The Blink of an Eye

My irregular breathing patterns were all I could hear. My heart was beating hard in my chest. Id blocked out the wailing cries of Arlo and zeroed my eyes on the red liquid gushing out of my mothers now deceased body. The smell of metal in the air suddenly became obtrude. Unbeknownst to me my body, along with Arlo in my arms, were being dragged out of the place I once called home. Wind whistled through me, alerting my senses. The firm grip on my arm became tighter as my legs stopped moving. I looked up at the man and scrutinized him, with my tear-stricken face. Although his steps seemed to falter his attention was soon diverted by the blue and red sea of lights flashing in front of us.

Everything appeared to be happening at an inordinately rapid rate. A cool metal object was placed at my temple. I attempted to brush it away but it was shoved harder into my head, without a doubt leaving a bruise. He looked frantically over at the myriad of police officers ahead of us, all of them in the possession of a black object, that looked like the one that left a wide hole in my mothers body. Dad traipsed slowly over to us, his trembling hands in the air signaling he was of no harm. The breathing of the man had now become frantic, but I paid no heed to it. The image of my mothers body imposed in my head, blood flowing out of her at an incessant pace, the blood scrambling at the chance to get to her punctured skin. Like a waterfall it kept flowing, taking anything that got in its way along with it. Her pale body relapsed in my mind, her once rich copper- red hair now an inundated black.

A shot reverberated through the air. I felt the wind whoosh as multiple bullets hurtled past my ear and sunk into the abdomen of the man. The grip on his gun loosened and clattered as it hit the ground. A single bullet was released from the chamber of the small handgun. Silence. I couldn hear a thing but could see my dads mouth opened wide, moving rapidly as he rushed towards me. I could feel the vibration on the ground as the man collapsed onto his stomach. I noticed the speed of a black car zooming by and a police car in tow. My body felt light and cold as it was lifted by my dad scurrying towards the ambulance. Someone lifted Arlo out of my feeble arms.

Silence and now darkness. They both embraced me and lulled me into the quiet slumber.