At last, he stopped right at the spot I wanted him. After but a moment's hesitation, I walked out from my corner in the wall. I had caught him off-guard, I knew from his sharp intake of breath. My time was then. I lunged and in one swift movement drove the knife deep into his stomach. At eye level to his chest, I clenched my eyes shut as the sharp edge of the blade ate greedily through flesh and adipose tissue, even as the sticky slippery ooze of blood coated my fingers, I kept my grip steady, refusing to let that first tremble break through the false bravado for I knew defeat was just as imminent as the last glimpse of survival.
I stamped down bile and choked back tears for though I kept my eyes shut, I could sense the dilation of pupils, hear the anguish moan of pain as death hung in the air like a heavy curtain, ready to cuff its heavy shackles around this one lost soul. It would haunt me but I had no choice. I had a duty. I was the only one left to protect the family.....
From far away, I heard the dog bark. The familiar pitter patter of paws and the scraping of cement as the puppy let out a playful bark for dinner, the cacophony punctuated by the musical tinkle of metal cutlery and porcelain plates being laid on the table. Slick with sweat, I awoke amidst the miasma of being suspended between two worlds. One where reality resides, and the other where reality is what the mind concocts.
