalls, the place was magnificent.
Paradise.
We walked further into the oasis, my palms, damp and clammy with sweat twitched nervously inside of my pant pockets. Glancing around nervously, my heart swelled with joy when I saw the object of my desires sitting on a rock in the middle of a reflecting pool. Its elegant golden curves and pure white strings reflected in the light, causing it to glimmer.
I went to take a step forward when a horrible rotting stench filled the air. Abruptly, I turned away from the harp and looked behind me. I felt a pain in my chest and looked down to see that I was bleeding.
Then everything warped, just as it did that day so many years ago.
I looked up at Sho to see his teary twisted smile looking down at me. Then, I heard the distant clicking of bullets hit the ground.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The blue water turned red.
As I walked inside, people pass by these big marble rocks. Taking a closer look, I could see that these stones have names of celebrities on them. They are unique structures walking past; in the center of these, there is a fountain. I can smell the scent of fresh water flowing out of it and feel the water splashing on my feet as my family and I walk past it.
Then I saw him. In the middle of the church half swamped by the blood, he lay. I struggled to my feet and wadded with great difficulty through the coagulating blood. It was definitely him and he had a faint pulse. I dragged him by his arm outside and yelled. The gargoyles that adorned the front of the church were peering down at me. At that moment I saw movement out of the corner of my eye again, but I was startled by the claxon sound warning of a bombing raid.
She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked safe with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead.
‘Whoa’ this feeling overcame me, first my feet were reaching a warm light, then the air turned me around and I was tasting the yellow with my tongue, still falling. I felt ‘lovely’, as if the dog’s breath had acted as an anesthetic, a natural high and I landed with a dumb smile on my face. I turned around dreamily; everything was so abstract and yellow.
As the first rays of the sun peak over the horizon, penetrating the dark, soft light illuminates the mist rising up from the ground, forming an eerie, almost surreal landscape. The ground sparkles, wet with dew, and while walking from the truck to the barn, my riding boots soak it in. The crickets still chirp, only slower now. They know that daytime fast approaches. Sounds, the soft rustling of hooves, a snort, and from far down the aisle a sharp whinny that begs for breakfast, inform me that the crickets are not the only ones preparing for the day.
A calm crisp breeze circled my body as I sat emerged in my thoughts, hopes, and memories. The rough bark on which I sat reminded me of the rough road many people have traveled, only to end with something no one in human form can contemplate.
Standing on the balcony, I gazed at the darkened and starry sky above. Silence surrounded me as I took a glimpse at the deserted park before me. Memories bombarded my mind. As a young girl, the park was my favourite place to go. One cold winter’s night just like tonight as I looked upon the dark sky, I had decided to go for a walk. Wrapped up in my elegant scarlet red winter coat with gleaming black buttons descending down the front keeping away the winter chill. Wearing thick leggings as black as coal, leather boots lined with fur which kept my feet cozy.
Sometimes the grasshoppers would appear from around a blade of grass as if they were asking for approval to jump on my blanket. Every so often a leaf would jump off its branch to greet me as I sat. It would float through the air as light as feather and land softly on the grass. As the autumn drew near, it was like a rainstorm of brown, yellow and red leaves, all falling to make way for the beautiful spring leaves.
We hang out for a while till it hit us, the reception started soon. We scurried
Walking on a land of gold, the sand being so soft and smooth, glistens as it reflects the suns rays with joy. Cool, light and refreshing, the breeze gently eases up against my skin and glides through my hair, sending a gentle shiver up my spine. The rustling of leaves, small array of birds and delicate splashes of the sea are amazingly soothing and relaxing. The whole beach itself looks like a painted picture with a spectrum of colours all merged with one another. The sea also showing off a wide range of colours that reflects of the surface, like a dancing peacock showing off its finely detailed feathers.
Walking, there is no end in sight: stranded on a narrow country road for all eternity. It is almost dark now. The clouds having moved in secretively. When did that happen? I am so far away from all that is familiar. The trees are groaning against the wind’s fury: when did the wind start blowing? Have I been walking for so long that time hysterically slipped away! The leaves are rustling about swirling through the air like discarded post-it notes smashing, slapping against the trees and blacktop, “splat-snap”. Where did the sun go? It gave the impression only an instant ago, or had it been longer; that it was going to be a still and peaceful sunny day; has panic from hunger and walking so long finally crept in? Waking up this morning, had I been warned of the impending day, the highs and lows that I would soon face, and the unexpected twist of fate that awaited me, I would have stayed in bed.
The sunset was not spectacular that day. The vivid ruby and tangerine streaks that so often caressed the blue brow of the sky were sleeping, hidden behind the heavy mists. There are some days when the sunlight seems to dance, to weave and frolic with tongues of fire between the blades of grass. Not on that day. That evening, the yellow light was sickly. It diffused softly through the gray curtains with a shrouded light that just failed to illuminate. High up in the treetops, the leaves swayed, but on the ground, the grass was silent, limp and unmoving. The sun set and the earth waited.
I awoke to the sun piercing through the screen of my tent while stretching my arms out wide to nudge my friend Alicia to wake up. “Finally!” I said to Alicia, the countdown is over. As I unzip the screen door and we climb out of our tent, I’m embraced with the aroma of campfire burritos that Alicia’s mom Nancy was preparing for us on her humungous skillet. While we wait for our breakfast to be finished, me and Alicia, as we do every morning, head to the front convenient store for our morning french vanilla cappuccino. On our walk back to the campsite we always take a short stroll along the lake shore to admire the incandescent sun as it shines over the gleaming dark blue water. This has become a tradition that we do every
I wandered around the path near the lake because it was always peaceful and quiet there in the morning and the trees that hung over the wide walkway only drew me in more. The cool wind blew continuously, and some of the leaves that barely hung on to the branches were pulled along with it. They floated while dropping slowly, and one of the leaves chose my head as a landing spot. I brushed my hair with my hand, not caring if doing so messes up my hair, since the wind already accomplished that job the second I took a step outside my house.
The sunless sky covered the woods over the treetops which created a canopy over my head. The crimson and auburn foliage was a magnificent sight, as this was the season known as Fall. There was a gentle breeze, creating the single sound of rustling leaves. The leaves appeared as though they were dying to fall out of the tree and join their companions on the forest floor. Together with pine needles and other flora the leaves formed a thick springy carpet for me to walk upon.