A Deafening Scream.

A Deafening Scream.

A Deafening Scream. A scream to end all sound. It reverberates off the skyscrapers, amid the hustle of the city. It escapes my mouth as I crumble to the ground. I’m desperate and alone amid a sea of strangers, as the night quickly closes in on me. Outside looking in, I rise & run. I run blindly, eyes clouded by tears, until I’m stopped by a stranger who catches and embraces me. In my hysteria, I’m still screaming. He tries to soothe my pain.

It’s rush hour in the city. Cars are tightly packed in structured succession. There rows and rows of black cars. The buildings create shadows so deep that it appears to be dusk. Red brake lights create a somber mood, which couldn’t be further from reality. You stop quickly. I can feel your breathing change as our eyes lock. I see fear in your gaze and it speaks volumes. Your grip becomes tighter as you move us forward at a quicker pace. You almost lost me once. But there’s no warning this time. They’ve come for you. Come to take you back. How did they find us? On the run for months, somehow we had managed to stay off the radar. Darting through traffic, jumping cars and dodging oncoming obstacles we try to escape. But we’ve been surrounded by these dark men in uniforms, carrying guns before and somehow eluded capture. This time is different. I hold you close to you one last time, digging in as they began to move in. It’s darkness in the sea of black sedans with the eerie red glow of brake lights that can only highlight shadows without true definition.

Phantoms arms that appear out of thin air grab at my waist and more appear around your neck and torso attempting to tear us apart limb from limb amid the noisy traffic. My fingers tighten their grasp and nails become razor-sharp talons tearing at the flesh of your arms. Your fingers grab my arms, digging into my soft

flesh. Unsuccessfully I fail to keep you within my grasp; me within yours. It will be the last time I see you. As they shove you into the unmarked van and toss me aside like a rag doll, movement of the city never pauses. The van vanishes amid the sea of black. After my body smashes against the nearest building, I crumbled to the ground with your bloody flesh trapped beneath my nails and my arms dripping crimson from your grasp. Broken bloody rag doll. Screaming, tears running down my broken face; I’m powerless. Alone. I distinctly recall the cold sidewalk beneath me, filled with strangers who pause only briefly to gawk and continue on without discourse or hesitation.

I wear your scars as a reminder of this distant memory. It’s been three years now. I can’t remember your face sometimes. Or your smile. But your eyes will always haunt my soul. Whether or not you are dead remains a mystery always at the front of my thoughts.

Written about 3 ½ years ago, under circumstances that are quite distant to me. It was up in a different form once, somewhere else under a different name, (Talons - Creative Guilt). But it's a different creature from then. I've taken it apart and rebuilt it. Original had someone being dismembered. Drawn and quartered. Anyhow, today felt appropriate. m.