Of Apples and Birds

excerpt from a short story i wrote in a fiction class....

" Bradley is standing silently, gazing out over the still, glassy pond. He doesn't turn around when I call out to him. I make my way down the grassy hill to stand beside him, and he takes my hand in his. It is cool, lifeless. Suddenly everything tilts and I am pitched forward into the cold, murky water. Bradley looks down at me and starts to cry. I open my mouth to ask him why he is crying when his face bursts open and blooms into a huge red rose, blood red paint dripping off the petals and onto my face. I wipe the thick, gooey liquid from my eyes and  when I glance down at my hands they are covered in blood.....Bradley's blood. I scream and look up into his face and he is smiling down at me, lipless mouth pulled back into a monstrous grin. Apple, he says, Apple, I forgive you.....

I wake to the jab of a wasp sting and someone screaming, and I try to ask my mom to tell them to be quiet but I can't because it is me who is screaming. Tears run from my eyes, seeking shelter in the bandages wrapped around my face. I believe I am going to drown when darkness creeps in and envelopes my mind and everything goes still and black. I do not dream."