Visions
Amanda Seghi
January 24, 2007
“When life has departed from this withered soul and
breath has ceased to be captured, I shall be with you
always. Never forget it.” The ominous voice trailed on
through the dark as white images came to life of the
departed. There he stood, the boy trapped. The images
lived on in a memory, and the memory played before his
eyes like a movie. A life once in the past played
before his eyes like a sick joke. Then this old life
melted away into nothing. The black ooze that he so
dreaded crept up his body, its slimy texture covering
every inch of his body. He tried to scream, but no
sound came. “Scream… if you can even find your voice.”
Another voice came from nowhere, ringing through the
dark prison. His eyes wide with terror as the ooze
encased him into a black cocoon. He felt the pain; the
pain was burning. Burning. His flesh melted into the
ooze as it ripped away at his organs and then crunched
his bones. Finally, scream came from his clenched
throat. It pierced the darkness.
Eyes filled with fear, the boy sat up in his bed, the
covers strewn upon the floor. A cold sweat ran down
his face and neck. He searched his body with his hands
in the dark; relieved to find he was still whole he
sat thinking. He thought for moments on end before he
whispered, “What a nightmare… that’s the last time I
eat pizza, pickles and ice cream while watching Horror
films.” He let out a long sigh and fell back into bed,
his head resting on the indented pillow. He was too
scared to sleep, so he busied himself with counting
dots on the ceiling. His mind wandered back to the
first voice when he reached thirty-seven dots. “That
voice sounded so familiar, but why?” The whole thing
puzzled him; why did that voice come to him with his
memories he had locked away? Why now? His head
throbbed and his eyelids sagged; he was passed out in
another minute.
“TJ? You’ll be late, honey! Come on!” the shrill
voice of a mother trailed up the stairs and echoed in
the halls. The boy grumbled as he rolled out of bed
with a muffled thud, the blankets making a makeshift
cushion. He groggily stood and looked for a shirt and
pants. He grabbed a black long sleeve shirt from his
chair and put on some baggy jeans from the floor. His
head throbbed gently as if to remind him of his
sleepless night. “Oh… I know, I know… you can quit
pounding now.” He growled out at his own head. Lazily
grabbing his bag, he closed the door behind him as he
entered the hall. Before him were cabinets and a
counter top, usually used for folding towels and
sheets, it was now trashed with forgotten papers and
items that were normal but had been mutated into items
even unknown to scientists. The wooden floor was light
and area rugs covered certain parts. However, it was
also cold and his bare feet did not mix, the rude wake
up call reminded him to get socks and shoes. After the
second round of rummaging in his room, TJ came back
out to the hall. To his right were his mother’s room,
a closet and a locked room. To the left was the
bathroom and more so in front of him were the stairs.
He looked to the room diagonal of him, the locked
room. It seemed different. He shook his head and
descended the stairs. He quickly ate his eggs and
toast, kissed his mother’s cheek and ran out the door.
“That boy… he’s always late.” His mother sighed after
him.
After four classes of sleeping, drawing and
thinking, TJ headed out for his usual hang out at
lunch. The guys were all around, laughing and joking.
“Hey, what’s up TJ?” came the voice of TJ’s best
friend. “Hey Kyle! Everything ‘cept my grades buddy!”
The two boys laughed at the false statement for TJ was
a decent student and could get A pluses if he wanted
to. “Hey, why do you look so tired? Ooo… did you
finally get laid dude?” Kyle’s eagerness nearly made
him explode with anticipation. “Nah… I told you that
won’t happen for a while dude. It’s actually because
of a nightmare.” TJ’s face brightened with shame. “A
nightmare?” Kyle’s look took on a disappointed feature
with a hint of “Are you serious?” “Yeah, I know. But
it was odd… I could feel everything and I heard these
voices…” Kyle interrupted, “Voices? You know, that’s
the first sign of a crazy… Do we need to get you a
straight jacket so you can hug yourself, TJ?” all the
guys laughed and taunted until the bell rang. “I’m not
crazy…” TJ mumbled under his breath.
