Chapter 15

The atmosphere was dump and foggy. I looked around me and saw the graveyard above the hills where my father and my tios were buried. Dried leaves scattered on the ground that crackled as I stepped on it. Melted candles adorned the gravestones. There was a familiar scent of death all around. The tombstone where my father's name was inscribed was soiled with thick layers of dust. I rekindled the night when dad died. The feel of his warm hug still lingered on my skin like a stubborn blotch. I closed my eyes and tried to conjure his image from memory, how he looked, how his voice sounded. I buried my face on my knees and let the crippling darkness devour me. A crow hopped on top of dad's tomb. I raised my head and stared at it intensely. Its wings dark as the night splayed as it cawed. A deep sorrowful sound penetrated through my core like a lightning bolt. The cawing reminded me of the day when my father died. How these stupid birds hovered the sky in circles and laughed. I snatched a stone from the ground and throw it against the crow with all my strength. The hurling stone went hyper-sonic and hit the bird on the chest. Feathers scattered on the ground. The cawing stopped. The bird was dead. Very dead.

I inspected the spot where the bird fell just a moment ago but no sign of it all around. What I saw instead was Larry's body lying flat on the ground. Blood from his eyes, his nose, and his mouth. Blood on my hands, on the ground. On the trees. In the sky.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

His body was as cold as ice.

The same coldness I felt when I touched dad's hands the day he died.

Panic-stricken.

Hands-trembling.

Tears falling.

"Larry!" I screamed in horror.

Raindrops fell. Crows flew in circles overhead. Laughing. Caw, caw, caw. The noise punctured my ears like nails on a chalkboard. Caw. Caw. Caw. Make it stop! Please. Make it stop! I screamed.

I heard Nana's distant voice as she screamed, "Run Florante! The birds are coming for you. Run!"

I woke up grasping for air. The sunlight permeated the room through the windows. I quickly looked at my hands. Still in horror. No blood. Good. Unlike any other dream you simply forget in the morning, the memory of the dream and Larry's lifeless body covered in blood was fresh in my head like it did happen. It was just a dream. Just a dream. I kept repeating to myself.