Accompanying song:

 

 

 

Woodstock, Connecticut – January 29th, 2013

 

 

I used to watch the world in amazement. Enjoy the songs the birds sang as they flew over my head. I drew energy from the wind blowing my back, pushing me forward, spats of rain dropping onto my head, leaves rustling past my legs, the sun warming my skin, laughter filling my ears. I could go on and on about the things I loved—the things people never really stopped to think about it. Just listen. Stop and listen. Hear the world buzz, your heartbeat, life continuing forever.

I wanted to capture it all and show the beauty of this world to the people inhabiting it. My camera was my best friend. Never far away from me, I carried it around everywhere, any place I could imagine. Whether it was a school, my home, a family member’s house, the zoo, on vacation, or anywhere else, my camera and I were inseparable. Taking pictures was my way of witnessing this world, learning to love it. It was my way to forget about the deplorable situation back at home.

It wasn’t until my parents’ relationship deteriorated that I viewed the outside world as a place I didn’t want to live in anymore. My family was never a solid one. I didn’t realize this until I was old enough to leave for college, when the cracks in their love started showing. Going to college severed me from them, and in turn, they severed from each other. I was the thread that had kept them together.

I tried not to think about it and focused on college instead, which was very difficult. I missed my pet, Mister Flufbuns, a lot. He’d been my companion for such a long time, but I couldn’t take him with me, so my mom took care of him. The only thing I had to cheer me up during tough days was my camera. My father often visited me, my mother not at all. She and I never had the best relationship. We both had a phone, but she didn’t care to use it either. Except for that one phone call.

The day I heard my father was violently ill.

When I discovered how bad his situation was, I couldn’t continue. Not with anything. College was put on the back burner. Soon after, my father died.

We never knew why it happened or even how.

All I knew was that my mother never cared. Not one bit.

Or she was the world’s best actress. Either way, my world came tumbling down. Nothing could be worse than this. Or so I thought.

That one phone call gives the word ‘evil’ a whole different meaning. Evil tells me to come home. It isn’t a question. There isn’t even an if in my mind. The moment my mother is mentioned, everything comes crashing down upon me.

Vacation with my best friend Ashley comes to an abrupt end and I immediately pack my bags. Ashley comes with me as support. We both jump on the first plane we can catch and make our way to my home. Except, home isn’t home anymore.

What we find is hell.

My bunny. My sweet, cute pet, Mister Flufbuns.

Slaughtered.

Torn apart like a beast ravaged him and ate him alive.

Horror fills my lungs, preventing me from breathing as we walk into my backyard. I find his remains on the grass … on the stones … against the walls. Blood smeared all over. I step over the bones and skin, his fur scattered all across our yard.

It is there, in the midst of it all, that we find my mother.

Her lifeless body among the remains of my beloved Mister Flufbuns. Blood stains her chin, and a pool grows beneath her. Her chest is covered in fur and several puncture wounds have made holes in her chest. I stop to gasp and witness the scene, paralyzed. Horrified.

Evil lurks in the corners. Watching us. Prowling. Waiting for us to scream.

We tried to run, we really did.

But no one can escape the devil.