Kitchen Knife

A field surrounded me. Where was I? A cold wind came through. It hit my legs and arms. Goosebumps appeared all over my body. Why was I wearing shorts and a tshirt? My bare feet were covered in dirt. My foot found ground when I took a step. But it didn't find dirt. A liquid oozed between my toes and dripped from my hand. It was dark and stained my skin. I went to touch it but realized my hand was clutching something. My right hand grasped tightly to a kitchen knife. The blade dropped tears of the dark liquid, slowly rolling down and falling...like a tear would down someone's cheek. It made a small sound when it slid off the blade and onto the floor. The liquid puddled in a path behind me. I turned slowly to follow it. My lungs collapsed. I couldn't breathe. The image I was looking at blurred and came back into focus over and over again.  I didn't do this. I couldn't have. 

A woman lay in the field. Her eyes were glued open in terror. Her leg was twisted in an unnatural fashion. Her light face was covered in scratches that were bright red. There was a gash on the left side of her head. She had been cut from her chest to her lower abdomen. Blood pumped out of her, forming the sticky lake I stood in. The most disturbing part was her breathing patterns. Her lungs inhaled and exhaled rapidly trying to take in air. Her chest rose and fell. She looked like a fish out of water desperately trying to breathe. She wheezed when she tried to breathe.

I dropped the knife and stumbled backwards. My foot snagged on a branch and I fell. I winced in pain. All of the sudden the air went too quiet. The woman had stopped breathing. Although it was quiet, a low drum slowly increased in volume. It was her heartbeat. The louder it grew, the faster it got. When I thought it couldn't get any louder...the women screamed. It cracked the sky. I covered my ears and curled into a ball on the ground. My body shook uncontrollably. The scream didn't fade. 

New home, Wine, and Slow Dancing

Our house felt lonely with nothing in it. The air was too thin when I took a deep breath. The paint on the walls were a warm color but it wasn't quite "homey" enough yet. A light scent of the candles filled my lungs-the electricity hadn't been turned on yet. Wine twirled around as I tilted the glass in a circular motion. He rounded the corner, glanced at my feet, and back up again.

"Cold?" He smiled at me for a moment then turned and searched through a box or two.

I realized I had been standing on my tip toes to avoid the chilled wood floor. I smiled and let out a soft laugh. Returning my heels to the ground, I set my glass down. I turned towards him. My back leaned against the counter and my arms folded across the front of my body. 

"What are you looking for exactly?" 

"This." I squinted across the candle lit room too see what it was. Through the tangled cord and the bubble wrap was a radio we had kept through the move. I raised my eyebrows at him. He made his way into the open dining room and set it up. A slow song came on. He swayed into the kitchen to the soft beat of the song. I laughed at him but didn't say anything. Grabbing my hand, he spun me onto the open floor in our house. Our hands were laced together, forehead to forehead, with a perfect sway from side to side. 

Sunset Watching

Sand seeped in-between my toes. It was hot from soaking up the sun all day long. The heat slightly burned but I didn't care. My hair slightly blew behind me with the wind. I closed my eyes and listened. Music danced through the air and blew around me. The world was full of music but no one ever cared to take the time to stop and hear it. Complete silence was impossible-I decided that years ago. There would always be one thing fighting through the distance to be heard. 

The sea salt and humid air pumped through my lungs as I drew in one last deep breath. My eyes opened and rested on the sunset. Somehow mesmerized by its deep colors, I sat down in the sand. I couldn't have been there long before he slid behind me, put a leg on either side of me, and wrapped his arms around me. 

"Watching sunsets again huh? Can I join?" His voice was hushed and made my insides flutter. I smiled and leaned my head back on him. "I'd like that a lot." 

His strong arms around me made me lose my breath. He made me feel secure and safe...like no one could ever hurt me if I was in his arms. I was broken before he came into my life. Funny thing is, I was probably in a million pieces. But with every laugh, smile, "I love you", compliment, hug, and moments like this....he put me back together. Piece by piece, he found me and put me back together like a unsolved puzzle. And in the process, I fell harder and faster than you would say normal people do. 

I turned to look at him. Those eyes of his were bright and reflected the ocean in front of us. He looked back like he was searching for something. His face was relaxed and calm. I smiled softly. His arms started to softly unwrap from around me. He gently placed a hand on either side of my face and leaned in slowly. His lips were warm and soft. After a moment he pulled out slowly, letting our lips part. Our foreheads rested together before he pulled me into him. I curled up against him and closed my eyes and his arms wrapped around me again. It was silent-all except for his heartbeat and steady breathing. His hand found mine and our fingers tightly laced together. We sat there together till the sun had set below the ocean's surface and the stars came out to show their shining faces. Opening my eyes , I caught a shooting star soaring between the other stars. I prayed that God would freeze time and let me live in this moment forever...just me and him. That's all I wanted. All I ever needed.

Perfect Little Family

Our house was small, but it fit us all comfortably so we didn't mind. I was in the kitchen cleaning as I did every night after dinner. The two little boys were playing video games. My husband walked up behind me while I was doing dishes. I kept cleaning as he talked to me.

