Traumas: A Short Story

877 Words4 Pages
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” ~Nikola Tesla Prelude Pennsylvania, 1903 Heavy raindrops falling from the doleful sky felt like rocks hitting her through the leather coat that lay over her like a blanket. She was certain there would be bruising, but she was helpless to evade it as Ethan laid her in the back of the covered wagon. Lightning from the midnight storm pierced her vision through her weak lids as she struggled to identify her whereabouts. She felt herself slipping away again, the pain unbearable. She would gladly accept the hand of death to leave behind the burning muscles, erupting intense heat between the labored breaths, the feel of cold steel knives that she…show more content…
“Be strong, Katherine... to your parents.” The rain thudded on the canopy above, muting parts of his words. He was taking her to see her parents before she died. For a brief moment, the thought of seeing them one last time eased her pain, but she forced herself to inhale a short breath because she felt her body would no longer do it on its own, and then the fire blazed through her entire body all over again. She wanted to cry out as the carriage began to roll over the tortuous, rocky field between their home and the woods where a path carved its way into town, but she was too faint to form even the slightest sound on her trembling lips. The last fierce crack of lightning dizzied her head and all fell to a silent darkness. A blurry figure stood over her, dabbing her forehead with a damp cloth when she came to. Her mother's words were like waves in her ears, a force of words climbing then falling, rolling into one loud crash of spraying…show more content…
A pool of dark fluid soaked her pillow from the hot throbbing in her ear canal that turned to an icy flow of blood on her lobe just before she blacked out again. Several hours later, she heard the doctor telling her mother that there was nothing more he could do. “I've seen this sickness once before. All you can do now is pray.” It was dark when her eyes opened again. The creaking floor must have caught her ear, but nothing appeared in the flickering faint light of the candle. The rest of the house was silent, its occupants resting from the long, weary evening. Then it came again. Creaking, sliding, something moving in the room, sounding like sandpaper against wood. She rolled her head to one side where her blurry vision attempted focus with her unsteady attention. Through her continual blinking, the blowing sheers by the open window came into view. She tried to grip the blanket closer to her chin as the cold draft swept over her face, but she was too weak to move her limbs. “Katherine,” a soft, deep voice whispered her
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