The Sweetest Thing | Teen Ink

The Sweetest Thing MAG

April 14, 2011
By Epsilon PLATINUM, Eureka, California
Epsilon PLATINUM, Eureka, California
39 articles 47 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."


I guess I was writhing and screaming a lot so now they have me strapped down. I keep trying to get them to understand. “I didn't know what it means. I didn't know what it means.” But they have got my consent on an ash-smelling sheet of paper so thin, thin, so they have me strapped down. Now I know what it means.

In the white hot sizzling eye of light above my eyes is what it means: the next time these eyes open it will be Leelee looking out of them. She said it was an equal trade, a body for a mind, but now I know the meaning of everything. I forgot I was screaming. The throat that is now mine but will be Leelee's is raw and torn by the scream. I know now that it is my soul trying to escape before they can cut it out. Before they begin the cut. They are starting the cut, to cut, cut …


*
*
*

And back to the beginning. We are driving in a car. I am sitting in the front next to Mom because today is my special day. Dad is sitting in the back, and Leelee is laying curled up in her special seat. Her eyes roll and Dad understands what she is saying. He adjusts the oxygen tube that is twined through her face. Leelee is my twin sister.

Today is my special day. That is what Mom said this morning. She said, “Sam, today is your special day. Today you are going to do the sweetest thing.”

I don't know why she said that. I don't know why her eyes were crying. I don't know why there are tiny wrinkles around her crying eyes, or why cars always obey us, or why the world ends above my head and becomes a flat upside-down canvas of nothingness dyed either blue or gray. But now we are driving in the car and the sky is striped in dusky ragged stripes like watercolor. The colors are in soft bands starting with lemony yellow, becoming lime green – just a little stripe of this – which becomes blue, getting deeper and deeper blue, dark, yawning above my head. The road is twisting around like a smooth black snake with a yellow stripe on its back, carrying us on its back to the place where I will do the sweetest thing.

Leelee told me last night, by moving her eyes which were hooked up to the wires and making words appear on the screen, that it is the place where we will become one. I didn't understand what she meant and I was a little frightened so she said, “Sam, don't you love me?” Of course I ­nodded because she is my twin sister. And she told me we would exchange damaged part for damaged part and we could become one perfect person, like we were meant to be, back in the womb.

In the womb … I don't know much about it, but Mom said I came from there. The tired tutor said it was warm and dark and beating red. Leelee thinks we're going back there. That is where we are heading. She couldn't sign the paper because her fingers aren't fingers but claws, so Dad held her hand and signed for her. I love Leelee. She has brown eyes which are very beautiful. Leelee is beautiful.

Other cars on the highway are passing us. Mom is driving slowly. Mom doesn't really want to get where we're going. The cars are mechanical shells and inside them they are one bubble filled with air. The air is stained the color of the peoples' minds, stained the smell of their bodies, the texture of their thoughts. The bubble rings softly with the music they are playing or the things they say. Before, I didn't know why the cars obeyed them. I thought in parking garages, when parking garages were empty of people, I thought that maybe in the green dripping silence together the cars talked.

This is something I thought before.

It was around the time Mom was talking to the doctor.

We have got there. The place we are going is not red and beating as Leelee thought. It is painted cool and silver-white in the almost-gone light. Fizzing orange streetlights cast strange shadows on the sharp curb. It is very cold out because it is winter. The trees have no leaves because it is winter. The trees look like black veins bearing black blood.

I step out onto the curb. I slam the door after me. My hands are strong and large and warm. They are not like Leelee's.

Dad carries Leelee. She cannot move at all so that is why he must carry her. She has always been like that. She is bunched up like a baby bird. A strand of drool falls out of her mouth. Dad wipes it off with his handkerchief.

We walk inside where there are rows of waiting wheelchairs. We walk to a desk. There is a woman there with brittle red hair. Her face is soft and unformed like someone started molding it out of dough and then stopped because his favorite show was on and he was getting bored. She looks up at us and says something Mom and Dad understand. Now we are in an elevator.

Now we are in a room. They are taking Leelee away. Mom and Dad are crying. The sobs tearing them this way and that before clawing their way out of their mouths. They hold each other and pull me into their arms.

“Sam, you know we love you, right? We love you.”

“We are doing this for you. You and Leelee.”

“Now, Sam, you have to follow them into the room.”

I follow a woman and a man wearing white coats. We walk into a white room with a bed. There is also a silver tray with silver tools that catch sharp slicing shards of silver light.

“Lie down, Sam,” the woman says. She knows my name. “This'll only hurt a little.”

“It's okay, Sam,” says the man. “There's no need to be frightened.”

I wasn't frightened before. Now I am. The sharp slicing shards of silver light cut my eyes. I stumble back.

“Come here, Sam,” says the man.

“Come here,” says the woman.

I turn the door handle, but it won't turn. “Let me out,” I say to the man and the woman.

Now the man is up beside me holding a needle and then he sticks it into my arm. It goes deep and I feel my flesh parting around it, dividing. Now I scream. I scream. I scream but the room is blurring. The white walls and floors and bed and silver tools are blurring like wet paint into one white-and-silver blur.

My body that they want is dumb and slow. I cannot twitch my fingers. I cannot move my feet. The white-and-silver blur of room whooshes past and suddenly I am looking up. There is no pain. They are fastening belts around my ankles and my wrists and my eyes dance with shards of ­silver.