"How are we gonna get them off that thing huh? They're on it way too often." He ask as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I looked up and gave him one of those looks.

"And you're at work way too often. Maybe if you offered to play with them, they mind get off of it and spend time with you instead?" I winked at him and nudged him with my hip towards the kids.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin'. " He winked back and kissed my forehead before we turned around. He sat next to the youngest on the couch and looked at me as if to ask if that's what he should do. I shook my head, smiled, and continued doing dishes.

"Hey boys how was school?" He waited and there was no answer. Their eyes were still glued to the television and they were completely zoned out. I giggled and my husband playfully glared at me. I looked up and shrugged my shoulders. He raised his eyebrows as if to tell me "Its on. I got this." I put the plate down as he stood up and turned off the boys' game.

"Alright! No more video games for tonight." The boys whined at their fathers comment. I laughed and made eye contact with him again.

"Hey, there's no whining in this house!" Their father teased then ran towards them. He tackled them playfully to the ground and started to tickle them. I set my dishes down to watch for a moment. They rolled around on the floor laughing and tackling eachother. Their laughs were loud and full of pure joy.

"Wait! Mommy's part of the family too. She needs to play with us." I giggled and went over to them. I held the youngest in my lap and our oldest boy was with his father. We laughed and played till I said it was time to go to bed.

"Awe mom we are having so much fun! Ten more minutes?" One of the boys argued. His bottom lip slipped out as he tried to convince me with his best "puppy dog" face.

"Yeah baby, ten more minutes?" He mimicked in our sons voice and stuck out his bottom lip as well. I giggled at their attempts, but told them no.

I sent the boys to get into their pajamas and stood up off the floor. I started to walk back towards the kitchen but my husband grabbed my hand. He whipped my around and pulled me close to him.

"Guess what." He said.

"Baby I don't have time for this, I have to clean the kitchen."

"Just guess!" He said again. I rolled my eyes at him and smiled.

"What?"

" I think we can steal you away for ten more minutes, don't you think?" He tickled me then picked me up over his shoulder. I told him to put me down but he kept running towards the boys' room.

"Boys! I have mom! She said we can have ten more minutes!"
"I did not!" I arugued. He laughed at me and threw me down softly onto the little boys bed. Our two boys cheered and they all tackled me again, laughing as they did so.

Proposal

A red bandana covered my eyes. "Just tell me where we are going!"
"No, it's a suprise!"
I sighed at held tight to his hand so I wouldn't fall. We definitely were outside. The cold fall air blew around us. After a few minutes he stopped me.
"Okay, count to ten then you can take it off."
I slowly counted like he asked me to then slipped the bandana off. My eyes focused. We were in the middle of a football stadium. My feet were on the 50 ft yard line. I gasped and cupped my hands over my mouth when I saw him there on one knee. He addressed me by my full name.
"I met you and I knew at that moment you were the one. Those sparking eyes and your contagious smile made me fall hard. We've been through everything together. Thick and thin. And I would love nothing more to spend the rest of my life with you if you'd let me. Will you marry me?"

My eyes started to tear up and I shook my head and smiled. He slid the diamond ring onto my finger and I gently held the sides of his face and kissed him.

"I wouldn't think of spending the rest of eternity with anyone else. I love you."

"I love you too baby." He smiled.

I jumped when the first firework went off. More followed after it. I laughed and looked at him. Fireworks and a football field? I don't know how he did it, but it was perfect. He held me close and we watched the fireworks till they died out. 

"Fall"ing in love

We decided to take a walk that afternoon. Fall leaves dropped all around us. The scene took my breath away. The leaves had changed color from their green to deep reds, oranges, and yellows. I gathered a pile of leaves in my arms and tried to sneak up behind him. When I got close enough, I threw the leaves over his head.

"Hey!" He shouted. I squealed with laughter and ran away. He chased after me telling me that he would get me back. After a few moments, I had lost him. I hid behind a tree with a large trunk and tried to catch my breath. He didn't come. I peeked around the tree trunk to look for him. Nothing was there. I turned back around and he was right in my face with a handful of leaves. He threw them over me and they flew around me. While stepping forward, he tripped and fell into me. We both tumbled to the ground. He towered over me and we both burst up into laughter. He smiled down at me and gave me that look of pure love. He looked at me the way guys look at their love in movies. Like their completely mesmerized by you and they'd never love anyone else. He's blue green eyes gleamed as he smiled. He then leaned in and gave me a kiss.

Steph

I was in a house with everyone I knew. Someone had broke in. I hid behind the wall of the hallway to see him. He was wearing a black jacket and he had red hair. I thought I had seen him earlier that night in the window but I pushed it away from my mind and told myself that it was nothing. It wasn't nothing. There really was man there. I ran to the room further down the hallway and sat in the corner with the lights off.

The door creaked open and I froze. Expecting the man, I was filled with relief to see a woman. She had short strawberry blonde hair and looked around the age of 20.

"Its okay. Its just me." Steph was her name. She sat next to me and we held eachother. We heard gunshot after gunshot killing everyone in the other room that we loved.