• The ashen gray sky hovered. The ground was cold. The air was wet and smelt of damp clear rain. I stepped on something firm. I bent down and retrieved it, holding it firmly in my hand. Printed in bold letters was something that caught my eye. My heart raced, the words repeated over and over in my head.
    Assumed Suicide Kills Hundreds
    I dropped the lump of paper. I stood there. Unable to move, my breathing uneasy. But something told me to run. And so I ran. I closed my eyes. I felt faster than wind. My choppy hair whipped past my face. I felt cool tears fly across my cheeks. The damp air made me shiver. My breath shortened. I stopped, gasping. But I had to keep running, I had to run. All my instincts said to run. I thrust myself up, forcing my feet to move and carry me.
    I felt weak. I quaked, my legs shaking recklessly. I huffed and wheezed. My throat burned with freezing air. I fell to the ground. My lungs empty, my pulse beating with the power of a drum. I stared at my hands. Scuffed, covered in a dark sticky liquid. Blood. My check stung. More blood. Everything smelt of misty air and warm rust. It felt of, cold concrete, with the sound of my heart thumping in my ears. The world soon faded away. But it didn’t fade to black; it faded to a deep satin red.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I woke up, yellow glazy light streaming overhead. The sky was a deep shaded gray, crickets chirped. I could hear the distant sound of cars driving past. How far did I run? How long did I run? I looked up; I was lying down on the sidewalk. My face splashed with blood. I was across from a greed field with street lights vigilantly watching me from high above. Street lights. That was a good sign. I hadn’t run so far that I was cut off from society. I gave a relieved sigh. I came across something. Three stars? Three stars in the sky?
    This was becoming a regular thing now. Every time some strange murder came. There was another star in the sky. I gave a pain filled chuckle. Looks like we know where the souls go now. They turn to stars. But then where was my mother’s star? Wouldn’t the sky be over pouring with glimmering stars now? Maybe it was only special souls that became stars.
    That seemed plausible. Special souls that would be granted eternity in the midnight sky. I wanted to be one of those souls. I would want to be sitting right next to the first star. My wishing star. I loved that first star. More than all the others, I loved it the most. I so desperately loved that star. I wanted that star. I needed that star.
    My wishing star, o’ how I loved that star. I lay there, humming. Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish, I wish tonight. The sound of my own rhythmic humming soothed me. I closed my eyes. Quiet.
    I dozed off. Red and blue lights flashed across the deep black terrain. A pair of warm arms lifted me gently. I couldn’t force my eyes to open and observe the scene. A pair of hands shook my arm jolting me awake. I could barely open my eyes. Everything was just a blurry outline of fuzz. Muffled words filled my mind. I couldn’t respond. I gave a quite moan to symbolize my answer. Quiet tones sounded. I was huddled in the warmth. I hated the warmth, I wanted the cold. The still, dead cold.