Aggie Monologue

When I make my way back to the boxcar, a clean Hazel appears out of nowhere. Her hair shines its normal blond and her hair ringlets bounce as she trots along. My eyes venture down to see that she adorns my old dress, which cling to her dainty figure like a glove. “Has Aggie taken a lover? Hmm. I wish I was young again. Did ya know, the prettiest darn girl in my small, liddle town was me? Before dances Daddy always bought me new shoes since all the boys asked ta dance with me. Boy I was somethin’ always tearin’ up the dance floor. Yep, that was me. Of course, I always made the boys work for it. One time I made them boys wait for two hours before I danced with any of em. Told em that they can’t dance with me until I dance with myself,

Thankfully I does not spot me but someone else—a young man that I know well from previous camps. Shaking rattles back and forth the clicking sound became louder until everyone around us stopped. Blood drains from everyone’s faces as they looked around and slowly stand up. The young man, Dain, looks around until he finally spotted the red bricked creature curled into a tight ball. Dain sucks in a breath which scares the snake and makes it coil itself tighter. As the rattles shake at uncontrollable speeds until it became a complete blur, I slowly back up praying that God is on my side. Suddenly my foot backs up against a mind-numbingly loud pebble. Dear God! Dear God! Like a whip the snake swings around to face me. Opening its mouth the horrid beast spits at me before tucking its head back against its putrid body. I jump back and cry out before realizing my mistake. Launching itself at me the snake bares its fangs. I have heard of people seeing their lives flash before their eyes before something horrible and life-changing happens to them but I have yet to experience such. Sadly that experience is now. A swipe of silver flashes through the air before my eyes, cutting the snake’s head clean off. Falling to my knees, I look up at Dain, who is panting and holding a knife in his outstretched hand. Sliding towards my side, Al kneels beside me but the tears have already

Al’s dad inserts a stick into the slimy, mud-slicked earth; it drowned in only a matter of seconds. Dad and the other men squat at the open door, watching world drown in its own blood while I perch on a mattress with a ruined copy of The Great Gatsby. It had been precariously thrown into the trash, so I fished it out and stole it from a gas station somewhere east of California. Watching the men think and mutter among themselves, I absently turn up the corner of the page before letting it fall flat again. Al came to me last night and whispered sweet things in my ear before telling me that his ma begged him to stay with the family for a while longer. He had brought a blanket to the middle of the boxcar next to the wall where I slept and wrapped it around us. Eventually he fell asleep with his head burrowed in my neck. But I lay awake the rest of the night pondering what the future beholds for two young people who happen to be living at the wrong