A Whole New World

Sometime During 2008

        We were turning onto Springfield street when I saw the man who was supposed to be my dad. He looked dead and he's bald. Just as I imagined him. The bald part. I didn't imagine him being dead. He started chasing after our car which wouldn't go any faster then the pace it was already at; which is pretty slow right now. He smashed my mom's window and bit into her shoulder. After just minutes of being bitten, my mom turned into whatever my dad had turned into. I was scared beyond my wildest dreams. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. My mom then bit my sister and turned into one of them. That's when I really let the tears fall. Everybody says you love your family unconditionally no matter what; sometimes that's not entirely true. Sure, I cared about my mom in some odd way, but never as much as I loved and cared about my sister. My mom beat me, cursed at me, threatened me, shut me out, banned me, and let her disgusting boyfriends do whatever the heck they wanted to me. My little sister though, stood by me and we helped each other out. We stood up for each other. Even if it meant enduring more punishment. Sometimes though we'd blame each other for everything, then we'd forgive. So when I saw her turn into a monster just like my mom and dad I thought, this can't be happening. I couldn't even imagine my sweet little curly headed sister turning into one of them. I tried to reason with her but the loving sister I knew was gone when she lunged at me. Her mind and soul was lost. This is the first time I ever really cried this hard about something. I jumped out of the car and tumbled through the nearby woods. I had hopes they would forget about me and keep driving on. That didn't happen. They literally stopped the car and went out to come after me. I ran as fast as my chubby legs could go. I stopped and froze as I saw a man pointing the gun in the darkness, his face covered by the shadows. He aimed and pulled the trigger. I snapped awake as I heard the bullet in my dream and woke to hear a real bullet being shot outside my house. I was drenched in sweat and could hardly breathe with my sleeping bag zipped over my head and myself curled into a fatal ball. I undid my sleeping bag and crawled out. Iva wasn't in her bed and it was dark. I hated the dark, it scared me and I felt like I was trapped. That's why I always wanted to be in a room with Iva as we grew up. My mom's current boyfriend, James, went outside to see what had happened. Something inside me said, "I hope he gets shot." Turns out a car had crashed into a tree and the driver was drunk and getting into a fight with someone. We live in a apartment complex and the only people living there that wasn't black was my family and a little girl named Ashley next to us. My mom's boyfriend came back with a bloody nose. I felt happy but I had to make myself seem upset. I was still scared out of my wits as well. The blood dripped down onto the white tiled floor as my mom guided James to the sink. I felt like James got what he deserved and you would understand why if he knew the things he did. You could only imagine. My mom eventually sent Iva and I to bed but I couldn't sleep. I felt disgusted as I heard my mom and James canoodling in the bedroom next to mine. It made me sick. I put my earbuds in and listened to "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Dylan to help, and cried my self to sleep; wishing and yearning for a dad like the one described in that song. I would listen to it over and over again, until my mom took the Cd.