A Year to Live

Stick to Your Day Job

"How are you holding up sweet heart?" My mother asked. Her voice not as warm and welcoming as usual. She just seemed so; robotic. Almost like all of the emotion was wiped out of her, and all that was left was a cold exterior.

"What do you mean?" I asked back, looking down at my empty plate. Why were we all sitting around the dinner table with no dinner?

"After Graylan's death." She stated simply, as though the words didn't affect her. Her eyes suddenly went dark and a scary smile spread across her face.

Her words made my heart sink, and confirmed my previous dream. It was Graylan. But I knew that already. Somewhere deep down, I knew he was gone. I could feel it. Before I could respond, her and my father disappeared and Graylan stood there, his pale skin looking even more white in the artificially lit kitchen. "Graylan." I whispered as I stood up from my seat and faced him.

A small smile crept onto his face, but it wasn't bright. It was dark and made the entire mood turn even darker then it originally was. "Hello Isa." He spoke. His cold words chilling me to the bone. This wasn't the happy-go-lucky guy that I was used to. This was someone else. It wasn't him.

"You're scaring me." I whispered, backing up slowly as he continued stepping closer.

"What's wrong sweetie." He said, his uneasy smile widening. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked again, his steps becoming longer and more eager. I felt my heart start racing, but it wasn't the usual sensation that I got when he was close to me. It wasn't out of nervousness, it was out of complete fear.

"Graylan stop it." I said frantically backing away from him as he was getting too close for comfort.

"It's your fault Isa." He whispered as blood started pouring out of his eyes. I felt my stomach churn, and the familiar nauseous feeling overwhelmed me. "I wouldn't have died if it weren't for you." He smiled, the ice in his eyes cutting through me like a newly sharpened blade. Everything around me started to darken. 

'The warden threw a party in the county jail, the prison band was there and they began to wail. The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing. You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing!' The familiar lyrics were pulsing through my head, and I willed my eyes to open, but they wouldn't. 

The walls of the room began closing around on me, and my oxygen felt like it was completely cut off.

'Lets rock, everybody lets rock.' The walls were squeezing me now; trying to literally push the life out of me. 

'Everybody in the whole cell block; was dancin' to the jailhouse rock.' I knew this was the end. The only light that was in the room suddenly shut off, and I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. All I felt was tightness. I couldn't move, and I didn't know if I wanted to.

"Isa!" I heard my name being called. I couldn't pin point from where it was, but it was definitely somewhere. "Isadora!" They called again. And that's when I felt coldness instantly all around me, my eyes finally opening. 

"What the hell!" I screamed as I looked at my newly drenched clothes and my sad looking mother standing over me with a bucket. I narrowed my eyes when my mother started to laugh, and couldn't help but ask myself why I was more mature then my parents.

"Well when your alarm didn't wake you up, and me calling your name didn't wake you up, I resorted to pouring water over your head." She shrugged, placing the bucket down on the nightstand next to my bed.

"Seriously? Could you not have jumped on me? Pulled my hair? Smacked me a few times?" I asked her, feeling the clothes begin to cling to my entire body. The feeling was disgusting. I groaned and rolled out of bed, motioning for my mother to leave with her bucket which she gladly did. I pealed off the cold fabric and jumped into the hot shower, letting out a deep sigh as it instantly heated me up.