Jocelyn++-+dream+poem


 * __Greeting Darkness __**

Newspapers after newsp apers, new channels after news channels, broken windows, trashed front yards, our house was surrounded by police tape. Angry mobs and savages gathered outside, lit torches, heavy guns, and knives at hand, crazed, obsessed, yelling, “Kill him! Destroy him! That demon doesn’t deserve to live!” Body stiff, I tried to block their piercing voices out. Glancing at the television, I heard them announce 2,000 more deaths; the innocent victims, whose lives were taken by a four-year-old.  Suddenly, another jagged rock came crashing in, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">scattering glass everywhere. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Petrified, I ran through the house, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">eyes searching for my little brother; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I found him on the kitchen ground, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">playing with his plastic toy trucks. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I quickly picked him up and gathered his toys; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">rushing, I brought him into my bedroom. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I looked around desperately, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">then opened the closet door. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I turned on the light and threw some blankets on the ground; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I placed him on the blankets and gave him his toys. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He looked up at me with confusion in his eyes; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and closed the closet door. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Running back to the living room, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I glanced out the window, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">just to see that the angry crowd of people were breaking through the tape. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Seconds later, I walked near the doorway, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">in time to greet them as they broke down the door with a cracking sound. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where is he? I know he’s in here somewhere- where is he?!” they demanded, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">fire blazing in their eyes. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Leave him alone! He’s just a baby…just a baby….” I cried. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A woman, calm, unlike the others, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">stepped away from the crowd towards me. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Honey, I know…but he’s //possessed,// far from being saved; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he’s not your little brother anymore, his soul is taken over by a //creature//. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Where are your parents, darling? They’re not here anymore, are they? <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And you know exactly why that is, he destroyed them! <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His own parents, taken by their own child; it’s a sin!” <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tears streaming down my face, I didn’t want to hear anymore, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I shook my head violently, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No! He’s still a baby. No. I’ll teach him, he’ll be good. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I promise he won’t hurt anyone anymore. Please.” <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The lady, losing her patience now, began to raise her voice. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Child! Listen to me, we have to get rid of him, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he’s a threat to us all! Save us…only you are able to kill him. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Even when he wasn’t possessed he mainly listened to //you//; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he liked you best and loved you the most. //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He won’t harm you. //<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> He’ll listen to you; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">then, we can all live in peace again.” <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With that, she gave me a knife and rushed the group back out, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">leaving me with the knife and a decision to make. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Unable to process what had just happened, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I walked back to my bedroom, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">the knife still gripped in my hand. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Once in my bedroom, I looked around me, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">noticing how gray and broken my walls looked. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I threw the knife onto the ground, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">where it screamed in the silence. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I opened the closet door, hands trembling and ice cold, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">picked up my little brother, and sat him on my bed. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I knelt down in front of him, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">his legs dangling from the bed. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I looked into his eyes, searching deeply for the monster everyone claimed was there, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">and found nothing, bur the reflection of my eyes starting to tear up again. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why? Why are you misbehaving? Can’t you listen to someone else for once? <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I know you’re not like this, but everyone else wants me to get rid of you now. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Why do I always have to be the one to punish you? Why?” <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His only response was the puzzled look on his face, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">then, he wrapped his arms around my head, hugging me; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I hugged him back, as tight as I could, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">as if I could somehow protect him forever with my arms. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The pain ripping my heart apart was too much for me, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I kissed him once more, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">then grabbed the knife lying on the ground, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">and forced it through my chest. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I lay on the ground, drowning in my own pain, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">the thought of living without him. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Just before my eyes put me in serenity, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I had a final glimpse of him by my side; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">and as if he understood, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I saw him pick up the bleeding knife, <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">before darkness greeted me once more. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">