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Paradigm
One beautiful, cloudy summer day, I laid by the creek. I lay sprawled, gazing at the clouds through the treetops. The breeze rolled over my face and between the hairs on my forearms as I took a deep breath in, enjoying the serenity of the moment.
A bee flew past my face, the subtle buzz of it's wings slowly fading to the sound of a CH-47 helicopter sweeping overhead. After a brief moment of silence, I heard the rotor blades fading off in the other direction, as if they landed and changed route. As I looked down to my feet, I saw flies that would keep landing on my clothes and squatting down as if they were preparing to feed or something.
I was alarmed when I discovered I couldn't raise my arm to swat them, and I started contemplating the prospect that this may be a dream.
Just as soon as I did, however, a monarch butterfly would flutter down and land on my chest, and I find myself in the waking world.
I look around, my neck incredibly stiff, my vision blurred and my body shot with sharp, burning pain followed with pins and needles. A deep, labored groan escaped as I tried to take a breath in, only for my lungs to rattle and gurgle from the amount of fluid, making me choke as a result.
I remember the plague like it was yesterday. I don't remember all those I've lost, and I don't remember all those who were at fault. I don't even remember the name of the damn thing. But in short, many people died avoidable deaths because of the conscious decisions other people made, the unwillingness of those with a voice to speak up.
I began to wander through the lush, deep forest with clothes tattered, bloodied and soiled. My gait was uneasy, as though I had a limp, and just as I began to cry out for help, vomit spewed from my stomach and onto the grass, some getting on my shoe. I stop for a moment, looking down as the realization strikes. I was one of the lost l and forgotten. I was one of the statistics, one who died due to the actions of people I've never met.
I collapsed to my knees as a result, my arms slumping down to my sides as I begin to bellow in what I thought was a cry.
(I don't have premium so this is how I have to save my work. Please bear with the edits! Sorry!)
© Levi McPhee
A bee flew past my face, the subtle buzz of it's wings slowly fading to the sound of a CH-47 helicopter sweeping overhead. After a brief moment of silence, I heard the rotor blades fading off in the other direction, as if they landed and changed route. As I looked down to my feet, I saw flies that would keep landing on my clothes and squatting down as if they were preparing to feed or something.
I was alarmed when I discovered I couldn't raise my arm to swat them, and I started contemplating the prospect that this may be a dream.
Just as soon as I did, however, a monarch butterfly would flutter down and land on my chest, and I find myself in the waking world.
I look around, my neck incredibly stiff, my vision blurred and my body shot with sharp, burning pain followed with pins and needles. A deep, labored groan escaped as I tried to take a breath in, only for my lungs to rattle and gurgle from the amount of fluid, making me choke as a result.
I remember the plague like it was yesterday. I don't remember all those I've lost, and I don't remember all those who were at fault. I don't even remember the name of the damn thing. But in short, many people died avoidable deaths because of the conscious decisions other people made, the unwillingness of those with a voice to speak up.
I began to wander through the lush, deep forest with clothes tattered, bloodied and soiled. My gait was uneasy, as though I had a limp, and just as I began to cry out for help, vomit spewed from my stomach and onto the grass, some getting on my shoe. I stop for a moment, looking down as the realization strikes. I was one of the lost l and forgotten. I was one of the statistics, one who died due to the actions of people I've never met.
I collapsed to my knees as a result, my arms slumping down to my sides as I begin to bellow in what I thought was a cry.
(I don't have premium so this is how I have to save my work. Please bear with the edits! Sorry!)
© Levi McPhee
