Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of

We were supposed to write a story with 10-12 words or phrases from Shakespeare. Those are in bold. The title is also a quote from Shakespeare.

            Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.  I fit none of these categories.

            I sat in the darkness of my room, alone save for the company of my sleeping cat.  “My heart is as steel, Alex,” I whispered to the black ball of fuzz.  In the moonlight, I was able to make out a golden eye peeking at me.  Alex realized that I knew he was awake and stretched.  I smiled as he curled up next to me and began his loud purring.  As the moon rose higher in the sky, I was able to find sleep.

            A lonely haze enveloped me as I sank into the dream that would crush me.  I stumbled along the wet road, rain still leaking from the sky and tears leaking from my eyes.  A car sped toward me, unyielding.  I froze, stared into the bright headlights, and caught a glimpse of my mother.  The small car went right through me and I turned in time to watch it swerve from the path of another car and off of the rain-soaked road.  The car flipped.  I screamed.

            I woke up, unable to breathe.  A scream clawed at my throat, unable to escape.  Thunder roared outside as the rain fell to mirror my tears.  I found my phone and texted my mother, who should already be safely at work.  Her reply came swiftly, ensuring me that she was alright.  I explained the dream and tried to calm myself down.  She didn’t respond, so I assumed she was busy.  I waited for ever and a day, but she never said a thing after that.

            I slept not one wink for the rest of the night.  Early the next morning, my father called me downstairs along with my younger sister, Autumn.  When I stepped into the kitchen, their faces were already stained with tears as they held each other.  I knew exactly what had happened, and it was all my fault. 

“Lindsey,” choked my father as he extended an arm, as if to include me in the embrace.  I stood still and forced myself to give life to the question I already knew the answer to. 

“What happened?”  My voice held no emotion, showed no sign that I was guilty.  My father stood and crept toward me, like I was a wild animal.

“I’ll not budge an inch until you tell me!”  I half-shouted, stopping him immediately.  He hesitated, his face growing pale as he stared at the ground.  Autumn shuffled past him and into my arms, sobbing.

“Mommy’s dead!” she cried.  “She got in a car crash!”  My body stiffened as I forced myself to supply some sort of comfort to the child.  What I truly wanted was to run upstairs and hide in my room.  I never wanted to come back out, to face the pain that my remaining family members already felt.

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” I soothed as I rubbed Autumn’s frail back.  “It’ll be okay, I promise.”  I didn’t believe my own words, but I hoped it helped them.  Yes, we had seen better days, but those days would surely come again, would they not?

Autumn finally stopped crying and made herself some cereal for breakfast.  I ran upstairs into my room and was greeted by Alex.  The tears began streaming down my face as I picked up the fuzzy cat.  I locked the door behind me and covered up with blankets, trying to escape reality.

***

I begged for my mother back, out of the jaws of death.  I begged for a better option, but none presented themselves.  Weeks had passed since my mother’s accident.  My father was struggling to keep food on the table for us.  He was almost always at work, leaving me in charge at home, where I did nothing but lie in bed.

I thought about death, about the crash.  I thought about the text I sent her, knowing that she died because she read it as she was driving.  Maybe I could repay her by dying myself.  My friends and family never seemed to notice me very much before, and now they hardly noticed me at all.  Though it was rough, I refused to wear my heart upon my sleeve.  This must have been why I felt so horrible, but I couldn’t force myself to get help.

Instead, I sought out help from a thought, a bottle of sleeping pills, and a razor.  I had tried before, but this time, my life was already over and I just had to let everyone else in on the secret.

Death, a necessary end will come when it will come.  I knew that it would be coming for me soon.  I stepped into Autumn’s room, not even thinking about how it would affect her.  I hugged her, knowing she wouldn’t understand what was going to happen.  I reminded her that I loved her, words that I always had trouble saying.  Then, I left her room.

I turned on the shower, opened the bottle of pills, and took out the sharp razor.  Swallowing the pills, I took the blade to my skin, biting my lip so I wouldn’t scream.  Then, I sat on the ground as I waited for Death.  What’s done is done, I thought as a fog entered my thoughts and I fell asleep, never to open my eyes again.

Reviews

[Bound In Red]

Very powerful. And I loved the usage of the quotes. They seem to fit in this one instead of being awkward like mrs walls story. Amazing job!