Metalworking, his favorite class; not only because he
got to use tools, but because it was the last class of
the day. He had just put on the safety goggles and
gloves when the teacher gave the class instructions on
making a metal picture frame. “You can add your own
designs to the frame after you weld the four pieces
together. Now, get started.” TJ grabbed the black
metal from the bin and took it back to his
workstation; he had a good idea in mind. Lighting the
torch, he carefully held it in his right hand and took
two pieces with his left. The metal melted and oozed,
fusing with one another. The ooze reminded him of the
nightmare, he was frozen with dread. The metal took on
the form of the black goop and it grew before his
eyes; the room melted away and he was alone with the
ooze again. Then that familiar pain returned, that
burning pain. It burned deeply in his hand and when he
screamed, it came out. The blackness shattered and
reality restored itself. The ooze was metal and the
burning was from the torch. The teacher ran to him as
he dropped the torch, letting go of the button, it
went off as it hit the floor. The students looked in
shock at TJ for he was never so careless. The teacher
gently pulled away what was left of the glove;
underneath, TJ’s had was scorched. The skin was red
and puffy, blisters began to form and skin was missing
on his palm. An escort took him to the Nurse who
informed this Mother who took him to the emergency
room.
About two hours later, TJ emerged from the white
doors into the waiting room. His left hand was
bandaged in white linen. The doctor spoke to his
worried mother, “It is a third degree burn, but it
will heal, with scars. The blistering has gone down
and the redness will fade. The skin will grow back in
about a week or so. He can’t use it for the first
week, but it will get better, rest assured. Put this
on it for five days every morning. Good-bye.” He gave
her a tube of cream and fresh linens. TJ looked at his
mother with shame, but she smiled as tears streaked
her cheeks and her son, thankful for his safety. They
drove home in the dusk, quiet and thankful.
“Oh lovely memories, cease to thee. Flowing on to
not, unforgotten and ill fated. Tumbling so in an
uncaring fashion. Flow to my mind so that I will
remember thine.” The ominous voice rang loudly through
the pitch black. New memories scrolled upon the wall
before his eyes. A childhood party of old, a party for
someone he did not know. He stepped closer in
amazement for he saw his own mother there, holding an
infant while the child of about thirteen maybe
fourteen at the table blew out the candles. Was he
hers? The image dissolved and another came. A toddler
of two ran through the halls, passing the stairs as a
boy of fifteen or sixteen stopped the toddler. He
spoke, but there was no sound. His face was hidden in
shadow; the toddler looked directly at TJ. “Uh…!” That
toddler was himself.
With a cold sweat, TJ sat up. His hand was throbbing
to an unheard beat, pulsing under the bandages. He
felt sick, like something had twisted his stomach in
knots. He felt it, it was coming. Quickly, he leaned
his head over the bed’s edge and braced himself. The
warm liquid burned as it traveled up his esophagus and
out of his mouth, making a loud splattering sound as
some hit the books on the floor. When it was all out,
he wiped his mouth and in the faint light of the moon,
noticed it was too dark. He jumped out of bed and
turned the lights on, anticipating what he would see.
Just to the side of the bed, staining the carpet and
books was a puddle. Blood. He felt the after thought
of vomiting up blood; it tingled at first and then
numbed him whole. He collapsed on to the floor with a
thud.
Sounds of screams echoed through his pounding head;
he couldn’t move. A few moments later he felt the
tingling leaving. As he stood, his mother helped him.
“What happened? Are you okay? You need a Doctor.” His
mother’s voice sounded frantic. “N-no, I’ll be fine,
really. I just need to sleep right now.” “Are you
sure? I think you need a Doctor, Honey.” “No, I don’t
need a ******** Doctor!” TJ snapped at his mom, he
couldn’t control himself. His mother’s face took on a
hurt look, he had never yelled at her nor cussed at
her before. “I’m sorry mom, I didn’t mean it… I’m just
agitated and in pain.” “I know Honey, I’ll clean this
up, you taka shower and then go to bed. I do have to
go to work, but I’ll call and stop by for lunch, okay
Sweetie?” “Sure mom.” He left her to clean and went to
the bathroom. The steam from the shower fogged the
mirror and hung in the air. After seven minutes of a
hot shower, the water went off. He stepped out of the
sauna like shower to be greeted by a cool air in his
more sensitive areas. He quickly wrapped the towel
around his waist, providing shelter for his companion.
The remaining water dripped off his shaggy black hair
and down his broad back. He wasn’t too skinny and too
muscular. A knock came at the door and his mother’s
voice came after, “I’m going, Honey. You make sure you
get rest. Love you.” Her footsteps trailed off down
the stairs and a few moments later the front door
slammed and clicked. Locked.
