A.G. Flowers

---

The weather was dreary that Wednesday morning. Overcast clouds that trickled out water droplets the size of marbles. Their splatter making the drive to school all that much harder. Well, for the bus driver anyways, I only noticed the rain because of my forehead being placed against the cool surface of the window. The bus was crowded, loud like any other day.

Thunder rumbled and rolled, drowning out the voices of those around me. Something tickles my ear, and my hand swats nothing away. The feeling comes back, this time with a little sharp ping to the touch, and again I swat nothing away. The touch returns, except as a sharp talon that rakes through my ear and across my mind. “Enough!” I shout and wheel around.

Dark tendrils float in front of me as a black, foggy mass. No face but yet in the bleakness were hallow divots that appeared as eyes. The fog reaches out to me, pinning my arms to my body. You can’t do anything right, says a voice inside my mind. Try and try as you might, you will always continue to fail. My hands freeze into balls of fist as I try to force my arms free of its hold. In the end, you know that she will die, and eventually the drink will drown your father if it hasn’t already. I want to scream but the entity adds a third arm by snaking around my throat.

The air that I wanted to release only slips out in little gasps. I twist and turn my head, fighting the bleakness around my neck, trying to be free of its hold. Your pitiful struggle can never free you of me. You will always carry me with you, and I will only grow the more you fail. The fog spreads around my vision, blotting out what little light was on the bus. The tendrils holding my body squeeze…squeeze…and squeeze. The pressure, the fear, and even if it is fog it feels like the weight of a planet.

Thunder rumbles, and lightening slowly dances across the sky. A water droplet slaps the window and my eyes blink. The surface of the window is still cool against my forehead. The bus is still crowded and loud. My breath fogs up the glass as my gaze still watches the drizzling rain. And there is still something touching my ear.

---