Waiting in Line

Shackled I am as I tread in line.

Everyone gathers around.

Every cursed step I take amuses them.

Deep inside, my veins run cold.

My heart aches.

My soul screams; it might as well jump from out my body.

Hyenas, they are with that collective, strange cackle.

I am that little antelope.

The man that stands in front of me trips over his steps, sending an antsy wave that almost disrupts my balance.

But I know better than to fall.

He, however, doesn’t.

They straightened him alright and real fast.

eyes bruised

lips cut

blood gushing

I don’t know what more is of him…

Yet, still he stands.

And now we have reached the destination.

A rock sits at the center, like a bed.

It is painted red.

No, that’s got to be blood.

It’s not the color that gave it away though. It was that rancid smell.

Swiftly they fasten him to the rock.

First his red-stained arms; next his trembling legs.

He didn’t even put up a fight.

How he welcomed that wretched death with open arms!

The rock rises. I watch him ascend, blocking the only thing natural of this whole situation–the sun.

The men raise him higher, for they wanted the sacrifice perfectly lit before their eyes.

That was when a nasty bloody drop encroached on my forehead.

And then came some more.

He was bleeding out but the game had not even started.

“Men, we must hurry. Remember, the black medal goes to the man with the heart.”

The men stood in line with their bow and arrows, the devil sitting on their shoulders.

The first man prepared his bow. Before he shot, he glanced back at me with a grimace.

And I watched his bow find the target.

I shut my eyes, but terror did not escape my ears.

POP!

I opened them and saw an eyeball soaring through the air, coming straight at me!

All the men chuckled.

The oldest of them grew irritated.

“Listen here, boys. Enough of these little games and aim for the damn heart!”

For once, silence came.

Then came the second of them.

I shut my eyes. All I heard was that loathsome POP!

“We got a winner!”

I opened them and watched the old man hold the heart like a trophy.

The rest of them unfastened the body and propelled it into the icy river and watched it float away.

“Bring the next!”

Never in my life had I heard such terrifying words.

I put up a good fight though it was useless.

And now I ascend up the sky.