Now in black sweats and a pullover, TJ went to his
room. He looked upon the stains, now brown and faded,
blood didn’t come out too easily. He lay down and
tried to sleep, but couldn’t. He looked to his door
and noticed a shadow moving back and forth from under
his door. He called out, “Mom? I thought you left?”
Nothing. He uncovered himself and crept to the door.
Cracking it enough to see across from him, he saw a
shadow slip in under the door to the locked room.
“Okay… this isn’t funny guys… shouldn’t you be
sleeping in class?” Nothing. He hesitantly reached for
the knob; he felt the cool metal of the round knob in
his hand. Turning slowly, he listened as the tumbler
clicked its gear out of place and pulled back the
trigger. It was unlocked. “Why?” The door creaked open
and inside was a room like his covered in ages of
dust. “What is this? The Twilight Zone?” Curiosity
took hold as he explored. He saw pictures of his
family on the desk, but they were with another boy.
The door suddenly slammed and the shadow took form
before him. It was as tall as him, but no defining
features appeared. “What is this?” he screamed out in
terror. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he
was in the dark room once again and now in place of
the blob was a boy. He too had black hair and brown
eyes; his face had a childish glow but he looked
masculine. His voice sounded safe, “TJ… I’ve missed
you.” TJ starred blankly, confused and scared. “W-who
are you?” his voice quavered. “TJ, you can’t
remember? Oh… I suppose not… you were only two when
you last saw me. It’s me, Todd, your older brother.”
Shock washed over TJ’s face, his body trembled, “Liar!
I have no siblings!” TJ’s anger burst out of him like
a rampant beast. “I’ll show you…” The darkness washed
away and a flood of memories played on fast-forward.
The boy, Todd, was in them all with TJ’s toddler self.
“How can this be?” Todd simply answered TJ’s hushed
question with, “I am dead.” He continued, “You see… I
died during… Oh, you can see for yourself.” And image
of a rainy night appeared and TJ, as a toddler, sat on
Todd’s lap. The image grew larger till both Todd and
TJ were in the image, watching everything in close
view, watching themselves in third person. Yelling was
heard downstairs, the parents. Todd held the
frightened toddler and soothed him with kind words,
“It will be all right.” When TJ began to cry, Todd
asked him if he would like to hear something he had
wrote that night. He cleared his throat and began,
“Oh lovely memories, cease to thee. Flowing on to not,
unforgotten and ill fated. Tumbling so in an uncaring
fashion. Flow to my mind so that I will remember
thine.
When life…”
He was interrupted by the sound of stomps and then a
man burst into the room, dad. His face was red,
nostrils flared and mother behind him, eyes swollen
and tears streaming. TJ hid under the bed as their dad
grabbed Todd by the collar. He yelled curses at him
and kept saying, “Why? Why have you chosen to defy
us?” Todd had decided to go into theatre instead of
taking up the family business. Their dad yelled that
only queers and lesbians went to theatre and when Todd
said that maybe he liked their kind more and didn’t
care, the man’s furry unleashed. He began to choke his
son till he turned blue. Mother tried to stop him, but
he only hit her. When he realized what he was doing,
it was too late. Todd had choked to death by his
father own hands. Their mother screamed and ran to her
room to call 9-1-1. The man sat next to the corpse and
pondered why he had done it. When the police arrived,
he didn’t resist. A charge for murder to a child,
lifetime sentence, maybe less.; the image went black
and TJ’s eyes filled with tears. Todd hugged his
sibling, reassuring him like he had done fifteen years
ago. “I’m sorry that I never remembered Todd.” “It is
all right. I’m sure that it scarred you and that
somehow, you locked it away deep inside you. You know,
I never did get to finish my poem for you, would you
like to know?” TJ shook his head. “Alright…
“Oh lovely memories, cease to thee. Flowing on to not,
unforgotten and ill fated. Tumbling so in an uncaring
fashion. Flow to my mind so that I will remember
thine.
When life has departed from this withered soul and
breath has ceased to be captured, I shall be with you
always. Never forget it.”
The blackness melted away and TJ sat in Todd’s room,
alone. He remembered the poem fully now, and that he
had written it for him because Todd knew what was
going to happen, somehow. He felt sick again, but
nothing came up, just everything went dark and he
collapsed once again. His mother was checking him when
he came to. “What happened, what were you doing in
here?” He smiled and said, “Visiting Todd… I’ll be
okay now, because I know about Todd, mom.” His eyes
closed as he finally got the rest he needed.
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