Don't Wake

Life isn’t fun anymore when someone takes your reason for living. It loses all the color. Turns to black and white. So what do you do then? Do you try to salvage what you have left and try to live from that? Or do you try to get all the pieces back and try to go back to normal? I don’t know about you but both options are scary. They both make a rush of anxiety go through my body like no other feeling. But I can’t let that control my life. I need to take control. If I have to make a decision, which I do. I choose to get all the pieces back.

My family was my everything. They made my entire day happy. Wake up in the morning to hear their voices. Hear the clomp, clomp, clomping of the children frollocking around with the other children. They were always awake before their mother and I. But that’s how children are. They are so full of energy. I don’t know where they get it. Or where it goes as you grow older. Just seeing those smiling faces gave me my own burst of energy. I would take my time staring at the wonder before me as my wife began to rise. We would then begin to start our day. Go for a nice walk around the pasture. It was so green. We would stop every now and then to graze. Talk a little about the events of the day. Things were so very simple. It was bliss.

But then one day, things changed. We did not wake up to a wonderful morning as usual. There was a rush of moving bodies. Others were screaming for help as some creature took them away to who knows where. I looked frantically around for my children. They would have been jumping about a few feet away from us. They were nowhere to be seen. I immediately got up. Panic started to settle into my stomach. I need to find them fast. My wife was already on her feet, following my lead. We ran looking everywhere, calling out. Nothing.

Suddenly a faint cry came from behind us. We spun around. Our children were being shoved in this giant metal machine. These creatures with two legs were pushing them. My children were scared. So of course the idea of fighting back did not occur to them. But it occurred to me. I saw red. No one touches my babies and gets away with it. Ignoring my wife, I charged. If I was to get hurt, I would not care. The only thing that mattered in that exact moment was getting my babies back. I ran past all the others standing around in a daze. They didn’t know how to act or where to even go. Frozen in fear. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

Through the red I saw my children getting closer and closer to the entrance of the metal monster. I could feel the panic turn into full blown fear. What if I never saw them again? What if they were killed? How could I live with myself? I cannot, CANNOT, let them take them. I could see myself getting closer and closer. Almost there. My children spotted me. And for a moment, there was a glimmer of hope in their eyes. Daddy is going to save them.

Suddenly, my children were gone. Sucked into a sea of others. I didn’t realize that they weren’t the only ones being shoved into the metal monster. My legs started to turn into jello as I lost sight of my children. I refused to let them cave in. When you are about to lose the things that give your life meaning, you do not let them go. Something snapped inside of me. All this rage started to pour in my veins. Something had awoken.

I could smell the fear of the others as the last of them entered the door. I could see the metal monster closing its mouth. I could just feel the hot breath of the monster as it roared to life. The cries of the others mixed in with my children could be heard. I closed my eyes and continued forward with all my might.

...Crash!

The raging bull came into contact with the metal monster. The metal monster did not fall. But left the raging bull watching after as it drove off into the horizon. Leaving the bull with nothing but emptiness.