Everything Begins and Ends Somewhere

Death seemed to follow him everywhere. It was evident in the way the grass yellowed at the sight of him, the leaves shrank back when they caught wind of him.

He looked down, watching as the grass turned brown and old. The leaves fell from the trees, the flowers shriveling and wilting. He could hear the quiet patter of the forest animals running away from him. If he stood still enough, he could almost feel the air chill around him. The sun seemed dimmer, as if there were clouds blocking it, but there wasn’t.

He leaned down and plucked one of the dandelions from the ground, feeling the roots try and resist. In the center of his palm he watched as the petals grew grey, falling from the pistil.

He closed his fist around the flower, watching as a few small pieces of the petals fell through his fingers.

He heard a small set of footsteps stop in front of him and when he looked up he was eye to eye with a young child.

He smirked as the child gasped and took a step back from him.

“Are you okay?” The child asked, their eyes jumping from one place to the next, unsure of what to linger on. His smirk widened along with the child’s eyes. In the distance he could hear a mother yelling for her child.

He looked down to where he felt the blood drip onto his closed fist. When he unclenched his hand, the red mixed with the cloudy yellow color of the remaining petals.

There were long gashes covering his entire body, his clothes torn and hanging off of him. The minimal fabric he was wearing was soaked through, clinging to his skin. Hugging, suffocating him. The mother’s yelling was growing closer.

As he lifted his hand up, he watched as the child’s eyes followed the movement. The continued dripping through his fingers, coloring the brown beneath them. He could almost feel the mother now. 

His arm stung as he lifted it but he was still smirking, grinning almost, and he could feel the blood dripping into his mouth, coating his teeth. The child tried moving backwards but he had already pressed the blood, dead flower to the child’s forehead. 

The child’s eyes crossed to watch as he moved his hand back.

“One.” He said. He could see the mother now.

“Two.” The mother had seen her child.

“Three.” He was sure now that the mother couldn’t see him as she started running towards them.

“Four.” The child’s face had gone from confused to expressionless and pale as the child collapsed.

“Five.” He was gone now, watching from afar as the mother clutched helplessly at the child, calling for help that wouldn’t come and couldn’t do anything even if they heard the pleas through the thick air.

He wiped his palm onto his already dirty pants, blood smearing, watching as some of the green started returning to the grass, starting where the mother was cradling her child on the ground. 

Author's Note

tell me what yall thought <3