The last thing I remember is, we were in the park near the church. It was almost 4 in the evening. I was dozing on her lap and she was playing with my hair. I don’t remember much what was she saying. I was just smiling inside, thinking how lucky I am. Her lovely and modulated voice, soft touch, and that jasmine aroma. It really was a somniferous atmosphere. I just wanted to listen to her, listen to her saying things, things about her day at the office. How she and her co-worker makes fun of their boss and HR. What she likes about this park, why is this her favorite place to hang out? Why people should play games, which are her birthmarks and which are just bruises. What color is lucky for her and which singer is her favorite.
I had a rough day at the office. And I wasn’t feeling so good for a week. So, I called her, she was busy but she managed to take leave. It has been 5 hours since I last saw her. But it feels like I haven’t seen her for years. She got off the car and looked at me, I was right there in the front gate of the church. Her face was lit up with that alluring smile. It was a priceless sight. She came near me, I was staring at her face. She has a small mole-like thing in her lower lips. She was still smiling. I smiled back. “What happened? Are you okay?”, she said. “Yes, I just wanted to see you. I missed you”. “Shut up, you drop me off office in the morning. It’s hardly been 4 or 5 hours”. “Yes, 5 hours is a long time honey! why don’t we sit over there, in the park.”
She kept talking, sometimes she would ask, right? and I have nothing to say but yes. She was still talking but my eyes grew heavy. And everything I saw faded, all I see is black. I felt a soft touch on my forehead, and a well-known voice saying, “good morning”. Someone opened the windows, a cold wind blew through the room. “It’s already seven, love. Wake up!”, And I hear the faint chirping of birds and felt the warmth of golden rays of sunshine in my face. I slowly opened my eyes. “Breakfast is on the table, I am late, see you at the cafe, Bye, Love you”. “I love you too, I’ll be there in a minute”, I replied. As I moved to the kitchen, I saw a note in the table alongside breakfast. It said “Hey, good morning. I knew you won’t make it to breakfast. But promise me we’ll have breakfast tomorrow, together. I love you, and Bella. Don’t forget to bring her too. And also complete your breakfast” and a smiley. I looked at Bella, she was already looking at me. Probably she was asking me to hurry up and take her out. We left home, it was a nice day. Clear, quiet and cold. Bella was lumbering because of her morbid obesity. Still, she loved that walk. It took 15 minutes to get to the cafe. “You’re late”, Sarah said.” Am I? Sorry”. “Okay, you have to be in the kitchen. There are several orders pending”. Bella followed me to the kitchen, but Sarah stopped her. Sarah, Bella and this cafe, this is all I have, and this is all I need in my life. Coming every day here, and seeing these two beautiful creatures happy can really wash away my every pain. I forgot they both have the same eyes, big and pitch-black. Like a mother and daughter duo. Afterward, I got busy in the kitchen. I worked until 4. Austin and Noah took care of the kitchen afterward. So We, Sarah, Bella and I left the cafe. The evening sun seems to be fading into a long deep sleep. The sky burned fiery red with a neon orange mix. And the blue sky turned purple. We three, holding hands and moving toward the top of the hill. And suddenly I heard a noise, “Sarah did you heard a noise”. “Hmm…? No”. “No, I heard something. And someone is calling my name”. At first, It was slow and quiet. “Ryan….Rryyyyan. Wake up.. Wake up…”. I looked around but there was no one. It sounds like someone is asking for help. I looked up to Sarah, they were gone. Both of them. It seemed like I had a beautiful dream and suddenly the alarm hits. It got louder. Someone kept saying, “Ryan wake up pleeease….”. As I listened carefully. I found out I knew that voice, that was Sarah. But she wasn’t around. Someone shook me real hard. It was her. I opened my eyes. We were still in the park. It was getting dark. She was crying and shivering. “What happened? why are you crying”. “shhh shhh, A gunman entered into the church and now all we hear is shooting sounds”. I hugged her, “everything’s going to be fine, please don’t cry”. I was scared too, but one of us should have been strong at that moment. She was shaking. I was holding her and we hid behind the bush. Some people came out of the church asking for help. One guy said, “Please help, my daughter is inside. Pleease”. He was injured, he was shot in his left leg and was bleeding. But it seemed like he is not aware of it yet. Some more people came out running, hugged him and took him with them. I saw a small guy wearing a blue jacket playing soccer near the front gate. He entered through the gate and was about to take the stairs and go inside the church. Nobody was stopping him. “I gotta stop him, Sarah”. “No, don’t go. Don’t leave me alone here”. “Don’t worry I’ll be okay. You don’t move, and wait for me, okay?” She replied in a small voice, “Okay”. I ran towards the boy. As soon as I reached the gate I heard some shooting sounds, I grabbed him and turned back. And some more shooting sound. But this time it wasn’t coming from the church. It was somewhere near. One masked gunman entered the park, fired some random shots and ran back. I ran back to Sarah. She was lying on the ground, her mouth was wide open. She wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing. She seemed frozen, surrounded by her own blood. “Sarah, wake up… wake up pleaseee”. She was still, and not talking. For a moment I felt nothing, nothing at all. And slowly, everything in front of me was getting blurry. There was a sound saying, “Sir, sir, are you okay??”. And within a minute or so it all turned darker, darker and darker.
