* * * Press space for the next page. Whoa curated!!! 3/19/16 Thank you, @supercooljulia! This story is scientifically inaccurate, just a warning * * * 1004 words Story: I wish Mom had signed me up for something else, anything else. Drama is not my thing. The last time I was in a play was first grade, and let’s just say it ended badly. My name is Bobby Fletcher, your average ten year old. Average in every way. Except, of course, The Condition. I have hemophilia. That means I don’t stop bleeding when I cut myself.
I slowly descend the Staircase of Doom to where the drama meeting is being held in the basement. My imagination takes over, and now I’m dreading whatever monsters and aliens are down there Finally I reach the bottom. There is Ms. Melody, the drama teacher, smiling. “Hello, Bobby! How nice to see you.” “Hello,” I mumble back. She is not a monster. She is the complete opposite. “We’ve all picked our parts for the play. There’s only the king’s servant left. Are you okay with being the servant?” she asks. “Sure,” I respond, not really caring, and take a seat by the other actors. Ms. Melody hands me a packet that is the script. I flip through it to find my lines, and I only have two small parts. I have to serve tea to the king and queen, and I have to bring the king his dagger when he is about to leave on his journey. That’s it. I set the paper down and sigh. I could be reading my Andy Granger book right now. I’m at a really exciting part, and the suspense is killing me. “Let’s do a run-through of the play with the scripts in front of us, shall we?” says Ms. Melody. “There are props on the table. Kyle and Sandra, you’re up first.” Kyle and Sandra, the king and queen, deliver an excellent performance of weeping for their lost son. I sit and watch. You would almost think they had really lost a son. I guess that was why they got two lead parts. That, or they showed up early. Then it’s my turn to bring them tea. I walk in, carrying the tray of tea like they do in fancy restaurants. “Tea, Your Majesties,” I say all servant-like. Then it’s a five minute sit before my next part. Now the king is about to set out on his quest to find the lost prince. “I must go, my queen. If all goes well, I shall see you in a moon. Servant, bring me my dagger!” says King Kyle. I look around on the prop table. What should I use for a dagger? “Use this,” says Ms. Melody, and she hands me a knife. I take the knife nervously. Mom never trusts me with knives, and there’s a reason for that. But I don’t want to let the other kids down, so I march onto stage with it to give it to Kyle. I don’t know how it happens, exactly. The knife slips and cuts my arm, deep. “Ow!” I exclaim. Bright red blood is already welling up from the cut. “Are you okay, Bobby? I’ll get you a Band-Aid,” Ms. Melody says. She rushes up the stairs. The other kids are concerned, too. “Are you okay?” Sandra asks. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I reply. I pick the knife back up and hand it to Kyle, then go back to my chair. Ms. Melody returns, bringing a Band-Aid. “Here, put this on.” I put the Band-Aid over the cut, but by the time I get back to my seat from throwing the trash away, blood has already soaked through. The others have forgotten about me and moved on to the next scene of the play. But after watching scene after scene, I’m feeling really lightheaded and dizzy, and I’m breathing hard, too. I lift the Band-Aid to see, and the blood is all over my arm. I’ve never been cut this badly before. I look around for Ms. Melody. She is in the bathroom upstairs. More time passes. I feel a cloud of confusion slip over my brain. I begin to panic. My Condition. Will the bleeding ever stop? I try to focus, but I can’t. I lean back in my chair and stare at the ceiling. There is a long crack running across it, and it reminds me of the river Andy Granger has to cross. A girl named Allison pokes me in the shoulder. “Are you okay, Bobby? You look really pale.” Her words hardly register. It’s hard enough just to breathe in and out. Allison turns to another girl and says, “Something’s wrong with Bobby. He’s really pale and he’s bleeding like crazy.” “I’ll go find Ms. Melody,” the other girl says. She rushes off. I slump to the side. Holding myself up takes too much effort. It feels like there is liquid in my ears. I hear a couple of kids gasp, but it sounds as if it is miles away. I can tell this is going to be it. I’m not going to see my eleventh birthday. I’m dying. It’s hard to completely understand the concept in my ten year old mind, but I’m scared. What will it be like? My right hand grasps the leg of the chair like an anchor. My left hand remains limp. It has gone cold and numb. Ms. Melody rushes into the room, sees me, and rushes toward me. It’s too late. She can’t help me. Her lips move, but I can’t tell what she is saying. I don’t really care. She looks panicked, and even though she is the adult, I don’t think she has the slightest clue how to help. I’m dying anyway. I close my eyes. I’ll never find out what happens to Andy Granger. My senses and the outside world fade away until it’s just me, all alone on a gray island. Will Mom and Lisa miss me? I wonder if wherever I’m going, I’ll be able to see them. Finally, it’s time. My hand releases the chair leg, and I let go of life.
