Missing Eternity

VIII: Alone

Part VIII: Alone
I let it sink in
slowly breathing
keep it together for five more seconds
I stood
ignoring my parents quiet bickering
arguing whether I was five or sixteen
"I'm going to my room,"
my voice shockingly calm

Walking quickly
keep it together
4
3
2
1
I ran
falling face down
on soft covers
numb

Dead?
couldn't happen
Danny couldn't die
just as I couldn't
It wasn't possible
I lay curled into a ball
but that was just it
Danny COULDN't Be dead
My dads words
"in pretty bad shape, took a while to identify"
So the body might not have been his

But then I remembered the laughter
and the wound
I'd left him to contend with that
I'd let him alone
I curled into a tighter ball
even if it wasn't him
it would k)ll him
I'd left him
he's probably dead
The tears falling silently
now had sobs to accompany them
He was dead
And for a while so was I
Me still sixteen
Him barely seventeen

What was that thing
The predator
If humans were supposed to be the top of the food chain
Then WHAT was that
What would hunt a human?

Part VIII: The End