The Sky Is The Limit || Writing Contest (Round 3: March Madness)

 

Prompt:  “There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.”

― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

 

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Kris looked up, squinting as he watched a plane fly overhead. He wondered briefly where they were going and what the people were hoping to do once they got there. Was it for something happy, like a wedding? Or sad, like a funeral? He had only been to one of each before and he'd rather never go to either again. Why were there such elaborate ceremonies for events that were supposed to be about raw feeling? Love, connections, family. He hated the formalities despite having been raised to respect them.

 

He heard the click of his board on the rubber asphalt, but didn't remember setting it down. The heat must have been getting to him. His eyes were cloudy, but he couldn't bring himself to rub them. There was no wind, no sound but the rolling of his wheels against the long stretch of road. Did it always take this long to get to 9th Street?

 

Then, it happened. In a hot blaze of rushing metal, a car sped through the T-intersection, breaking against a worn maple tree. It crumpled like tinfoil, glass breaking into impossibly tiny shards. Steam rose with a haunting hiss and it only added to the haze in Kris's eyes.

 

He stopped, feeling numb. He didn't want to move, didn't want to see, because he knew what it would look like. This wasn't the first time he'd seen this crash. It'd been countless times—his parents' car slamming forward, rocketing his stomach to his feet, his chest to his knees, his hands to the burning pavement. First, it was white hot. Then, it felt like nothing but air until the searing set in, melting his skin, making it drip.

 

His parents had died in that crash.

 

He remembered the officers yanking him from the back seat; he was only 10 at the time. He clung to his mother’s scorched shirt, and it tore as he was removed against his will. They stuck him in a hospital after that, trying to soothe him. It was useless. He suffered from trauma, his nerves, like a noose around his neck, pulled him back, reminded him of what was, never failing to knock the air clean out of his already worn lungs.

 

No, it’s all in the past. He told himself, as he felt the noose make its way around his neck. He promptly shoved it away, depriving it of yet another opportunity to consume him. His mind was racing though, delirious from the heat beating down on him, mercilessly, and the lack of water.

 

Water.

 

He needed to drink.

 

He got on his board and glided effortlessly along the main road, the constant sound of the wheels crushing bits of the blackened sidewalk offering an odd sort of comfort. Keeping an eye out for the peeling red paint, and rusted purple benches, he rolled on, light brown hair whipping back, as he enjoyed the breeze brought on by his momentum. He saw a snail shell on the pavement as he passed, and felt sorry for it. It never rained, and his father had told him when he was little, that snails liked the rain.

 

After a short while of boringly stunning ocean views, he reached the shop, getting off his board, and stumbling inside, tripping over his sandals as he did. So much for being keeping his cool. The man behind the counter seemed to be about his age, and didn’t even notice Kris’s failed entrance. Alright, then.

 

He made his way over to the guy behind the counter, and grunted.

 

“Water. Ice. Please.” His request came out in huffed breaths, barely escaping his lips. Sound traveled properly this time, and the man finally heard him, looking up at him and nodding. Kris relaxed as a sense of relief settled over him, the very thought of something to drink combatting those incessant nerves of his.

 

“Here you are.” came a voice from his right. He looked up.  The man, or boy, as he now saw, bore tan skin and dark brown hair, making his blue eyes seem eerie, and out of place. Without thinking, Kris gulped down his water all at once, and offered his hand to shake, half choking as an ice cube snuck down his throat.

 

“I’m kris.” He said simply.

 

“Kai.” Was the answer he received, but he smiled nonetheless.

 

“Nice to meet you, Kai.” He mentally slapped himself for keeping up with formalities, barely anyone lived on this piece of trash they called an island.

 

“You too.” Kai said. Kris just wondered, as he often did. He looks about my age. I wonder if he has siblings. Why is someone like him here? Does he have some family members who live on this deserted dump? I would just love to know h—

 

“How did you get here?” Kris asked aloud, physically slapping himself this time for being unable to control how fast his thoughts rolled off his tongue. Kai chucked and sat down.

