Brie Wicker

6th
6-1-16
The Sparks Between Rebellion
As I walked through the market, I stopped in front of the Chicken and Rice
food cart and grabbed my umbrella and looked up towards the sky. The black
thunder clouds broke through the blue sky, like a race between the good and evil.
The lightning in the distance looked like elegant fireworks, and then vanished
through the clouds once more. Alec come quickly, the storm is getting closer and
we still need to buy bread for tonights gathering. My mother was always too
anxious and quick, one step ahead of everything. If you think of a mouse, that was
my mother, but a little more quiet and cautious, and then you have my mother. I
opened my umbrella as I tried to catch up to my parents, they always walked in a
hurry like they were late for a meeting; I was about to catch up to them when
something glittering stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a man behind a row of
expensive looking headpieces, Jade has always loved them, she wore them with
everything she owned. What was left of the remaining sunlight bounced off the
glittering jewels encased in the box, the emeralds glowing around the gold chain
that formed intricate patterns of flowers around the other jewels. Jade and I

have been best friends since we were born, but we started dating when I was 14
and I always love to buy her gifts. Its not like Im short on cash anyways,
considering my parents are one of the most highly paid families in our town. I
began to pay the man. I looked back at my parents to see that they were still
walking towards the middle of the market, which is extremely out of the ordinary
considering I always had to have parent supervision. The boss wrapped up the
headpiece and placed it in a box Thank you Alec, youre always so supportive with
my booth. I laughed Youre welcome Aaron, I dont know where I would be at in
my relationship without your beautiful headpieces. We both laughed until a
woman's scream pierced the lightness in the air. We look at the women in the
middle of the market just in time to see both of my parents wearing large bombs
strapped to their chests. They climbed on top of the marble fountain and looked
me dead in the eye with tears rolling down their pale, lost faces. I screamed and
threw myself towards them, but it was too late, everything moved into slow motion
as the explosion ripped through the market. It threw me into the concrete wall and
I just sat there motionless as I felt the blood drip down my forehead. I watch the
explosion tear through families, booths, and as I tried to stand to survey the
evidence, my very soul felt like it exploded. Patrons were thrown around like rag
dolls, shards of glass poking out from the human bodies that laid motionless on the

ground. Screams and sobs pierced the air as the smoke began to clear, loved ones
cried over what remained of their loved ones. I look down at the ground to see a
severed arm lay across my legs and began to dry heave into the blood soaked sand.
I fell back onto the ground and started sobbing. How could my parents do this?
Someone who raised me to talk with my mouth closed and always say please and
thank you, how could they be capable of such evil things? These people wont ever
be able to live again, they cant say I love you one last time, they cant see their
children off to their first day of school. They will never be alive again, they will
never be able to breathe or blink or cry, and I know I should be grateful that Im
alive, but in reality, I just died alongside my parents.
Alec, alec, ALEC!! I jerked awake drenched in sweat and tears to see Jade
laying on top of me holding my arms down. Alec, you had the nightmare again she
gently whispered. I hate when she does this, I hate the compassion in her eyes, she
treats me like a hospital patient, just because I had to go to therapy does not
mean she can treat me like a child. I shoved her off of me, Jade, if I wanted your
help I would have asked, Im not a troubled 16 year old anymore, its been 4 years.
My voice was rising by the second, and she gave me that goddamn pity stare again.
I just want to help you, youve been having the same nightmare every night for the
past 2 weeks, I want you to go see doctor Klemet again.

