JOSHUA’S STORY
Joshua frantically looked
through his clothes to find something nice to wear.
“MOOOM!!
Where’s my black jacket???” He wanted to look perfect for her.
“It’s in the laundry,” his
mother answered as she came in his room.
“Aw
mom! That jacket was the best I
had!!” He sat on the bed, disappointed.
“Well…” his mother said as she
approached his closet. “How bout this one? It makes you look handsome!” She said
and tossed him a jacket. Joshua grabbed it but didn’t put it on. Instead, he was
looking at the ground.
She sighed and sat next to him.
“Josh… you are very nervous!”
“I know mom… I just… I want to
be perfect for tonight.”
She laughed. “Well you could
take her somewhere more romantic rather than the funfair…”
“I wanted to go to the movies,
but she INSISTED that we should go to the funfair. I don’t think she wanted to
stay in a dark room with me…” That surprised his mother but she couldn’t ask
because Joshua told her to leave so that he could get
dressed.
As soon as his mother left the
room, Joshua sighed and started getting dressed. His thoughts turned to Miranda.
He didn’t love her. He didn’t feel a thing a bout her, but she was the most
popular girl in school and the fact that she even ALLOWED him to be seen with
her made him content. All his life he felt invisible, just a Razor boy that no
one saw. But now with Miranda, thinks changed. Now he wasn’t just a Razor, he
was Joshua, the guy who hanged around with Miranda. His eighteenth birthday was
in three months and he was planning on inviting almost everyone so that they
could see him with her.
He finished getting dressed and
walked out the door. Once he was out, he felt a small headache, but he didn’t
think about it much. It was probably just a small flu. He spread his arms and
flew towards Melodies house.
“Joshua!! Stop yawning!!” She
nudged him with her elbow. She smiled when he nodded. Finally, she had found the
perfect ‘pet’. This Razor fool was so pathetic, that he did everything she told
him. It was the perfect person to humiliate.
They spent a lot of time just
walking around; at one time Joshua played a game of darts and won a little
dragon toy from Miranda. She smiled and hugged it.
“Oh look!!” She grabbed him
from his sleeve and run towards a tent she saw. Joshua struggled from her grasp
and fixed his jacket.
“I don’t think we should get
in. Those people are liars! They tell you the things you want to hear! And you
pay them for that!”
“Oh lighten up a little!” She
said as she pushed him in. “MIRANDA!!”
His attention turned to an old
woman sitting in front of a table. She was a Mountain dragon with a wrinkled
face and one of her horns was broken in half. A glass globe was set in front of
her on the table. Joshua laughed at the sight, thinking of how similar the woman
looked with the witches they show on films.
“See something funny, boy?” The
woman said as she stared at him. Joshua felt a little threatened by the woman’s
gaze, but he replied
“Sorry, didn’t want to offend
you, but I find this whole setting ridiculous…”
“Ridiculous?” She cut him
off
“Well… I don’t believe in all
those psychic shit… I’m sorry I’m leaving. I won’t let you rob me of my money…”
he turned towards the exit… “Joshua!” Miranda yelled but he didn’t
stop.
“So you don’t believe…” Joshua
froze where he stood. He felt cold S sweat running down his face. The old
woman’s voice had a cold hue in it.
“You offend me boy… I’m not
gonna let you walk away like that!” Joshua gasped. The
woman’s eyes were glowing. How did she do that? “Would you believe if I trapped
your personality in another body?” Joshua stepped back as the woman got up. She
spoke as she walked around the table and towards him. “You will die boy… and you
will still be alive. Cursed to be trapped … and die twice! You will die
another’s death!” As she spoke her last words, she was inches away from his
face, which was pale and sweating. He got panicked and run away.
“JOSHUA You’re such a coward! Come back!” He didn’t hear Miranda
scream. He didn’t care how she was supposed to go home. All he wanted to do now
was go at his place and lock all doors. He wanted to be alone and calm down.
DEATH
Days went by, and Joshua found
himself ill in bed. Miranda hasn’t called him since he left her alone at the
fair, and the words of the old woman plagued his dreams. He was afraid of his
life. Many times he asked his mother what the doctor said,, but she didn’t answer him.
