Canyon Drive

I had a dream the other night.

I was riding in a car that my family hasn’t owned for years. It was a really old mostly blue suburban. I say mostly blue because at least a quarter of the paint had chipped off over time revealing brown rust. I sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle while my brother Jace drove. We were in a canyon that was unfamiliar to us. It was snowing outside and the snow was just beginning to stick to the road as we entered the canyon. The further we drove, the deeper the snow became. The snow and our nerves were both increasing exponentially. We were driving quite slowly but eventually it didn’t seem to matter. We were going downhill as the road turned to the right. We just continued on forward despite the car’s efforts to turn. It was at this point that we realized there was nothing to stop us. There was an old fence made of only wood that looked quite feeble. On the other side of the fence was a cliff that was so high up we couldn’t even see the bottom. And just like that we hit the fence and continued over the cliff. There was a moment that the car seemed almost weightless. In that moment, so many things went through my head. Fear was clouding most of my thoughts, but I remember thinking that I could potentially open my door and jump to the side of the cliff and perhaps live. I then realized that only I would live and Jace would plummet to the bottom of the canyon. That thought froze my body. After that instant was over, I knew we were both dead in a matter of seconds. We started to gain speed. My stomach wrenched into my chest. Not because of fear, but because we were falling so fast. Surprisingly, I wasn’t afraid at all. I knew I was going to die. Dead doesn’t seem to frighten me. The thought of not knowing when death will come frightens me. I still couldn’t see the bottom, but I knew it had to be close. Death was seconds away and I was as calm as ever. I cleared my head and closed my eyes. I was ready to die.

Then I woke up.

The Vampire Diaries

I didn't think i'd hate a t.v. show more than I hated One Tree Hill, but unfortunately even that travesty was surpassed in the first few minutes of The Vampire Diaries. The acting is agonizing. The dialog makes me wheezy. Most of all though - what is the deal with author's vampire plots lately? I find it more likely for Vampires to actually exist than to have an immortal spend eternity going to high school. Are these authors suggesting that vampires died and are sentenced to high school Hell? I suppose that is more believable than a couple hundred year old person willingly spending the majority of their day interacting with snobby teenagers. Which brings up another interesting point. An 18 year old girl is legal for an adult to hook up with. A three hundred year old man and an 18 year old girl falling in love is super creepy though. If I knew there was a couple hundred year old man at my school hooking up with a bunch of girls, I would freak! Keep away from my sisters! Think about it. If a guy that old is so desperate for ass that he willingly sits through years of mind numbing high school drama for a chick... He is the biggest creeper on the planet.

Home Alone

“We’re leaving now, with or without you. I’m serious, and no one else will be here,” my mom says. I look over to see my mother giving me a look that says, “don’t try my patience.”
“Kay,” I mutter as I pick up my action figure in dramatic fashion and head for the stairs. I reach the top of the stairs and grab hold of the string to one of my father’s birthday balloons.  My father recently had a birthday. Although they are his balloons, he doesn’t seem as fond of them as I do. He leaves them at the house while he's at work so he doesn’t have much time to even play with them. He smiles each time he sees it bobbing along with me though.
I drop the toy as I walk through my doorway and head to the closet. All of my shoes are in my closet. My mom makes me put them there instead of by the front door. I have to walk all the way up to my room rather than just walk to the front door whenever leaving. I find the pair I need, drop them by my door to put them on. As I tie my shoes I realize my toy is missing a gun. I don’t see it anywhere nearby.
I leave the room and head down the stairs in search of the gun. I find it underneath the couch for whatever reason.
“Okay, ready?” My brother asks appearing from his room, then heading for the door in a rush.
“No,” I yell as I run up the stairs.
Something else is said but is muffled as I am already in my room. Suddenly I hear the door slam.
Panic hit me in an instant. “Wait for me,” I shout as I throw the gun down near the other toys
I reach the bottom of the stairs. Looking around for her, I yell, "Mom?"

Silence.

I run to the door, but I can’t open it. Had my brother locked the door? I don't know how to work it.  I am only six. I’ve never been home alone before. My mother wouldn’t leave me, would she? She looked very serious before though.
My heart is already pounding. My chest tightens as I focus my strength on twisting the doorknob. My face is flush from exertion. I suddenly stop, but my mind races on. Why are they leaving me? What am I supposed to do?
The back door! I run toward it. The back door is sliding glass. It isn’t locked. I slide the door open, jump through and shove it closed. I run around to the left side of the house. I realize something I should have already thought of. Of course, I’ll have to get past the fence.
“Mom?”
“Mom!”

Silence.

I never go in or out of the fence. I don’t know how this lock works. I’ll have to climb the fence; there is no other way of getting out. The brown wooden fence is almost twice my height without holes to crawl through.
I grip my string and the fence. With each new hand placement, I heave myself higher and higher up the fence. The fence is surprisingly easy to climb. However the longer I take, the harder it is to hang onto the string. There are lots of places to grip. I finally get to the top. I heave my left leg over and straddle the fence. I can finally see over the fence. I try to find my mom's car. I can only see a little of the driveway because of where it is in relation to the house. I can’t see the car anywhere. I tighten my legs to the fence and lean back a little to try and see more of the driveway. Maybe they really did leave. Right as I thought this, I could feel my weight shift and it felt as though I was going to fall back. I shoved myself forward and clutched the fence with my entire body. It hurt, but not nearly as much as falling back would have. I sigh with relief. I’m safe. Wait, I don’t feel the string. I look up and see only blue. There is a blue sky behind a blue balloon flying higher and higher.
I know it wont help, but I begin to call it back. The balloon doesn’t stop despite my pleading. I beg it to come back. It swirls back and forth, but continues ever higher. My eyes start to sting. Water is collecting at the bottom of my eyes. I cling even harder to the fence. I shut my eyes and let the tears flow. They form streams down my face and fall to the earth. No one is here to see though, I could cry for hours and no one would ever know.
I don’t know how long I cried, but I know that by the time I stopped, I was surprisingly cold. I was cold, but I hadn’t even realized it until I stopped crying. I rubbed my eyes and face dry, and hopped down into the back yard. I walked back into my house. Hours later my mother returned and asked why I hadn't join her. I told her that I wanted to just play at the house. I keep my crying to myself.

Silence.