I roll my eyes, look if I wanted some crazy want to be therapist to pester me

about my problems, I would have just gone to you. her voice dropped to a quiet
whisper
Look Alec, its been 4 years since the incident and you havent gotten any better, I
am your wife and I made a promise that I would love you through everything, but
youre making it so hard. Jade was always the caring one and I was always the
asshole, she volunteered at soup kitchens and I hit on single girls in bars. That was
the difference between us, she loved life with her full heart and I dont even have
one. I sighed, okay Jade Ill go twice a week, but if its not working for me, Im
leaving, deal? Her grin went from ear to ear, God she was so beautiful as she
looked up at me with her golden brown eyes, I feel kinda bad for constantly
cheating on her. Okay two days a week, deal.
She pulled me into a long hug and whispered, I really missed you Alec. I
looked up into her beautiful eyes and pulled her face close to mine and whispered,
Im sorry, its okay, Ive always been here and Ill never leave again, I promise. For
the last 4 years I have been diagnosed with ptsd and depression, but life was still
good. Jade and I fled to America after my parents suicide bombing and I became
CEO of my own company, The 3 Wishes, we lived in Upper East Side Manhattan,
and we even had our own animal sanctuary, what else could I possibly need?

The Next Day

I woke up and said goodbye to Jade and made sure to feed our kitten Ra-Ra
on the way out into the cool summer morning. I dreaded making this promise to
Jade, but I calmed my nerves and pushed open the door to Dr. Klemets office.
Alec, is that you? I havent seen you for almost a year! How have you been?
My eyes dropped to the floor, yeah, things havent changed much for me, my
life has just been a blur. His eyes softened just a little bit. Goddamn I hated that
pity stare, I dont need all of this sympathy I can handle my own problems. He
clapped his hands, Okay well youre diagnosed with severe ptsd and depression, so
have you been taking all the medicine that I prescribed to you?
Look doc, Im not a pill person, I just have a few issues that need to be
fixed and pills wont do that for me. He sighed, okay how about you explain your
situation to me again and then I can decide what new steps to take. I leaned back
slowly, well Ive been having the same nightmare every night for the past month, I
cant even go into public places without worrying that someone will pull a weapon out
of nowhere and do the same thing my parents did. He looked down for a second,
Okay Alec I need you to just go into a little more detail about what youre feeling.
Okay but I told you about what happened over 30 times what else can I tell you?
I could feel myself slowly losing patience with this man. Im not asking about the

bombings Im asking about how youre feeling in this moment, and how you feel
daily. I contemplated my answer for a second, I feel like my life is in a constant
dizzying motion but not a good one. I feel like a merry-go-round that kids spin for
15 minutes straight, but other times I feel like a swing set during a storm. I keep
taking the pain over and over all by myself until one little screw becomes broken
and the whole swing becomes useless. I feel like a marker with a lost cap,
completely useless and tossed to the side. I want to know why I lived, there
were so many families and talented people that would be a benefit to society, but I
got to live. Ill forever be known as the guy with terrorist parents and everyone
thinks Ill turn out like them too. Alec, you know that you will never be like your
parents, they made a choice, they sold their souls to the damned, but you still have
a choice, you dont have to be like them. As I gathered my thoughts something hit
me, Imagine opening your front door expecting a surprise when you get home, but
you find no one there. That sinking feeling that you get in your stomach, the
sadness and disappointment, the pity that your friends give you the next day when
you tell them, thats how people look at me and I am determined to change it, and
nothing will ever be the same again.
I should have known that going to see that quack would have made me feel
worse, so thats why I went to my favorite bar, The Black Rabbit and decided to

take a few shots. I texted Jade that I would be home late and that she needed to
feed our cat. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see a busty
brunette, my favorite kind of women. She looked at me with confidence and
grinned as I looked her up and down, a smile slowly growing across my face. I
grabbed her hand and kissed it gently, and you might be I purred, Im robins ex
girlfriend. My smile disappeared as I began to shake, why are you asking about
Robin? She smirked, Oh I just saw you in here and I wanted to know how youre
feeling about the whole thing. I rolled my eyes, Look Im not talking about this
with you, Im leaving. I grabbed my whiskey and began to walk away as she put a
her phone number in my palm, call me anytime babe she purred. I ran to the
bathroom and began to throw up, Robin became my best friend once I moved here,
I told him everything and he never judged me for what my parents did, sometimes
her understood me more then Jade. Then one day I got home to see Jade walk
towards me with tears running down her face to tell me that Robin had been killed
in a car accident that morning as he was coming to visit me. I never truly felt pain,
not even after my parents death, but hearing about Robin, it felt like my entire
being was being tortured by god himself. I began to calm down when I heard a
familiar voice from the front of the bathroom. I know I understand, I have
everything set into place Im just waiting on you for confirmation to go over there.

