It Was Supposed to End

I could hear the sirens wailing as the familiar black and white cars sped down the street and toward my house. In only moments, police would be busting down my door. Unfortunately, they will be too late.

Deep crimson blood stained the hard cherry wood floors of my darkened living room, seeping into the cracks to coagulate. These last twenty minutes had been a blur and I could feel my heart rising to my throat, catching there like a golf ball. I stood frozen in place, dizzy with nausea as I desperately tried to collect the thoughts rolling around in my head.

I saw my wife's body first. She was laying against her favorite curio cabinet, the glass shelves shattered beneath her weight. All of the little trinkets she had so lovingly collected throughout our years of marriage now lay scattered on the floor like broken memories trickled in blood.

Nearby lay my son and daughter, both stomach-down on the floor in pools of blood. Tears quickly began to form in my eyes as I walked slowly toward them, floorboards creaking eerily beneath my feet. I knelt down, placing a hand on both of their tiny backs, hoping against hope for a response. Neither of them moved; their little bodies were already cold.

Without warning, two burly police officers burst through the front door, weapons raised and ready as they broke the silence. I immediately threw my arms in the air and closed my eyes, surrendering. I braced myself, certain that I would be shot on sight, welcoming death with open arms like a long lost friend.

To my surprise, no shots were fired.

When I opened my eyes, both men had lowered their guns while one was pulling the radio from his belt. "We've got four bodies here, we're going to need an ambulance," he relayed. His voice was deep and somber. "It looks like a murder suicide. Over."

My jaw dropped. "FOUR bodies?" I asked myself, shocked. "A murder... suicide?"

My eyes went wide as I slowly turned to face the spot I had been standing not moments before. There I saw it; my body lay on the ground in front of me, lifeless, a bullet deep inside my head. Fear gripped my stomach. "What's happening?!" I screamed, panicked.

No one could hear me.

One of the officers sighed as he walked over to my body, kicking the gun from my bloodied hands. The look on his face was of both empathy and disgust as he knelt down beside me, checking my pulse in vain. "You poor bastard, why'd you do this?" he asked aloud, lowering his head before standing to his feet again.

And then I remembered.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as I whispered,"I thought the world was going to end today."