Are you ready? Yes. Are you sure? Yes. Are you scared? No. Sighing, the guard gets up from my cot and leaves my cell, whistling a sad, melodic tune that makes me think of a little blue bird, drowning in an ocean of thick, murky, black water. I smile at the thought and mimic the guard’s tune. Poor little blue bird. Poor little drowning blue bird. No one can save you poor little blue bird. Oh little blue bird. Where have you gone? I allow myself to enter this new world. Every day, one by one, a little blue bird falls off the clouds, through the black sky, into the deep, soulless water. Then, another little blue bird follows suit, lifelessly falling through space to their deaths. One by one. One by one. One by one.  The other little blue birds wait on their purple clouds, watching emotionlessly as their comrades fade away. Another little blue bird falls afterwards, possessed by the lost souls of the forgotten little blue birds. They float down in perfect, ghostly unison. The last little blue bird falls, falling gently through the pit of the universe, ready to be with his companions in a new dimension of darkness. Finally, it is my turn. Closing my eyes, I fall backwards off my cloud, and float. I can feel the energy from the ocean pulling me closer. Closer. Closer. I’m almost there. I’m almost home. Clank! Unfortunately, my beautiful nightmare is interrupted by the sound of the cell door being shut. I peer up at my mother, who is staring down at me with an unreadable expression. She looks terrible, as usual, with her mousy blonde hair rumpling on her shoulders, jeans dusty, worn and ripped from the knee up to where the pockets should be. Her eyes, once dazzling blue orbs, are nearly invisible and close to non-existent. Nonexistent, yet able to stare into mine with excellent precision. Slowly, I rise from the cot and walk towards her. C***ing her head to the side, she smirks, revealing a set of decaying yellow teeth, “I can’t wait till you’re in that van. Lord knows I’ve been anticipatin’ this for weeks now. Even marked it on my calendar.” I flash the woman a set of pearlies myself, “And Lord knows I’ve been anticipatin’ your demise for years now. It’s just too bad I won’t be there to witness it.” The smirk quickly vanishes from my mother’s face, and she takes a few threatening steps closer to me. The scent of raw possum and weed tickles my nose with each thump. “It should’ve been YOU hanging from that tree branch you good for nothing pig”, she spits, “not Jeff!” To hear her say this causes me to GUFFAW! out loud. “Actually, it should’ve been you AND Jeff. Sadly, I didn’t have enough rope.” This was enough for the woman, and she drew back her chalky hand and slapped me. stumbling backward towards my cot, I regain my balance and slowly look back up at her. The woman was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. I stand up straight and smile, sliding my tongue over my bloodstained teeth, “A little harder next time.” My mother starts again towards me, but stops when the cell door opens again. Another burly, heavyset guard bustles in, holding the -door slightly ajar -with his hip. He stares at me through his yellowed mirrors, “Its time. What would you like to eat before we go?” I slide my eyes toward the woman, who snarls at me in response. Turning back to the guard, who looks uncomfortably between me and my mother, I smile and say, “Cherries.” A loud screech and two heavy feet come to greet towards me, startling the sweaty guard and causing me to smile even harder. Two hands are clamped around my neck and I struggle to laugh. Two more guards rush in, trying to pull the woman off the demon, who continues to laugh feverishly, ignoring the woman’s screeches and slaps to the face, punches to the jaw. The demon bleeds and laughs, bleeds and laughs, bleeds and laughs. Suddenly, SNAP. The laughing stops. The red rivers run. The guards stand. The woman stares. The camera snaps. The face smiles. Motionless. 

Finally. I am home.