18.

18

The room was dark apart from the moonlight shining in the window. The night outside was quiet and still. The alarm clock by the bed said 11:55PM.

He had been tossing and turning for almost an hour but the voices in his head simply wouldn't allow him to rest. He thought of those loved ones he had lost over the years and his heart responded by beating harder and faster to accommodate the stress. It was now 11:56PM.

The memories flooded through his mind in great tidal waves as the tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. He though of his mothers last words as she lay dying. "I love you, I'm so proud of you." As the last word left her lips the first tear rolled down his face. The clock read 11:57PM

Then came his father lying on the hospital bed mere skin and bone. The hollow face stretched across his skull, eyes closed but eyes still clearly moving. Then they opened wide as the body began to rise from the bed and fall again. Machines beeped loudly as the bed thrashed and moved with the spasms. It couldn't have lasted more than a minute before it stopped. The flat droning pitched hum rang in his ears again as he shut his eyes tightly trying to chase the memories away. It was 11:58PM

He couldn't take it anymore. He sat up in the bed and opened the drawer retrieving a pencil sharpener. Unscrewing the blade his heart pounded as the haunting continued. He dragged the small knife over his arms in an attempt to pour the images out but no relief. The clock read 11:59PM

He cut harder and harder bleeding more and more but it still wasn't enough so he turned his arm and dragged the blade along the length of it. At first, nothing, then red, so much red came forth from the open wound. He repeated with the other arm and watched as his life poured away. It was 12:00AM

He could feel himself getting weaker as he lay back down on the bed. For the first time felt he relief. It was over. The pain was finally over. At last he would be free. He thought of his mother and father. Then his sister and his friends. Of how they would react. How could they be so selfish. Don't they know how hard it is. He looked at the clock. The clock read 12:01AM

He turned back to the ceiling as the corners of his vision began to darken and the room began to spin. He chuckled. Closing his eyes his broken heart beat its last. His last breath left his body and with it his final words.

"Happy Birthday to me..." He said weakly.