Injection

"Hello?" Her voice was rough from not being used in so long. 

"Is anyone there? Is anyone listening?" She held the small speaker in hand as she listened to the crackling of the old radio. She bit on her lip as tears sprung to her eyes. 

"I didn't think so," she whispered as she sat the speaker down. A harsh sob wracked her body before she could stop herself, and she ran a hand through her tangled red locks. God, she couldn't believe this. She had been locked in this school for two hundred days- yes, she still kept count. All because the Center for Disease Control couldn't keep their shit together. How wonderful.If she closed her eyes, she could remember how it was before.

Before that damned vaccine came out, everything was fine. She was in theatre, she had friends, she had a life. But that all changed after the newest vaccine came out. She doesn’t know what went wrong- she didn’t even know what it was for, she hadn’t needed it- but a month after the vaccine came out...
 

Things changed. The C.D.C. tried to recall the vaccine, but it was too late. Those that had the injection became ill, and then… Well, she wasn’t sure how to explain it. The injected started to get super hungry- not the I’d-kill-for-a-big-mac kind of hungry, it was more of the I’d-kill-for-a-small-intestine hungry. 

Chaos ensued. No one understood, and that’s what caused such a panic. The fear of the unknown can make people go insane. They couldn’t wrap their head around the fact that their loved ones suddenly wanted to rip open their chest cavities, and eat their heart out. Literally.

Now, here she was. Stuck inside the High School- no one had thought to barricade themselves in there- and completely alone. It wouldn’t surprise her if she was the last person on earth. The last time she saw anyone was when shit hit the fan.

With a trembling sigh, she dragged the back of her hand across her tear stained face. She reached over to turn the radio off, but froze as a voice cut through the static.

“Hello? Anyone still out there?”

Six Word Memoir

The entire world is my stage.

The Harp

A sharp gasp escaped Jack’s lips as his eyes swept over the spring he stumbled upon. So it’s all true, he thought, it’s all really true. He had grown up on stories of the spring, and the harp that had always been there. His mother told him that the harp kept the spring alive, and enchanted its waters. She told him that this spring was where the myth of the Fountain of Youth originated. He didn’t doubt that- the spring was beautiful, and judging by the size of the trees, they were here for a very long time. He took a step towards the water, but stopped dead in his track when one of the bushes started moving.

A man- one that couldn’t have been older than eighteen- stepped out. His curly ginger hair was slightly shaggy, his torso bare, and his legs covered by fur. Jack rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands before getting a better look at the curly haired man. His legs weren’t covered by fur- he had goat legs. That’s a satyr, his mind whispered, half goat and half man.

Laughter sounded from around him as the satyr approached the harp, but he seemed unfazed. Jack watched with awe as a girl appeared to step out of a tree. Three more girls appeared from the tree line as Jack watched, but his eyes soon wandered onto the water. Three girls appeared from the depths of the water, their skins various shades of grey. Two girls had blue hair while one had pure white. Jack wasn’t sure what to think of the unfolding scene in front of him, and could only stare in wonder.

The girls that appeared from the trees had various skin tones- some the color of bark, and some that resembled the white ash wood that made up his mother’s kitchen table.

“You’re not very good at playing hide-n-seek, Nolan,” One of the girls that had appeared from a tree playfully chided. The one she called ‘Nolan’ simply chuckled as he gently tapped her nose.

“Good thing I wasn’t playing, young one,” He told her softly.

“’Young one’?” She said distastefully as her nose scrunched up, “I’m three hundred and seventeen, my good sir!” This caused laughter to escape those around her.

“That’s young for us, Rowan,” said a girl from her left. She swung an arm around the girl’s- Rowan’s- shoulder. Rowan’s fair skin stood apart from the other girl’s darker complexion. Rowan pulled away with a small pout on her face as she tucked a red curl behind her ear, and joy lit up her brown eyes.

“Then what are we waiting for? None of you are getting any younger,” She said, and a smile grew pulled up the corners of her lips. Laughter sounded through them again at her words, and they all gathered around the harp.

