Black Dahlia, Murph [comprehension books .TXT] 📗

I had a couple of friends who were dating. I'll call them Mike and Sarah. When they first got together, they were happy. Everything was good. This isn't a story when one day everything suddenly turned sour, although it may seem like that. I'm not omnipotent or anything, I guess that Sarah had just been losing interest for a while. I took note of it when our school's new superstar wide reciever moved here. Sarah started, just subtle things at first, to avoid Mike. We can guess what happened. I don't know exactly myself, but I did hear about them fighting a lot before the break up. My memory isn't perfect, but I recall Mike telling me about the first time when he appraoched Sarah about her strange behavior. She had told him it was nothing, which, incidently, is when the fight started. I think we can start here,

"Bullshit!" Mike yelled, "Its not nothing now that all of the sudden you're ignoring me?"

Sarah recoiled, but only slightly, "Mike, stop yelling. I havent been ignoring you, I j-"

"Not ignoring me? Won't answer your phone, won't return texts, and suddenly you're never around when I come by, just to see you? how is that not ignoring me?"

"I just... just-" Sarah stammered, "I just need some space, is all. I've been feeling..." She paused, searching for a word, "off lately."

"That doesn't mean you take it out on me, Sarah." Mike replied hotly.

"I'm not. I mean, Idon't mean to, I'm just-" She fell silent. Mike didn't move or make a sound, he stood, just waiting for her to finish her statement.

"I-"

Mike cut her off before she could get the thought out, "Do you think I don't know about how you've been playing around with other guys?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Half of the fucking football team!" Mike blurted out, "What, you think that just because you're the assistant manager means you have to flirt with all of them? How many left until you've made a pass on all of them, huh?"

"Fuck you, Michael! Fuck. YOU!" Sarah screamed as hot tears began to roll down her cheeks, "GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!"

Thunderous footsteps came down the hall, and Sarah's dad burst through the door. Mike looked at him, then at Sarah, then back again. No one else noticed the single tear running down his cheek as her father escorted him out of the house without a word.

1 week later

Mike popped open the bottle and examined its contents. Vikoden. Powerful stuff. this should take the edge off of everything he was feeling. Sarah hadn't spared him a second glance since the fight, nor had she, or any of her friends attempted to talk to him about anything. they all just glared when they saw him in the halls. He wanted so badly to apologize to her, but knew that if he came too close, her friends would tear him to pieces. He swallowed several of the pills. His third double dose in 4 hours. He looked up from his seat at the edge of his bed, right into the mirror. He could barely make out the face of the boy staring back at him. Look at him. he thought. What a fuckin' loser, resorting to pills. Pfft. Suddenly, a fit of rage overtook him. He grabbed the nearest object and slung it at the mirror. with a loud CRASH! the mirror fell to pieces on the floor. Mike threw the tantrum of his life. Nothing in his room was safe from the drug fueled anger that spilled from his every pore.

After his room was effectively obliterated, Mike plodded down the stairs to his parents' room. He glanced around beforeretrieving his father's .45 from the dresser. As he made his way out the front door, he folded thepistol into the pocket of his hoodie. His mind didn't know where he was going, but his feet were taking him to Sarah's house. It was saturday. Both of her parents worked on saturdays.

Sarah stepped out of the car with a small smile. The driver, the superstar wide reciever, walks her to the door.

"I had a good time, Sarah." He said with a smile.

"So did I, ******." she smiled softly, anticipating, and secretly dreading the inevitable. He leaned toward her and embraced her in a tender hug before softly pressing his lips to hers. He smiled. She smiled as he pulled away.

"I'll see you monday." He called over his shoulder as he made his way back to the car. She watched just long enough for him to drive off before turning to enter her sanctuary. As she turned, she noticed Mike, standing, staring, not two houses away. She pretended not to notice and went inside.

Mike was seething, the rage of before not dissipated by the 20 minutes it took to walk as far as he'd come. (Honestly, I'm surprised he was able to even breathe, let alone stand or walk) He watched as Sarah stepped back inside, oblivious to his presense. With renewed anger, he sprinted to her door, unveilinghis weaponas he came closer to the house. He reached for the door knob and the sleeve of his hoodie slid back just far enough for a crimson glow to catch his eye. He stopped dead in his tracks, and stared at the ribbon of blood careening across his wrist. He looked at the door, the gun, then back at his arm. As quickly as it had come, the anger, the hate, was gone.

That night apx 10:30pm.

Mike sat on the roof of a house. Sarah's neighbors whom he didn't know all that well. From here, he could see her, lying asleep in her bed, peaceful and angelic as she'd ever been. He remembered falling asleep holding her. The warmth of her body resting on his. She'll never understand. the thought echoed in his mind. He absent mindedly twirled the bottle of pills in his hands. He looked down at Sarah once again. It won't be so bad. He silently reassured himself. He swallowed several pills and stood up, flinging thepills into the darkness. He jumped down and started his walk back home.

In her bed, Sarah could find no rest. Nothing was right anymore. Not since Mike had accused her of cheating on him and she'd told him to leave. So far, he'd kept his distance, but it didn't feel right. She rolled over to look out of her window and up at the moon. He loved the moon. He'd often commented that he liked it because it shined with the strength of the sun, but with a gentler touch. She felt the tears start rolling down her cheeks as she remembered everything that she'd had with him. He loved her, just for who she was. why hadn't she seen that before. "I'm sorry." she quietly said to the emptiness around her. Just then,a flash of light and the report of a gunshot caused her to jump.She threw off her covers anddashed outside.

As Sarah stepped out of the front door, an odd black shape caught her eye in the illuminating glow of an orange street light. As she stepped closer, the face of the figure laying in the street became clearer. She gasped and covered her mouth, tears silently pouring down her cheeks. She stood, stunned, until an ambulance and police arrived. A young female officer tried to escort Sarah back inside, but she refused to move until the EMTs pulled the sheets over her love's once handsome face....

Text: Murphy, T
Publication Date: 08-26-2012

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