Turtle

"Happy birthday dear Evan; happy birthday to you!" My mother and father sang in unison as they placed the poorly-iced cake on the table infront of me as I gave an awkward smile to the both of them.
The candles pleaded to be blown out, so I complied. They both clapped as the fire left the wicks.
"I can't believe my baby is 13! I'm so proud of you Evan!" Mom pretended to wipe tears from her eyes, though I wouldn't be surprised if she actually did end up crying.
"Get ready for puberty to bite you right in the a-"
"Dad! Not right now!" I face-palmed, thankfully cutting of his sentence before he finished as he rolled his eyes.
"OH! Honey! Go get the thing!" Mom seemed as if she were trying to be discreet, but she's pretty bad at it. Besides, every year I get a new big surprise, and she always calls it "the thing" every time. Couldn't she come up with a new code word by now?
Dad groaned a bit as he pushed himself off of his chair and Mom tapped his arm playfully.
Once dad left the room, Mom gleamed at me with pure excitement and joy.
"Are you excited to be 13, Evan?" She questioned, the smiling on her face never calming itself.
"It's not any different from being 12, Mom."
"Nonsense! This is a whole new world! You're a teenager now!" She clasped her hands together, forming a sparkle in her eyes.
"Wooo, so exciting." I spoke with sarcasm, doing unenthusiastic jazz hands.
She slightly frowned, though her grin instantly returned when she saw my father enter the room.
He had something big in his hands. It was shaped like a box and had some sort of sheet covering it...huh.
I shuffled my untouched-cake out of the way as Dad placed the big square infront of me with a small clank.
I looked back and forth between Mom and Dad, my eyes begging to uncover this mysterious present.
Mom nodded her head and made a "shoo-ing" motion, as if to tell me "Go ahead!"
I take a deep breath as I remove the cover from the mysterious box, revealing an aquarium tank.
It didn't seem all that interesting until I spotted a small green thing moving slowly at the bottom of the tank.
"A turtle..." I said to myself, a small smile appearing on my face.
Turtles have always been my favorite animal. Why? I'm unsure. Maybe because my first ever stuffed animal was a turtle, though I'm unsure.
"Well, I see a smile, so there's a start." Dad chuckles and continues to chew on the toothpick that sits in his mouth and in-between in chapped lips.
How do people chew on toothpicks anyways? The wood gets all soggy and they don't even taste good...old people are weird.
"I...wow... thank you guys! I'm surprised you even remembered..."
"You seriously think we'd forget? You've been begging us for a turtle since you could even talk." Mom laughed softly to herself as I just stared at the turtle.
I was so mesmerized by him... I had never seen one up so close in person. It's a dream come true!
"Well, what're you gonna name 'em, son?" Dad asked in his typical, heavy western accent. It's weird... Dad is the only one in the house who has an accent, and he has never lived in one of those cowboy-infused states. Maybe it's because he just watches a lot of shows with dudes who speak like that? Who knows.
"I think I'm gonna name him..."
I thought for a second, then let a small smile form onto my paleish lips.
"Apollo."
"A...poll...o?"
"Yeah... haven't you ever seen me reading those books? He's the dude who's friends with Percy Jackson or whatever. He's a kind of God- the God of divine distance, to be specific." I said, kind of just letting words spew from my mouth.
"I'm gonna pretend I know what you just said. Happy birthday!" Mom chuckled lightheartedly.

Within the next hour, I had a spot cleared off for the tank.
It looked pretty nice- it made my green walls pop real nice.
I plopped down on my bed and dimmed my lights, just enough for me to still read from the pages of my book.
I read until my eyes fluttered softly, and soon enough I was drooling on the pages of my book and snoring louder than a toddler crying for a piece of candy.

Click...
Clink...clink...clink...
Patter...patter...
Shuffle...shuffle...

My head jolts as I wake up, taking a minute to process my surroundings.
"Agh...I drooled all over my book..." I mumbled to myself, rubbing my eyes and blinking, as if that'd protect me from the light in my face. Note to self: turn off the lights before you fall asleep.
I look over at my small analog clock, squinting at it to see the time.
"3...46...am..." I mumble, then dragging my eyes up from the clock to Apollo's tank.
It's...open.
Why is it open?
I closed it before I went to sleep, I swear!
Shuffling to my feet, I walk over to his cage and glance in it...nothing.
Where is he!? Dad will be so pissed if he finds out I already lost him!
I start panicking, quickly jolting to search everywhere in my room.
I look in absolutely every nook and cranny he could've gotten into... but I still have yet to find him.
I can't wait till morning! He could be dead by then!
I sprint out of my room and speed down the hallway to Mom and Dad's room.
I slowly crack open the door and glance around.
The hallway light illuminates off of Mom's strawberry-blonde hair.
The house is always so loud, even though there's only three of us. Me and Dad are usually snoring, but not right now.
The house feels so quiet, everything feels so sad and dead. Even Mom and Dad's sleeping bodies have such a saddening aura...
I slowly creep my way to Mom, trying not to make so much noise; unfortunately, this house is old and the floor boards are dang-near rotten by now.
I softly shove Mom's shoulder as an attempt to wake her up without startling her.
Strange- she usually wakes up pretty easily. That cake must've made her real tired...she did eat about three pieces.
I shove her again...
Nothing.
"Mom, wake up." I say in an inside voice. Why isn't she waking up?
I forcefully turn her over.

Oh.

My.

God.

Her face was... no longer a face.
It looked like it had been mauled by a ravenous beast, who certainly wasn't leaving any left overs.
"MOM!" I yelled, covering my mouth to not only prevent myself from yelling, but also to stop myself from vomiting due to the putrid smell of her shredded head.
I run around to the other side of the bed, hoping Dad would help me. But before I could even reach that side of the bed, I saw his guts, stringing all the way to the ground, sitting in a puddle of his wine-red blood.
"I...I...who...how..." Tears pricked my eyes as I fell to my knees, burrying my face in my hands.
"WHY?! WHY THEM?! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! WHY, GOD, WHY?!"
I screamed until my vocal cords felt like worn-out ropes that kindergarteners had been using to play tug-of-war for years.
My body trembled as the universe punched me straight in the gut, a pool of my own salty-tears filled my hands.
I pulled my head back up and out of my hands.
I saw something on the wall as my eyes snapped at it.
A shadow showed a gaping mouth behind my scrawny figure on the wall.
I looked to my left as I saw the one and only...Apollo.
His mouth was bloody and unhinged, like an anacondas would be when it's about to swallow its biggest prey yet.
He looked so much bigger than he had previously.
What happened to the little baby turtle that rested at the bottom of his glass cage?
"A-apollo?..."

S N A P!