Jungle

                                                            Jungle
                                                    By: K.L. Redding


I walked quietly through shrubs and trees. The moon was high and full, but the over growth between the houses blocked most of the light. Not that it mattered; I had walked the mini jungle a thousand times. I was almost home when two male voices whispered softly over the breeze.

"Look, were in this together! Both the boys are involved and he is going to do something about it."
" Yeah, but why does it have to be me?"

" Because you don't own a gun, and I can report mine missing. No one will suspect a thing."
" Ok, ok, lets get this over with, then we take care of the boys. I can't believe we have to do this, we have been neighbors for years."

" I know, just remember to wipe it and toss it in the bushes."

I couldn't move, couldn't believe what I was hearing. I knew the voices; I have heard them almost as much as I had taken this short cut. No names would come to me but their faces were clear as if the sun was blinding my eyes, and I knew whom they were going to kill but not the why.

I speeded up my pace trying to make it to my home before they did, trying not to be seen or heard. Coming up on the edge of shrubs I saw my father working on his car. It was a classic 1937 something or other that he loved. I had picked the purplish pink color out as a joke, and dad had painted it that color to make me happy. He was leaned over the open hood as I raised my hands to warn him I was there, that there was danger. Opening my mouth to scream nothing came out, and his world moved silently on from the car towards his toolbox by the side of the drive.

I saw his face go white in the moonlight as pain worked its way over it. He was falling to his knees with his hands over his red chest and the pain rip through me. My ears rang with the explosion and I felt myself falling with him. Gasping for breath I closed my eyes knowing my father was dying a few feet from me; I had been to late. Silence was interrupted again with the soft sound of rustling leaves and a thud.

Rolling over to my stomach I slithered on my belly until I was in the area of the thud, then my hands moved with a mind of their own and searched for sure death. Feeling its coldness in my hands I drew up to my knees and retraced my steps slowly. "I'll get them daddy. Then you'll be ok. I'll fix it all." Followed the cracking of small broken twigs on the night air.

The night had gotten noticeably cold and I found myself gasping with every move as my lungs stung from it. The sounds were covered by other screams in the night. The moon must have gone behind a cloud as I was having problems navigating the path that I knew so well. Maybe it was because I was so close to the ground as I moved, but things seemed odd as I clawed my way through the jungle. I could see the different colors of the leaves changing seasons. The freshly fallen ones going from green to red, and the brown ones that snapped softly at the pressure of my hands. Small puffs of dirt rose with ever hand placement bringing me closer to the sound of screams. For a moment I stopped to wonder about the sound, "what could be screaming like that?" No wild animals lived this close to people, least any that I knew of.

The cold was spreading through me; it had worked its way into my arms now. I hated to lift my hands from the warm earth beneath them. I could see them shaking with each movement until they refused to hold my body up in a forward motion. The moon hid behind a cloud again as to not witness the failure of my head hitting the ground. When it showed its face again I could see the small trenches that my breath had made in the dirt fighting the cold that now burned through my belly. The cold turned to a fire of rage when the image of my fathers' face filled my mind. " I'll get them daddy, I'll take care of everything. Won't let them hurt you again." Came through the sounds of my grunts as I raised to my knees and continued down my chosen path.

My hands met cold concrete and I knew I had reached my destination. The screams were no longer in the night air but the night danced with a new disturbance. The brightness caused me to blink repeatedly and I almost fell again. Red and blue screamed in my eyes and my stomach spun trying to find the right tempo to a soundless dance. Violent jerking took over my stomach and I felt dinner coming back on me. Still the lights screamed on silently running over each other in attempts to be heard.

Then I heard the voices again, explaining how they knew nothing about what was going on. "I heard the shot but don't know where it came from?" The lie quieted every other sound.

" It seemed to come from everywhere." Shot the other voice.

My arms found knew strength in my grief and they jumped of their own rage. " Liar, liar! I heard you! I saw you!" Rang through my head and I stared at them on a silver stage.

" Miss, drop the gun. Were here to help, just drop the gun so no one gets hurt."

"Hurt? He is hurt and they did it. I saw them! Daddy I'm going to fix it all," was carried across the driveway in an explosion.

I saw them moving closer to the ground, in unison, the evil speaker and doer. But they never dropped below my line of sight. The cold was back, eating its way through my whole body. I could feel nothing but its jaws ripping at me, forcing me into darkness. " Call some more ambulances, tell them four possible shooting victims." Silence, the night closed in.