----
He had just finished examining
him. He packed his equipment in his bag and shook his head. He was so young…
“Excuse me doctor…” Joshua’s
parents approached him. “How is he…?” His mother asked. He opened his mouth to
speak, but before he could the father added “we want the
truth.”
He motioned them to get out of the room
and he closed the door behind them.
“It’s not good…” The doctor
scratched his arm. “He has a very serious flu… I tried everything I could. All
we could do now is to hope and pray…”
The mother started screaming
“DAMN YOU!! Don’t tell me to pray!! Save my son!” “Calm down, please!!” Joshua’s
father was trying to hold her down.
“I’m so sorry… the doctor said
and started walking towards the door.
“NO!!” She screamed and run
towards him. She kneeled in front of the surprised doctor and begged. “Please…
I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to yell at you please… save my boy… I beg you…”
The doctor was trying to hold
back his tears. He slowly shook his head, walked out of the door and closed it
behind him.
Joshua’s father stood stunned,
unable to believe what was happening. He was loosing his son… and there was
nothing he could do to save him. He walked over to his crying wife and hugged
her. They stayed like that for a long time.
- - - - -
Joshua opened his eyes. He
still had a very high fever and his body was sweaty. His head throbbed and he
couldn’t look either left or right. He heard a light nock on the door and right
after his mother came in holding a cup of tea.
“Good morning honey… I brought
you some tea to make you feel better.” He didn’t take the cup, so she placed it
on the table next to his bed and sat next to him.
“Mom…” his voice was a whisper,
but she could hear him. “Am… I going to
die…?”
“Honey…” she said and touched
his face. “Of course not! You’re gonna be alright!”
Joshua tried to laugh but he ended up coughing. When he calmed down he spoke
again.
“Don’t lie to me mom… I know
I’m dying. I can feel it.” His mother had no words to speak. She hugged her son
and started crying.
- - - - -
A week passed by with Joshua
getting worse day by day. That day was very painful and he was pleased that he
finally managed to fall asleep. He could feel himself slowly rising out of bed
and floating into the air in what he though was a dream. He looked down and saw
a body of a young man lying in bed. Even though his scales were white, he could
tell that he was pale.
He could see a light shining
above his head on the room’s ceiling. He smiled and felt content by the light’s
warmth that was growing steadily. He slowly floated towards the light when
something sucked him downwards. He looked to the floor and what he saw scared
him so much that he screamed.
A large rotating hole was
gaping below his feet, darkness was trapped within it and it seemed to suck him
in. He struggled and flapped his arms, desperately trying to escape the monster
below him, but it was in vain. He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he
could hear the old woman’s voice echo in the room.
“You are cursed to be trapped
boy… You will die twice! You will die another’s death!”
He screamed his lungs out as
the darkness engulfed him. He looked up and saw the opening closing, leaving him
floating into nothingness.
- - - - -
“Joshua, I made you a
sandwich.” His mother said with a smile as she entered his room. She placed the
plate onto the table and walked towards the curtains. “Come on sleepy-head wake
up!” She said as she opened the curtains, letting the sunlight fill the room.
“Joshua, wake up honey”. Nothing. Joshua was laying in bed,
as still as a… body…
“No… no no no. Please no…” She approached him with hesitation.
“Joshua… wake up!!” She touched his face. It was so
cold… Her eyes widened as she checked her son for any sign of breathing or a
pulse. She screamed and hugged him.
A NEW
BEGINNING
He didn’t know how long he was
trapped into the darkness. Was it days? Months? Years? He had lost count of time.
A few times he thought he felt
the darkness fade and he felt the environment around him shake, as if his soul
was concealed into a box and that box was being picked up. At one day, he felt
that he was being dropped. He screamed as the ‘box’ hit something. He felt
himself rocking slightly from left to right… as if he was in water. Then,
stillness came again. He cried. He was trapped into this nothingness for
eternity.
Ten years have passed since he
got trapped into the darkness, when all of a sudden, he felt movement again. He
heard cracking noises and looked up. Suddenly, a beam of light shone upon him
and he felt him self being lifted and being driven towards the source of the
light. He closed his eyes and let the light consume him. . He had no idea where
he was being taken and why. All he knew was that this was a new
beginning.