The Falling


The screams of terror and the howls of pain hit me like a train, blocking out all other sounds. I see fires raging, smoke choking the air. I hear the stomps of feet pounding away down the street, fleeing the horrific devastation.. I see, but do not hear the bricks and wood panelings fall from their homes among the houses and office buildings. Just then I heard a thunk and feel a deep ache start to spread through my head. Before the inky blackness creeps in I see a pair of feet coming toward me.

She and I had met many times before, but I couldn’t fathom how such a sweet, kind girl could be in such a terrible situation. I saw the man just before he hit Suzy, I reacted quickly. I found myself pulling my arm back, and before he knew what happened he was down. When I turned him to face me, I found that it was Mr. Depoo, a cranky old man who lived down the street from me. My guess is that he was trying to be a burglar, and not a very good one. I found a pool of blood radiating out from Suzanne’s head where Depoo hit her. Frightened that I had reacted to late to save her, I Ran to her and checked for a pulse. It was barely there and her breathing was shallow. The only thing I could think was that she was all but dead, and it was all my fault, because if it weren’t for me we wouldn’t even be here.
Three Days Ago...

I walked down the hallway to her locker, I found her leaning her head against it, defeated, exhausted, drained, so many words to describe they way she looks, but yet there are none.
“Hey Suzy,” “I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the book convention in San Francisco, if you are able?”
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why do you. . . never mind.”
“Oh, well, I saw that you like to read, a lot, so, I thought you might want to go to get some new books, maybe, um.”
“Okay, well, yeah, sure, um, when is it?”
“Oh, it’s in three days actually.” “I can pick you up after school Friday, we can get our things packed and then head out. When we get there we can spend the at a hotel night till Saturday.”
“Um, okay, sure.” “I’ll see you later than.” “I have to get to get to homeroom now, bye.”
“Kay.” It was then that she look up, maybe surprised at my response, I’m not sure, but she quickly turned away and was out of there like the devil was after her, but not before I saw the big blue and black bruise staining the right side of her face. She had tried to cover it up with her hair but still, I saw it. Now I had my answer as to why
she kept her head down, she was trying to hide from the teachers piercing gaze. I wondered who in the world would want to hit her. I promised myself that day to find out who did it, and stop whoever it was. I know now that I should have figured it out long before any of this.

I was nervous, I wondered why he even bothered with me. I was a nobody, invisible. I liked it that way. I knew my parents didn’t care where I was nor did they care that I existed. My mom worked all the time, and my dad, my dad. . . he frequently drank and used my as his personal hacky sack. Kaidan was right though, I find my only comfort in reading. I like to imagine being transported to a place, a magical place, an impossible place, a place unreachable to man. This is a place I like to go and explore. Each time I go is a new and exciting, full of dangers and wonders. I said yes, well actually I said sure, but the reason I agreed was because without books I would be dead, an empty shell. Poof, one minute there the next gone. I made the mistake of looking up, and to see that he was just as nervous as I was, but I let him see my weakness written all over my face. I can only hope he suspects nothing of it.

To Be Continued. . .