You scorched the snake, but didn’t kill it.
Carefree - I arrived home five minutes early, chuckling at the incompetency of my mother who forgot to-
A terror before my eyes, painted an irremovable scene - something I could never forget.
Ignorant of my surroundings, I casually stepped on the stone-grey slabs, on the subtle slanted pavement strolling
across the gaps to reach home. Fissures beneath me held no light: unable to explore within; plants climbed out,
enlivened with an energised green, seeking out the warmth from the soothing sunset in front of me.
Sharp sunrays shone from the horizon, each ray striking and slicing through the atmosphere: leaving a trail of fine
dust particles; recoiling of buildings exposing the cunning cracks that were once hidden.
Placing my foot on the steel step of my apartment building, I grabbed the rough railing beside me, gazing down at
the splattered corrosion across the long steel platform holding dozens of families, of which I was treading up, to
reach my beloved home.
A deep black ocean engulfed the world, with a multitude of streaking mellow hues towards the edge of the sea;
shreds of a dense, sombre, rust-stained coverlet peacefully resided above me, gradually being pulled into the
juxtaposition of sea and sky, to be hidden away. The remains of the ball of light were no more, only revealing the
natural sparking lights within the black waters.
Within this darkness, a tall slender figure slowly passed by, creating echoes of metal on each step he took,
dominating a presence, clearly heading in an opposite direction of me.
Who was he?
Unaware, I finally stepped into my home and the door was... unlocked…? My mother had forgotten to lock the door
again-
Blood.
A body collapsed on the floor before my wide-open eyes, refusing to believe the reality I was witnessing. A source of
deep red poured out from her waist, pooling around the body like it was protecting her. Protecting her from what?
She was gone. My mother was gone.
Without any rest, I rushed to her collapsed-self and vigorously shook the only one I had left. This couldn’t be real.
My fingertips could only feel cold, pale skin: my heartbeats, straining in distress, despair and desperation. I couldn’t
let any words out of emotion – trapped on the tip of my tongue, all I could do was think alone.
I wanted to wake up from this nightmare – this imaginary reality.
A sudden shatter of glass happened behind me, as I turned my head to see a woman falling back onto the metal
railing of the apartment building, screaming. Her stare of agony gazed into my stained self: beginning to crawl away.
I became the suspected murderer of my own mother. I couldn’t protect her. I should have been there for her.
It wasn’t me.
Struggling to budge my trembling legs, I began to run, slipping on the blood, running towards the railing. My bloody
fingers quickly clenched the bar, swinging my shaking body over, rolling on a concrete ground. Rocks began to bite
into my exposed skin as I swiftly tried to find an escape from the arising sirens behind me.
It wasn’t me.
Millions of thoughts swirled through my mind like a roaring storm, trapped in an endless surrounding sea with no
escape. I wanted to desperately break away from this dystopian reality to go back to my mother; to see her again.
Carefree - I arrived home five minutes early, chuckling at the incompetency of my mother who forgot to-
A terror before my eyes, painted an irremovable scene - something I could never forget.
Ignorant of my surroundings, I casually stepped on the stone-grey slabs, on the subtle slanted pavement strolling
across the gaps to reach home. Fissures beneath me held no light: unable to explore within; plants climbed out,
enlivened with an energised green, seeking out the warmth from the soothing sunset in front of me.
Sharp sunrays shone from the horizon, each ray striking and slicing through the atmosphere: leaving a trail of fine
dust particles; recoiling of buildings exposing the cunning cracks that were once hidden.
Placing my foot on the steel step of my apartment building, I grabbed the rough railing beside me, gazing down at
the splattered corrosion across the long steel platform holding dozens of families, of which I was treading up, to
reach my beloved home.
A deep black ocean engulfed the world, with a multitude of streaking mellow hues towards the edge of the sea;
shreds of a dense, sombre, rust-stained coverlet peacefully resided above me, gradually being pulled into the
juxtaposition of sea and sky, to be hidden away. The remains of the ball of light were no more, only revealing the
natural sparking lights within the black waters.
Within this darkness, a tall slender figure slowly passed by, creating echoes of metal on each step he took,
dominating a presence, clearly heading in an opposite direction of me.
Who was he?
Unaware, I finally stepped into my home and the door was... unlocked…? My mother had forgotten to lock the door
again-
Blood.
A body collapsed on the floor before my wide-open eyes, refusing to believe the reality I was witnessing. A source of
deep red poured out from her waist, pooling around the body like it was protecting her. Protecting her from what?
She was gone. My mother was gone.
Without any rest, I rushed to her collapsed-self and vigorously shook the only one I had left. This couldn’t be real.
My fingertips could only feel cold, pale skin: my heartbeats, straining in distress, despair and desperation. I couldn’t
let any words out of emotion – trapped on the tip of my tongue, all I could do was think alone.
I wanted to wake up from this nightmare – this imaginary reality.
A sudden shatter of glass happened behind me, as I turned my head to see a woman falling back onto the metal
railing of the apartment building, screaming. Her stare of agony gazed into my stained self: beginning to crawl away.
I became the suspected murderer of my own mother. I couldn’t protect her. I should have been there for her.
It wasn’t me.
Struggling to budge my trembling legs, I began to run, slipping on the blood, running towards the railing. My bloody
fingers quickly clenched the bar, swinging my shaking body over, rolling on a concrete ground. Rocks began to bite
into my exposed skin as I swiftly tried to find an escape from the arising sirens behind me.
It wasn’t me.
Millions of thoughts swirled through my mind like a roaring storm, trapped in an endless surrounding sea with no
escape. I wanted to desperately break away from this dystopian reality to go back to my mother; to see her again.
