When You Were Young

His life without Samantha had been a dull, gray existence of studying and experimenting. Science and Nature were the closest he had to friends or lovers. Then she came along and brought color to his world. Red for passion, green for life, and gold for love. She added new dimensions that before he'd only read about in books or heard about in pop songs. All those dopey romance songs and ballads had seemed meant for other people, not him. He was destined to spend his life observing love through a powerful lens from afar. The moment she appeared in his bedroom by a simple mistake she shattered the barrier. He was no longer an outside observer; he was experiencing love first-hand. Science and Nature didn't matter so much anymore.

He didn't want to lose her and go back to a life of grays. Whatever he had to do, whatever he had to say, he would. She was the only thing that mattered now.

He continued sitting beneath the tree and revising his final, desperate plea for a stay of execution until it started to get dark outside. Prudence and Wendell would be arriving soon for the party. Samantha would be there as well. His last chance to make things right.

He didn't get far before a hand reached out to grab him and sling him into a tree. His glasses shattered against the tree bark so that when the hand spun him back around he saw only a dark blur. The hand struck him in the face, knocking him back into the tree. He touched the base of his skull, feeling blood. He sat on the ground, staring at the blood and lamenting that he would never see Samantha again. A boot kicked him in the face and his world went dark.

He awoke sometime later to find himself on the floor of the kitchen. Someone lay on the floor nearby. He crawled over to discover the body belonged to his father. Dad's eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't breathing. His skin felt cold to Joseph's fingers.

Then he saw the blood staining Dad's shirt. He probed the area, finding a large gash in his father's chest. He thought back to the awful night eleven years ago when he found Mom lying in this same position with an identical wound.

"What's the matter, déjà vu?" a little girl's voice asked.

Joseph turned to find Samantha's cousin Becky standing in the doorway, dressed all in black and holding a blood-stained knife in one hand. "You. You did this. Why?" he said.

"Why? They tried to replace me, that's why. Him for me. They wanted a good child who did what they said and put up with their shit. He should never have existed!"