Fallen Angel

As I walked home from the store that was twenty blocks away, I noticed the thick and grey clouds signaling their nearby downpour. Giving a hopeful glance at the sky, I sped up my pace along the sidewalk, but just my luck, i felt splashes of water it my face and hair. Looking up again, I saw a shower of rain hit the ground like a tidal wave, holding nothing back. I stopped running long enough to look around for shelter, which proved quite difficult through the screen of water blocking my sight; there was a street that extended in front and behind me, a series of trees to my right, and clusters of shrubs surrounding a covered bus stop to my left. I darted toward the single piece of shelter I saw, and the sudden breath of air made me realize just how soak I was. Setting the groceries down, I peered at the curtain of rain draped over the bus stop and got a chill from the cool air settling around me.

My mouth quivering and my body shaking, I extended my arm toward the three bags of groceries to assess what contents of the bag survived the flood: milk--check, eggs--okay, grapes--fine, bread--um, bananas--okay… Shuffling through the rest of the bag, my thought began to wonder back to a handful of old memories.

I remembered how my mother would always go through the groceries just as I had done seconds before. A chef at heart, my mother would gaze at the fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains, spitting out all the possible combinations for meal out loud. I had always admired how she could take something simple and make a beautiful masterpiece. She had the optimism that enabled her to create almost anything, and her talent stretched beyond gourmet; she was an artist, a designer, a writer, a poet, a hero, and a friend.

I remembered the warm smile that never seemed to leave her face. I remembered her tucking into bed every night, letting her long, blonde hair fall onto my cheeks as I laughed and pushed the strands away. I remembered her dark brown eyes full of such warmth as they gazed at me with tender kindness. I remembered that I would always protest against my sleep, and then she’d offer me a bedtime story. Inspite of my bratty behavior, her smile never faded. Except for…

I shook the thought away, but the memory was persistent and reemerged from my subconscious. I remembered walking into the dining room and seeing my mom crying at the table. I had asked her what was wrong, and she immediately tried to wipe all the tears off of her face, hoping that I was too young and naive to know that something was truly wrong. I’ve never seen my mother so broken. That was when I asked here where Daddy was, and she burst into tears once more. In my four years of life, I had never seen my mom cry, and here I was, watching her fall to pieces right in front of me. I remembered that after that day, nothing was ever the same. I never saw my father again. She stopped reading me bedtime stories, stopped kissing me good night, stopped taking me to the park, stopped playing with me, stopped talking me, and eventually, she stopped acknowledging that I was even there. I’d even go days without eating until I’d learn how to get food for myself. She was never the same. I was never the same. Nothing would ever be the same. Even today, I wonder what could have hurt her so bad to have made her change so much.. I felt compelled to ask from time to time, but i figured it was best to just leave the subject alone.

A clash of thunder threw me back into reality. Reaching up to touch my cheek, I felt the trail of tears stretched across my face, and unable to hold back the pain that I kept locked up inside for so long, I cracked. I left all the heavy hearted tears pour out up until another clash of thunder yelled some sense into me.

I thought of my mother again on the day that she changed. No, I was not going to allow myself to indulge in self-pity, and be consumed by my own hatred and lament.

I quickly wiped the tears away and looked out past the rain which had lightened
some, and just as I glanced away, I caught a glimpse of something moving in one of the trees across the street. Raising my eyes back to the large branch extending from the large tree, I saw a large shadowy figure sitting on the limb. It almost looked like an obese wolf from far away up until it started to stand on its hind legs. I must be going insane. Rubbing my eyes, I looked again, but the creature was not there, and I let out a sigh of relief. Then, I saw one of the three bushes below begin to rustle slightly. It must be the wind, I told myself, knowing there wasn’t a single breeze in the air. The moving bushes produced the same creature as the one on the limb. As much as I tried to talk myself out of it, I was not seeing things.

Slowly getting my grocery bags in my hand, i prepared for an escape. The creature stepped over the push and started toward me. It took its time and carried itself as if i was already dead. One… Two… I prepared myself. Three! I darted toward the general direction of my house. I got not even twenty feet before I felt myself get knocked to the ground and the bags go scattering off. I got to my knees before being knocked to the other side, and lacking the energy to try another run, I turned onto my back. My eyes met the monster hovering over me. Beat red eyes, sharp, cruel fangs, wet, matted fur, and low and heavy growels. its jaw creeped open and the growl crescendoed once more. In that moment I saw my life flash before my eyes like a movie in high speed, and immediately, I shut my eyes tight so i wouldn't have to see how it’d end.

Suddenly, I heard a hard smash followed by a yelp. When I realized that nothing had touched me, I looked to see what had cried out. Standing over the creature that was lying around thirty feet away was--

Everything went black.

Notes

hope you like :)
i will try to update as often as I can. I do have two AP exams coming up as well as other advanced courses Im taking in addition to helping take care of 7 (soon 8) other kids in my house.
Luckily the summer is coming up so be looking forward to future posts ;D