Police Tape

   When I was a little girl, my uncle dropped snow down my back when we were playing outside. A small shiver began at the base of my back and worked its way up. It lasted months, a feeling I couldn’t seem to shake. To this day I don’t know what it was. But I haven’t played in the snow since. When I passed the yellow tape, blocking off a crime scene on my way home, I had no idea that I would soon associate tape with a tragedy like no other. When I got the call, I stood at the window and looked out. Policemen stood at the end of the block, guarding bright yellow tape with shiny belts and badges, the passive look on their faces a friendly reminder that they were still human. But at the moment they weren’t human. None of them were. In fact, they didn’t exist. I stared into the bright clear sky and imagined myself floating up towards the clouds and avoiding life all together. What did I need it for anyway? Up in the clouds everything is soft. It is like jumping up and down forever, nothing to hold on to, completely free. That is how I should have felt; free. Because in a sense, I was. I jumped up and down a few times on the hard wood floor, feeling heavier each time I landed. A weight settled right on the surface of my heart and even as I leaned this way and that, it refused to slide off. I had always assumed the heart had a slippery surface but apparently I had been wrong. If I were up in the clouds, there would be no weight. It wouldn’t make it up that high. There would be no tape, no policemen with shiny badges and soft faces. I would be alone but I would be happy. The world sat on my shoulders like a heavy paper-weight, one that jumping couldn’t get rid of, as much as I tried. The world was like a snow globe, everything shaken and now I sat upside down. But the clouds remained high above it all and if I could reach them I knew I would be safe. I walked outside, slowly and deliberately. As I walked down the block, I reached out and tore at the police tape. I was headed for the clouds, where there was no snow, no police tape and no death.

Reviews

[A.Lee]

You have great imagery with your stories. Its really easy to feel like you're a part of whats going on and it flows very nicely. Keep up the good work.

~Cattie