My feet crunched under the silt gravel of Old Blue Road. I was walking off the bus, a mile and a half to home. The sun beating down on my neck, sweat droplets forming at the scene. No trees for shade, no streams for water. The life no one wants to live. Then a rustle in the berry bushes half way down the road before the turn onto my street. I paused. A black shadow then darted across the hot gravel road. I realized it was the neighbors cat, Shadow. That darn cat always getting into trouble. I continued my hot walk on the road that lead me to sanity, to safety.


A half hour later, I received home.

"Hello, Emily", my mom said as I walked in the door. Dad was doing daily work at the dining room table.
"Sup"
"What did I tell you about Sup?" she said, "Your not a gangster"

I walked to the fridge and reached for a Gatorade. The cool, blue rush felt good on my parched throat. The sensation just tingled me. After the refreshment, I plopped on the couch and grabbed the remote. Surfing the channels, I found Sam and Cat, I put down the remote. I grabbed the throw pillow and placed it under my dirty head. I knew I'd take a shower tonight. If I could..

I woke up to screams and what sounded like multiple thuds. I looked at the clock. 12:56am. I'd slept through dinner. I haven't done my homework. I'd been out for almost 7 hours. I ran upstairs to where I heard the blood-curdling noises. I saw blood spewed on the walls.

"Mom?!" "DAD?!"

Nothing.

"Where are you?!", I shouted.

I ran into their bedroom. Broken glass on the floor from the broken window. I ran into their bedroom where I found a pool of blood in the bathtub and their what looked like lifeless bodies on the cold, red tile. I screamed. I flopped on the floor crying. I sobbed and sobbed until a knock on the door scared me so much I cried some more. I couldn't get up. I wouldn't leave my parents.

My neighbor, Mrs. Brown, ran up the stairs. I could tell by the heavy breathing and the big thud of her night slippers. She must've heard my scream.

"Honey? What's wr--"

She paused.

I cried some more. I tried to speak words but they wouldn't come out. I couldn't do this much longer. She tried to coax me up. But I wouldn't. I am not going to leave my parents.

"Sweetie, darling, come on now"

"NO!", I said between sobs.

The cops then arrived. I knew it was them when red and blue lights appeared through the shattered window.

"NYPD!", they yelled at the door.

"Come in! Hurry!", Mrs. Brown yelled.

The police came rushing in with a stretcher. The officer spoke something code into his walkie talkie and less then a minute later, I saw a guy with a second stretcher through the hallway.

It was all to gruesome to look at. That's when I knew my life was going to be hard, going to be black and blue.