Littleton Bay

Not a day will ever go by without me thinking about it. That night was so cold. The sky was clear and filled with stars. All that was seen was the beautiful night sky with the moon on the horizon and my breath that could fog up a mirror. Littleton Bay Beach was my sanctuary. It was perfect, quiet, and a place where I could be at peace. Well, not anymore.

I was sitting, curled up in a ball with a green fleece blanket wrapped around me, just staring at the waves coming in. With my watch about to strike twelve AM, I heard the faint rumbling sound in the shrubs behind me. Thinking it was only the wind, I ignored it and resumed with my meditation. Suddenly, the rumbling became muffled dialogue. I turned my head around to see no one within the distance, but I knew I wasn’t alone.

I stood up slowly with my blanket still wrapped around me and moved closer to the bushes to get a better listen of what I thought I heard. As I moved closer, I could see three men on the bike path in front of the Littleton Bay Beach sign. I was relieved at first, knowing I wasn’t making up voices in my head until two of the men pulled out dark guns and pointed it at the third and shot him.

I fell to the ground and threw my hands over my mouth in devastation. I felt like I went into shock. My entire body went numb and I was sick to my stomach. There appeared to be a cloud over my head, but rather it was my visible breath from hyperventilating.

Once I could contain my emotions I peeked over the bushes in the hopes that the men were gone. Unfortunately, they were still there. As one of the men ended a phone call the other started dragging the dead body towards the beach. I forced myself through the hedges and threw my blanket over my head. I couldn’t stop shaking and I was too afraid to look up.

After five lingering minutes I glanced out to see no one around. It was so cold, so quiet and my chattering teeth sounded like cannons in my head. I crawled out of the bushes as tears fell from my eyes. Kneeling in disbelief, I kept asking myself what had just happened. Who were those men and what was their reason for killing?

I picked myself up and ran all the way home. My parents left the porch light on for me. I walked inside and locked the door. I trudged up the stairs, into my room and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked awful—cuts all over my arms and legs from the bushes. Miserable and mentally weary, I wrapped my green fleece blanket around me, sat on my bed, pulled my pillow in tight and shut my eyes.

Art by: Lisa Rae Winant http://lisaraewinant.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-09-11T12%3A40%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7