Date: 2/27/2017
By mjastic
I'm at an apartment. I don't know who's apartment exactly but the paint on the walls are chipped of black matte paint. Old photos on the wall next to the stairs with faces I can't see no matter how hard I try to focus. I go upstairs into what seems to be the main bedroom. The room has elegant furniture with diamonds as handles on the vanity, glass mirror as the headboard of the California king mattress, the curtains were black as night and a white rug with the softest fur. The red wood floors almost seemed as black as the curtains. I go back downstairs because I hear the doorbell. I open the door and find my cousin with Mario, Jeff, and Erick. They come in with smiling faces and give my hugs and Mario kisses me on the forehead which bothered me and made me push away. We go to the kitchen, the marble floors were as white as snow, cabinets were the same , the appliances were all stainless steel ; Sergio starts talking about a Surf Tournament that's happening tomorrow. I'm hearing fractions of their conversation while they laugh and joke around. Jeff asks if I'm okay and I say yes. I walk out and tell them to give me a moment. I open the front door to the apartment, from the way the boys walked inside im guessing it was mine. As I walk outside I feel a kind of energy rush through me and I begin to run. I see a man in all black with dreads, I can't see his face bc the rain keeps hitting my face. I run faster and farther from my apartment around the apartments. The building was ghetto but beautiful at the same time. The buildings were faded red with black spots on the cement floor from pasts chewed up gum but there were gardens in between my apartment buildings , trees as large and as tall as sequoia trees. Christmas lights were hung like spiderwebs in between the branches. I continue to run faster and faster feeling as if I was being chased by no one . I find myself in from of my door, I walk inside drenched from the rain. As I begin to take off my shoes I see sergio in the kitchen with Mario, no sign of Jeff. I hear a knock at the door and I open it to find Jeff with 4 different puppies . He tells me "pick one" and I start to squeal from excitement; the boys run to the hall to find me playing with the puppies. It was a 2 Chinese Shar-Pei's, 1 Pug, and 1 English Bulldog. I look up to see the boys looking at Jeff , im guessing in judgment. Mario's face was more of a expression of disappointment towards Jeff. I look at the puppies and I hear them talking to me saying "pick me, pick me" , I start feeling pressure. I look at the English Bulldog sitting in the back looking kind of lonely. I point at him and look at Jeff and say "I want him". He takes the rest of the puppies outside. I pick up the puppy and begin to cry & tell him "I will never hurt you okay. I won't let anything happen to you. I will protect you from anything." I close my eyes holding him against me, I open my eyes and see myself in Erick's car; I'm in the backseat in the middle in between Mario and Allan. I feel an arm moving along and around my back and quickly look over to see who it is, it's Mario, i look him in the eye with a sad expression and push away. He knows what I'm trying to say, i look over at Allan and he grins at me for reassurance. Jeff's arm in in the middle of the car in the front and I lay my face against his arm. He doesn't say anything , he just nudges my head with his knuckle. Mario looks at me with an angry expression. I close my eyes wanting the feeling in the pit on my stomach to disappear. I then open my eyes and find myself in dark classroom with chairs facing a flat screen television. In the room I see my mom, little brother, Sergio, Jeff, Mario, and Erick, all of us are wearing body suits with surf boards by our side. I look at the screen and see... what seems to be looking like a trailer to a movie about surfing. It's a lesson teaching us how to surf and what to expect and deal with a shark or any other sea creature. I see everyone's expressions on their face , my mom and brother look excited as for my guy friends they seem a bit pale and scared as if they had a stomach pain. The instructor gets up when the video ends and takes us outside, when I walk through the door I feel the sand go through the fingertips on my feet and smell the salty breeze hit my sense of smell. I follow everyone towards a wall about the height from my feet to my knees. The boys sit on the wall while me and my brother stay standing in front of them. My mom continues walking towards the beach. The sunset is so beautiful, hard to miss, it reminds me of a fire ; the clouds around the sun almost makes me think that I see heaven. As I turn around I begin to hear my mom ranting or talking to my friend Jeff and bash keeps telling her to stop. I look at everyone's expressions in shock. My mom starts walking towards the ocean with her surfboard on her side, my brother looks at Jeff tearful eyed and says "it's okay, I understand you guys are scared; maybe next time" and he runs off following my mom. I look over to Jeff and he looks distraught with tears falling down his cheeks, I fall to my knees and begin to hug him and say "what's wrong?" About a million times. The boys are looking at Jeff with hurtful expressions but don't do anything. Mario asks Jeff "what's wrong bro?" And Jeff starts mumbling something under his breath. I say "I can't hear you can you speak up please?" With a caring loving tone. He tells the boys "He doesn't have a dad, I look at him and I see myself. When he looks at me , I feel like he sees me as a big brother. He doesn't have a male figure in his life so I feel that it's my responsibility to play with him." Mario starts hugging him and he cries more, Jeff gets up and wipes off his tears. He says "He doesn't have a dad. I didn't have a dad." And begins running with his surf board towards my little brother. I look at the boys and follow Jeff. I see myself surfing in between 2 waves and begin to panic. I see a large fin in the distance and warn Jeff, who is surfing with my brother. I tell them to hurry towards the shore and they obey. I see the large fin getting closer towards our direction, I swim towards it to see if it causes a distraction away from my brother and Jeff. I get on my board and start splashing and kicking, I see the shark swim faster towards me and he opens his jaw. It's larger than my body, I close my eyes and feel the pain of the sharp teeth slice through my skin and muscles. I start to drown and can't breath. END