THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

My heart is beating so hard I’m afraid it might burst from my chest. Its rhythm speeds up as reality sinks in.

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

I can’t find it. Cold coagulating blood stains my hands as I search for a sign of life.

She can’t be dead. She can’t.

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP

Warm tears make me aware of the chill that’s spread through my body. I’m in shock, temporarily paralyzed, holding my mother close. She’s dead. I don’t know why. Every breath gets more difficult than the last. Tears fall from my eyes onto her cold, cold cheek.

Why, damnit!

Before madness can overcome me, a black widow crawls out from behind my ear. “There is only one cause for this. The new manifestation of darkness,” she says.

“I know.”

I realize I’ve been involuntarily holding my breath and breathe deep filling my abdomen with much needed air. I pause for a moment to take in the scenery. The air is still. An army of golden butterflies fills the forest around me. They’re seeing my mother off. Allowing me to take the reigns.

I lay my mother down and watch the crimson New Mexico sunset fade into night.

“I’m going to find him Dorothy,” I tell the spider on my neck.

“And I will guide you, sir.”