Jack watched in fascination as Nolan sat down, and slowly begun to play a beautiful tune. Jack didn’t recognize it, but all of the girls did. He watched as they held onto one anothers' hands, their bodies slowly swaying before they spun in circles. His eyes widened when the spring begun to glow brighter- as if there was a miniature sun at the bottom. The sight stunned him, and he moved to get a better look. As he moved, he accidentally stepped directly on a twig. Rowan flinched as the snapping sound reached her ears, and all of their eyes immediately focused on Jack. Nolan stopped playing his music, and the spring stopped glowing as well. The girls in the water huddled closer to shore as the ones who stepped out of the trees crowded behind Nolan. He stood tall as his eyes narrowed on Jack, he stepped forward as if protecting the girls behind him.

“What do you think you’re doing here?”

Crash

She felt like she had been thrown into a river of ice water, and the ridiculous navy blue shock blanket they gave her was no help at all. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what had just happened. Sure, she could see the crash right in front of her. The warped metal frames that used to resemble cars, the shattered glass that was strewn about the road. She even realized that she was sitting on the bed of a gurney in the back of an ambulance, but she couldn’t put two and two together.

If she closed her eyes, she was sitting right back in the car. Music was playing over the speakers, Sarah was sitting in the passenger seat, giggling about something. Sure, it was half past midnight, but she was a good driver, and they were coming home from their friends’ bonfire. She didn’t even see him coming- it was like he came out of nowhere. She couldn’t get out of the way quick enough, and he had been speeding down the road. She could still see the blinding light burning into her retinas. She could still hear the squealing of her tires, and Sarah screaming beside her. She could still feel the harsh impact of the two cars colliding. And then- well, she wished she couldn’t remember anything after that.

She remembered losing control of her car, remembered it flipping. She wasn’t even sure how that was possible- she wasn’t speeding, but he sure as hell was. The force of his car colliding with hers was enough to send them backwards, and on their side. They had landed driver side down, and she hit her head pretty hard. She could still feel the blood trickling down her forehead. A whither sigh escaped her lips as she tried to see straight again. She felt a drop of something hit the side her face as her eyes adjusted, and a pounding headache replaced it. She turned her head to look at Sarah, only to have another drop her face. Dear God, it’s raining, her thoughts whispered to her. If only.

When she looked up at Sarah, she knew something was very wrong. Sarah was unconscious, but the worrisome part was the fact that there was blood dripping from her neck. The damn seatbelt had cut into Sarah’s neck. A gasp left her lips as tears clouded her eyes, but she couldn’t look away from her best friend.

The sight of Sarah had stunned her into silence, and she couldn’t even say anything when the paramedics pulled them both from the wreck. To her, it felt like it had taken them a year to get there, but she knew it was hardly less than an hour. That’s what she gets when she drives out to the middle of nowhere for a damn bonfire.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so quiet,” A voice said softly from beside her. She blinked out of the memory, and looked at the owner of said voice. Her breath caught in her lungs at the sight of Sarah. She was still dressed in what she had on at the party. The paint was still on her jeans from their game of messy twister. What caught her eye was the vibrant red marks that crossed her body- exactly where the seatbelt had cut into her. A shaky hand covered her mouth to keep the sobs at bay, but she only accomplished in muffling them.

“Are you not happy to see me?” Sarah asked with a hint worry in her voice. She looked into Sarah’s eyes for the first time. Cold, glassy eyes blue eyes stared back at her, and another sob wracked her chest at the sight. Sarah truly was dead. 

Famous First and Last Lines

Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.

That is the opening line to Anne Tyler's Back When We Were Grownups, a book she wrote in memory of her late husband, and published on May 1, 2001. The entire story revolves around your true self. Do you end up with your true self, or is it possible to leave your real, true self behind? 

The book certainly sounds interesting. Being able to learn about your real, rue self is definitely
intriguing. If I had time- and the book- I would certainly read it.

After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.

That is the last line in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, published in 1929, and set during the Italian campaign of World War I. It's about a young American ambulance driver- Lieutenant Frederic Henry- serving in Italy during the war. 

The book looks like it's beautifully written- plus, it's Ernest Hemingway. I've always liked history, and learning about how different countries were affected, not just America's problems. I would be thrilled to read it if I had time- and the book, of course.