I heard him mumble a couple of things so I leaned in closer to the stall door to
hear. I know he thinks he wont turn out like his parents, but hes completely
messed up right now, its the perfect opportunity. I know, the bombs are placed on
every single floor. Its 3:30 right now, Ill be over there at 4:15. Yes meet at the
top of the empire state building, this is our time to invade America. I slammed
open the stall door to see Dr. Klemet standing there looking smug right at me, You
cant do this! There are thousands of people in that building, not even counting all
the people around it! He laughed Oh Alec I always thought it was funny how you
always wanted to be the hero. It is time for our terrorist organization to invade,
and we will start here then spread, so the whole country will be ruled by us. I
became desperate, please, you cant do this, there are so many innocent people!
He laughed once again, Oh Alec didnt you know? No one is ever innocent, we all
have darkness inside of us. He smirked and walked out of the bathroom. I could
try to call the police but I have no proof so they wont believe me, It looks like Im
going to have to handle this all on my own. I grabbed my jacket off the counter
and rushed out of the bathroom.
I ran up to the front doors just to be stopped by a puny little security
guard, look sir, I cant explain but I need to get to the top of the building right
now, theres no time! He chuckled, look kid I hear different excuses everyday

from people who forgot to buy tickets, you want to get to the top? You have to buy
a new ticket. I began to panic, look, I dont have time to deal with this, I need to
try and get everyone out right now. I tossed my phone on the desk, here listen to
this if you dont believe me. His face became a ghostly white as he listened to it,
he jumped up, Im calling the police, you need to get everyone out as soon as
possible. I looked at the clock and it was 4:00, I only had 15 minutes to evacuate
every person in this building.
I ran up and down the halls yelling there is a bomb threat! Everyone needs
to move as quickly as they can and evacuate the building immediately! Crowds of
tourists and workers were flooding into the hallways, police and swat members
were grabbing children and families to escape as the FBI ran up the stairs and
through elevators to help as many people as they could. I looked out the window to
see helicopters flying and news vans flooding the survivors. I got on the elevator
and rode up to the top floor. I knew no one was going to be up there except one
person I was looking for. I got off the elevator and stepped on the viewing deck,
Dr. Klemet turned around and smiled, I knew you would come, you have 2 options,
you can join us and live, or you can die here with the rest of the cowards. I could
still hear thousands of people being evacuated so I tried to stall as best as I could.
I trusted you, I told you all my secrets. I thought I could trust someone, I

couldn't even trust my parents and I finally thought I had one person who
understood my darkness and you betrayed me. He smirked, oh Alec I never
wanted to hurt you, but youre broken beyond repair, and because of that you were
easier to manipulate, so tell me, are you going to join us or not? I clenched my fist,
I hope you rot in hell, I would never join you even if I was forced to. These are
innocent people. You think that youre evil, but youre not, youre just one fucked up
man. He smiled, Thats the nicest compliment Ive ever heard. If Im going to rot
in hell, then Im taking you with me. I screamed and lunged for him as he pulled a
button out of his jacket, he smiled and pressed it. The explosion felt like nothing
and everything at the same time, it only took a few seconds to plunge into complete
darkness. As humans we try to live a full exciting life, and we try to put off death
for as long as we can, but in reality it only takes a few seconds for that entire life
to mean nothing.
I woke up to beeping and bright lights blinding me from seeing, someone was
gripping my hand and weeping. As the lights turned down I look over and saw my
mom smiling as tears ran down her small face. This cant be happening, is this
heaven? Am I alive? I looked at my mother and asked what happened? She looked
at my father, Alec dont you remember what happened? I shook my head, she

sighed quietly, we got in car crash, they thought you weren't going to make it,
Alec youve been in a coma for 6 months, you just woke up.

The End

The Sparks Between Rebellion