SIX FORTY-TWO

By:Vidhya

It was a cold Friday morning, and I didn’t feel like waking up. My back hurt a lot from last night. I kept going back to sleep. But finally, I pulled myself from my bed, trying to forget everything that happened last night. As I wash my face, I see a wound near my lips. From the corner of my bruised eye, I see Derek walk towards me. My hands started to shake in fear, and I just froze. He came closer and just hugged me from behind and said I love you. I smiled a bit, more than which I couldn’t. I dusted the whole thing off, and I was going to go back to sleep when Derek came around carrying a hammer with blood dripping from it. My eyes widen as he runs towards me to hit me with a hammer; the radio is being turned on.

“Mama, just killed a man

Put a gun against his head

Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead

Mama, life had just begun

But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away”

There walks Michael with blood all over his shirt, staring at us in the eye. 

Too late, my time has come

Sent shivers down my spine

Body’s aching all the time

I was in shock. I didn’t know what was going on. My legs felt numb, and I fell to the ground. Everything was way beyond my understanding, and I was looking around, and all I saw was blood. Before I could even realize it, Michael fell in his pool of blood. Derek scoffs, and he turns towards me, and all I wanted was to escape. 

I see a little silhouetto of a man

Scaramouche, Scaramouche

Will you do the Fandango?

Thunderbolt and lightning

Very, very frightening me

He walks towards me with the same hammer. As I bleed through my vagina, he raises the hammer and SLAM!!!!!!!!!

[Gasps]

*the alarm rings*

I started breathing heavily and profusely sweating. It was a cold Friday morning. My back hurt a lot from last night. I kept going back to sleep. But finally, I pulled myself from my bed, trying to forget everything that happened last night. As I was dressing up to leave for work, I see Michael walk towards me from the corner of my bruised eye. He hugs me from behind as I stand there. 

*The doorbell rings*

I went to answer the doorbell, and I see Derek there. 

“Hi, Laila! I hope I didn’t disturb you,” said Derek.

I stand there baffled when Michael plays the radio. 

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

*Bohemian Rhapsody plays in the background*

I had instincts that something is going to go wrong, but I chose to ignore it. 

I started applying makeup to cover the bruises under my eye and…

*glass breaks*

I ran to the living room to see what happened, and I saw Derek lying on the ground, while 

*Nothing really matters

Anyone can see

Nothing really matters

Nothing really matters to me* feebly plays in the background.