Every ending starts a beginning, and our choices determine whether that is good or bad.
I burst out of my house, running as fast as I could down the street. “Alina, come back! Let’s just talk this over!” My mom calls from the door, but I don’t stop running. Tears bite behind my eyes, my heart throbbing at the words echoing through my mind. “I’m sorry, but your grades and your attitude have been horrible ever since he died, and you know it. I’m sending you to Cross Academy. You’re leaving on Tuesday.”
I run faster, wanting to forget everything, wanting to just disappear. I zip into the dark forest, pushing past the thorns and branches digging into my sides, arms, and legs. Mud splattered across my thin body with every step, but I just wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t. She was getting rid of me. Just because I wasn’t perfect, just because I couldn’t handle the way she coddled her new boy friend like he was my dad, just because she ditched my sister, she was ditching me.
I finally collapse out of rage and tears, falling to my knees, and burying my head in my sweatshirt, sobbing. I was long gone from my home, and I had no need or want to go back. I had been scared of everything since he died. Nobody seemed to know how, but I did. I did, and so did my little sister, but she was brave enough to tell the truth. My stupid mother sent that sweet little six year old to the mental hospital for telling the truth. I stuck up for her at first, but did not want the same fate, so I ran away. I got found, and my mother just dropped it, but she still doesn’t realize just how bad my father’s death was.
We had all gone to the school concert. I was being quite rebellious, so I sat in the back against a table on the floor. My dad stood near me. “Come on Alina, go sit by your little sister. She does want you to, you know...” He said, looking at me and gesturing towards Anna.
“If she wanted me to so badly, she’d sit by me,” I said, closing my eyes and putting my hands behind my head. Sure enough, she came over, lying against me, and watching the show. I put my arm around her, sighing.
About halfway through the show a crash came from behind us, the table clasping over onto my sister and I, leaving just enough room to lie there. I hold her close, wide eyed as I hear screaming, putting a finger to my lips to shush her. I carefully look out the small crack where the table was leaned against the floor and had broken, watching a tall, strong, handsome monster. He was translucent and dark, having red glowing eyes and sharp metallic wings. A spiked tail came out of its tail bone, and he had devilish horns on his head. He seemed to smile as he looked around the room. “Everybody down!” His lips moved but the voice did seem to be his. I heard stomping from behind me as he said this, a large black horse with red eyes looming and looking more than ready to charge. My eyes grow wide as I hold my trembling sister against me. “When I say run, we run, no looking back,” I whisper in her ear, satisfied when she nods. I feel the horse move, feeling as though I had been possessed, but it stops as soon as it runs off, trampling around the room at an incredibly quick speed. I hear the sound of bullets, but don’t see any guns. I turn to my sister. “Run.” I quickly push the table off of us, grabbing her hand tightly and running through the back. I take her through the kitchen door where the cooks were still working as though they hadn’t heard any of the commotion. I shoot to the back, urging my little sister on with soothing words, unlocking the exit door, and opening it to the cool air outside. We run out together, hearing sirens in the distance. “We have to keep running Anna, We won’t get hurt, let’s just get to the church and we’ll be fine,” I say to her, breathless, my feat barely willing me to go. “But I want to go home,” she moans, looking at me with pleading eyes. “No Anne. We need to pray.” I keep sprinting with her until we reach the church, slowing down, and walking with her to the back. We both clasped, breathless. “Alina?” I hear her little voice speak out. “Yeah?” I ask her, turning slowly to look at her. “The big horse stepped on dad.” After a moment of thinking about what she said, my eyes go wide. “What did you just say? You’re kidding, right?” I ask her with urgency. She shakes her head no, starting to cry. “Daddy... Daddy’s dead.” She sobs. Tears welled up in my eyes as I pulled her closer. “It’s okay.” Even as I said those words I knew it was not okay.
That’s the day that ended everything. We finally went home later that evening to realize that sure enough, my dad was gone, and my mom had a mysterious new boyfriend. My sister gave her testimony about what happened, while I just acted grieved, agreeing with her. They thought she was mad. Everybody else in the room saw a large man with a gun, shooting random people, but I knew the truth. The thought always crosses my mind that I am truly the mad one. Surely I’d know if I was, but you never know.
So now here I lie, attempting to make myself thoughtless, not realizing that I am slowly falling asleep.