 

“We were here on vacation,” he started, being strangely open. “It was a nice day, we were swimming in the ocean, when I heard a scream; my sister had been caught in a rip current.” Kris just sat there, intensely focused on absorbing the information being shared with him.   

 

They talked for about an hour, Kai seemingly relieved to get this all off his chest. Kris found out that Kai’s mother had rushed into the ocean to save her daughter, but was torn away by the very same current, He never saw his family after that, the ocean had taken them prisoner, and had no intentions of giving them back to him. It has left him alone, confused, lost.

 

Kris then told his story, making Kai cringe at the flaming hell that took his parents. They had gone through about six more glasses of water, before one of them looked outside and confirmed that the sun was almost down. The great big ball of fire didn’t even have enough respect to let them finish their conversation. How rude.

 

“We should leave.” Kai announced, as he locked the door to the shop behind him. This earned a nod from the lighter haired boy.

 

“Yeah,” Kris said, “Could you drive me home? I live on the other side of the island, and it’s dark, and I’d rather not board home on the da—“

 

“No.” Kai said firmly, “I meant we should leave this place. There’s nothing for us here but pain. Haven’t you ever thought of leaving?” He asks. Kris shakes his head ‘no’. He can’t just go away, can he? He grew up here, and as much as it horrified him, it was home.

 

“I.. I can’t. I can’t leave. All of my mem—“

 

“Your memories?” Kai cut him off rather abruptly. “Please, you’ll go insane if you stay here. You’re already a little off your rocker, but then again, so is everyone else. We’re going, and that’s final.” He finished. All Kris could do was nod, as he was led to a rather old car. A large dent in the front marred its otherwise perfect upkeep. Its boxy shape being the only telltale sign of its age. Kai opened the door and motioned for Kris to get in, which he did.

 

The nausea hit.

 

Damn his nerves to the depths of hell and back. He had to get over his fear of cars, and now seemed like the perfect time to start. The blue-eyed boy got into the driver’s seat, not even bothering to buckle himself as he started the engine up. Kris only got more nauseous as they began to drive down the road. He felt a sudden wave of panic hit him.

 

“You have to stop the car, I can’t do this.” He said in an attempt to keep his trembling voice under control. Kai just seemed to ignore him, making him more anxious as he tapped the other’s shoulder frantically.

 

“Please, stop. Drop me off here, I don’t care, but please I need to get out.” He pleaded.

 

“We are getting out.” Kai almost grunted. “We’re getting out forever.” Kris had to take matters into his own hands if he was going to retreat from the situation. He grabbed the steering wheel and tried to angle the car towards the side of the road.

 

“What in the hell are you doing?!” Kai shrieked, attempting to regain control of the vehicle.

 

“I have to get out, I have to get out.” Kris chanted to himself as he turned the car a little too far to the right. Kai desperately tried to shake him off the wheel, but Kris wouldn’t have it. He kept the car moving toward the edge of the road.

 

“Stop it! You’ll get us both killed!” Kai all but yelled.

 

Those seemed to be the magic words.

 

The dark gray vehicle tipped over the boundary of the pavement, down the shallow cliffs. It crashed and banged, paying no mind to its two now mangled passengers. A new dent formed with each hit to a sharp stone, crashing through the windshield, and Kai’s head simultaneously. The engine was struck, hot oil colliding in on itself, and igniting on contact.

 

When it reached the bottom, Kris felt the familiar sensation of burning flesh, looking at his hands to find that they were charred, the fire slowly working up his arm, shoulder, torso…

 

Heart.

 

He didn’t feel a thing though. His heart died 8 years ago with his parents. A peaceful expression overtook him, as he accepted his fate, and mumbled quietly to himself.

 

“Mommy, Daddy, I’m coming to see you, we’ll be together again. I love y—“He welcomed the flames with a smile as they overtook him completely, content.

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I think this was a vague interpretation of the prompt, more of a child's love tor their parents, but wow did I love writing it~