my birthday

         To-day is my birthday. To-day I was born.

Thunder struck overhead and rain began trickling into the abandoned desolate mansion.

         To-day I should be playing with friends, family, and classmates. To-day I should be celebrating wearing a happy hat.



Water started dripping onto the ruined, faded carpet as the sky flashed again. Rain began to pour and outside a wolf howl pierced through the sound of rain pouring down onto rotten wood.

         To-day I should be blowing out candles and taking pictures with my happy clear-faced young friends. Pictures that should be plastered to walls or albums. Pictures that should become memories.



The rain got thicker and the house began to groan under the weight of the rain. Boards cracked and splintered, thudding down on the soft moist ground.

         To-day I should be blowing out the candles and laughing. To-day I should be eating a magnificent cake with my name writing in icing. To-day pain and death should be the last thing on my mind.



Someone lay curled up in the corner of a room, holding her tin frail legs, shuddering and wincing every time thunder cracked overhead. Tears and rain slowly dripped down her gaunt, sad face and splotched onto the rotten wood below. Her dark hair stuck to her face and coiled down. A droplet of blood weaned out of her thin pale lips.

         It’s a beautiful day outside to-day. I should be having fun eating cake and getting presents. But somehow…I'm not…



Lightning struck and her eyes flared with fright. Her boney hands touched her lip and saw the blood, reflecting a dark red color. Her sallow skin was cold and wet from the harsh rain above. Her eyes were filled with tears and hate. A second drop of deep red fell from her mouth.

         To-day is my birthday….but to-day I am dead.



More blood began dripping and pooling on the ground beneath her. It began to run from her eyes and nose. The walls shook and lightning flashed over and over again. She screamed once out of shock and pain. The rest of them were from fear. She saw blood dripping from every wall, slowly running down the walls and oozing out of ground. She screamed so loud that when she started coughing blood she thought she had busted her throat. She heard screaming echoing in every room and stairway. She screamed at the walls facing her, mocking her. She curled up again and began to scream and cry.

         How am I dead to-day? How can a child be dead to-day?



One last bolt of lightning struck and set the dead mansion aflame. The memories of that place died in the fire…