Alone Together With Myself

"Write an extremely happy story with an extremely dark twist."

Sweet smells of muffins in the oven woke me up.  The sun was shining brightly through the window on my bedroom wall.  As I walked down the hallway, my dog followed me happily.  My parents were talking at the table as my little sister watched TV in the living room.

"Hey, sweetie." A warm greeting from my mom.

"Good morning mom and dad."

"The muffins are in the oven, they will be ready in about 10 minutes."

"Ok."

I poured cold milk into a glass and sat on the counter, patiently waiting for the muffins to finish.  I was thinking about last night.  It was Friday and I was at a friend's birthday party.  She and a couple of our friends hung out at her house and went to the park.  It was really fun, we saw some guys from school and invited them over.  

The timer dinged and the hot muffins were retrieved from the oven.  A few more minutes to cool, and then they were melting in my mouth.  They were amazing.  I asked if I could go on a bike ride and I just had to be back before sunset.

Riding around, the wind pushed my hair back, cooling my neck.  A big green park was in front of me, the park where my friends and I were last night.  A couple of the boys were there now, but no one else.  

The river running through the park gave a beauty to all of the pictures you could take.  The serenity of the water was coming and perfect.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I sat on the bank of it, absorbing all of its glory.  Breathing the air of the fresh water, I noticed something in the water.  The tip of a boat.

Being that it is summer, I had my swimsuit on.  I jumped in, to explore the boat.  It seemed relatively new, maybe 5 years old.  It had been here for a while, but not too long.  I took a deep breath and went in the boat.  It felt so familiar.  I looked around before I would run out of breath, an odd heat befell me.  It burned my skin, I saw welts starting to form.  A tight hold around my neck made it hard to breathe.

I attempted to swim up, but I started falling.  Only then I realized I was dreaming.  A panic encompassed me, flames lick my skin and everything in my cabin.  I was on the ship, my home.  A fire had started and the smoke filled the living area. 

I stumbled around the hallways, looking for my family.  They were nowhere in sight.  

"HELP!" I called out, my voice raspy and weak. "MOM! DAD!"

"Stop calling for them.  Gosh, can't you see, they left you." an unknown voice responds to my pleas.

"Who are you?" My voice barely a whisper.

"Why, I am your mind, your body, your soul.  I am now your company for the rest of your life.  Accompanying you through it all.  Staying by your side when we both die slowly through this over and over.  Your own personal Hell.  I constantly explain this, I am surprised you haven't figured it out yet.  We are stuck here forever and ever, no way out.  the water here is acid and the smoke can never escape through the windows."

"What?"

A blackness fell over me. 

Sweet smells of muffins in the oven woke me up.  The sun was shining brightly through the window on my bedroom wall.  As I walked down the hallway, my dog followed me happily.  My parents were talking at the table as my little sister watched TV in the living room.

"Hey, sweetie." A warm greeting from my mom.