Fiction: Group 4
neck. My family is slowly but surely dying. We’re wood on fire. Burning as we die out. My body is a
walking chemical factory. The poison has taken root deep within, my liver is overwhelmed. Horror floods
through me as I remember my daughter, who’s been living on poison from the moment she started her
horrible life. Fear is seeping out of every single pore in my body as I think about her sickness. Chen thanks
the scientists, as I impatiently pace the ground.
My footsteps loudly thud against the floor as I hurriedly walk home. I say goodbye to Chen as I quietly
open the door. My wife has fallen asleep next to my daughter, who is also asleep. Carefully I lift my
daughter’s wrist and check her pulse. It’s like a fluttering butterfly, weak and fast. I think back to her
previous illnesses. They only lasted a few days. This bout of sickness has lasted for over 2 weeks. Something
isn’t right. I try to convince myself that I’m wrong. All the talk of chemicals has just made me extra
cautious. Skipping the noon meal and the hurried walking has exhausted me. I quietly step into the
bedroom and fall on to my bed, entering a deep sleep.
I feel a hand grabbing my shoulder, shaking me. I force my eyelids open, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.
I immediately see a tanned, worn face directly in front of me. It’s Chen. Lines of worry crease his face as he
continues to shake me, telling me to wake up. I groan as I slowly sit up. Chen starts talking, I don’t fully
understand what he’s saying, my mind is still half asleep. A sentence stands out in my mind “Asleep for 2
whole days, your daughter-“ I’ve been asleep for so long. I need to check on my family, something must be
wrong with my daughter. I throw myself out of the bed, scrambling out of the room. What I see will be
stained in my memory forever.
It’s a scene from a horror film. They’re the nightmares of a victim of war. I see my daughter, unmoving on
the ground. My wife covered in scarlet red blood. I can see where it came from, a wound near her wrists.
Both of them lie completely still. Lifeless. Their hearts are still, the life gone from their bodies. Leaving
behind empty carcasses. “Your daughter died.” Chen says, directly behind me. His shoulders slumping and
gaze downcast as he speaks. “When you wouldn’t wake up, your wife thought you had died as well. She
killed herself and left a note.” The blood makes sense now. I can imagine where it must have bubbled out
after she cut her wrists, watching with despaired, pained eyes as her own life ebbed away. I can’t take this.
My family gone? The scientists were right. I throw the door open, running barefoot outside. Sharp stones
and an assortment of other objects prick the bottom of my feet. It’s raining, the dreary weather perfectly
describing my mood. Tears run down the side of my face, mixing in with the rain. I run. I run till I can’t
run anymore. Heavily panting and dripping with a mixture of sweat rain and tears. A bolt of lightning
briefly illuminates the dark sky. A sharp pang of hunger comes from my stomach as my body tells me I
haven’t eaten in three days. I’m weak from hunger, collapsing into a muddy puddle with a loud splash.
Droplets of water fly into the air, scattering around me. The sky is spinning. Why is it spinning? My head
throbs and my limbs uncontrollably spasm. Rain pelts my face as I stop moving, and lay completely still. I
hear rain patter onto me as I look up at the sky. Black dots appear on the edge of my vision. The world is
fading from me. I’m tired; I just want to sleep. My eyelids close as I exhale for the last time. There is
nothing. After all I’ve been eating poison to survive. This is expected.
My last flame of life desperately tries to stay lit. But the rain is too much. The flame flickers. And goes out.