A soul is not the same thing as a body. It is not an equal trade, it is not fair. I am not so damaged. And Leelee will be the one living. I will be gone. She will be Sam and I will be-

They are starting the cut. They are starting the cut. They are

The

Cut



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 19 comments.


on Dec. 21 2016 at 12:06 pm
3dogs145 SILVER, Peachtree City, Georgia
8 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."
-Helen Keller

This is great! I love the description and use of the word cut. I read this over and over and I still love it. You should write a sequel!

on Jan. 23 2015 at 10:51 am
sincerelysammy, Easley, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 4 comments
This piece is so descriptive it gave me goose bumps. I'd love to know how you came up with the idea of writing this and i would really love to know what happens next?

on Dec. 20 2013 at 7:59 am
Jackiee36 PLATINUM, Reading, Other
27 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
Aim for the moon so even if you miss you'll still be among the stars

This is a really great story, I'd love for you to do a sequel and continue the satory because i'd really like to know what happens next, also please rate and comment my work too TeenInk.com/users/Amina157

on Jul. 15 2013 at 8:33 pm
MorningStar921 PLATINUM, Cheshire, Connecticut
21 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
"They made their own choice. They chose family. And, well... isn't that kinda the whole point? No doubt - endings are hard. But then again... nothing ever really ends, does it?"
--Chuck, 'Supernatural' Episode 522

This was very creepy, but in a good way. I hate the parents for indirectly killing Sam though! What parents in their right mind would trade the life of one kid for another?! Although, it did make a great storyline...

HudaZav SILVER said...
on Apr. 3 2013 at 4:56 pm
HudaZav SILVER, Toronto, Other
8 articles 6 photos 390 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Nothing is impossible; the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" -Audrey Hepburn

Oh my god that was creepy... and amazingly written  

on Sep. 20 2012 at 5:47 pm
Emily_Greene GOLD, Spring Valley, California
10 articles 0 photos 41 comments
Very good story, nice imagery. It makes me wonder if that's legal at all. Probably not. :P

on May. 3 2012 at 10:09 am
AbbyMarie SILVER, Harlingen, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail". Ralph Waldo Emerson

WOW!!! I loved this! It was so original and mysterious! You could  take this story line and make into a book!

on Feb. 29 2012 at 12:48 pm
_alannahurt SILVER, Snyder, Texas
9 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it to be God.
– Sidney Sheldon

I love it... you are an amazing writter!!!!

on Jan. 31 2012 at 4:17 pm
kaylala_22 PLATINUM, Hillsboro, Missouri
41 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A beautiful personality shines brighter than any pretty face"

Wow. You really have something special! Don't give up writing no matter what anyone says!

on Jan. 28 2012 at 10:13 am
Calligraphic SILVER, Shavano Park, Texas
5 articles 4 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." -Phyllis Diller

This sent chills through my body as I was reading this. The suspense to know what happened ... Omg! What a great read!

on Jan. 27 2012 at 12:53 pm
CelestaCuffrig GOLD, Loveland, Colorado
11 articles 1 photo 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Inspiration is only as enlightening as you are open to it."

Brilliant! It gave me an eerie sort of chill. Very well written; you sure know how to feed words to a reader! I love the simplistic sort of writing style; written from the character's perspective. Keeeeep it up!

on Jan. 25 2012 at 9:31 pm
Def_Leppard_fan120 SILVER, Lake Lorane, Florida
5 articles 0 photos 72 comments

Favorite Quote:
If you want your dreams to come true, Make them come true. If you want to win, Make it a win.
The only one that is stopping you from accomplish your dreams is YOU.

Nice! It got my hooked from the opening line. That is Awesome. I have read it four times and it never gets old. Anyway come check out my profile Rate the article you read and leave a comment. I write action and adventure, scary poems, and sometimes articles about war. There is more to come later. Anyway hope to see your comments and keep up with the creepy stories.

on Nov. 24 2011 at 10:54 pm
Miki-chan BRONZE, Waynesboro, Mississippi
3 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't screw with Crazy.

Woah! This story is creepy, yet fascinating! It drew me in and held me until the end! Keep up the good work!

on Nov. 5 2011 at 9:47 pm
Prometheus PLATINUM, East Aurora, New York
29 articles 0 photos 106 comments
Excellent opening line! The imagery was horrific, yet well done.  Great repetition, especially of the word "cut."

on Oct. 30 2011 at 4:25 pm
Imaginedangerous PLATINUM, Riverton, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 402 comments
Very creepy. It reminded me a little bit of 'Unwind', by Neil Shusterman.

on Oct. 30 2011 at 3:08 pm
Rocinante SILVER, Wexford, Pennsylvania
7 articles 1 photo 386 comments
QueenNobo said it. But I would like to add please keep writing and great job! I know I will soon be just one voice in a crowd because this will probably get a lot of lovely comments but still... :)

on Oct. 28 2011 at 8:45 am
QueenNobo SILVER, Port Harcourt, Other
5 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
If at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again.

wow...very nice imagery. i guess the biggest compliment has already been paid to you-printing it in the magazine. it'll make a nice novel.

p.s- pls can you check out my stuff too? thanx ;-)


on Oct. 27 2011 at 4:22 pm
yaythisisavailable GOLD, Simpsonville, South Carolina
13 articles 0 photos 31 comments
I absolutely love this! It was kind of hard to understand but that's what made it so mysterious :) well done

on Oct. 27 2011 at 1:41 pm
JillianNora SILVER, Forest Park, Illinois
8 articles 2 photos 46 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." -1 Timothy 4:12

So beautiful, so powerful. You are an excellent writer. Congrats on getting into the magazine with this piece, you definately earned it:) (If you're bored, Id' love some feedback on my novel "Stuck in the Past")