text: I remember small details easily. I can't say the same for important stuff. Ask me about last Thursday, I can tell you what colour the pen was when I was writing my essay for English, but ask me what the essay was and I'll go blank. It's not inconvenient any way, but I'll try does make me look like an idiot whenever my parents or friends ask me for something/someone. &#x200B; Because of this, I've been recently thinking about something my English teacher said when I was in 8th grade. We were studying Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and looking at how darkness correlates with horror and thriller. I asked my English teacher why do horror stories have to be based around the absence of light, and my teacher said maybe it had to do with how light symbolises hope. &#x200B; Even to 21 year old me, I find that bullshit. Light has never, and will never be my friend. All of my greatest ideas, best moments have come from darkness. My family find it weird that I never open my curtains, at least that's the vibe they give off. They've never told me it directly. They probably would think I'd forget it. &#x200B; I lived in Maryneal, Texas growing up. I went to Highland and I'd have to walk my way to school for 30 minutes. We weren't exactly rich. Whenever I'd walk to school with my brothers I'd hold their hands because of the 'coyotes'. Truth is that there never were coyotes, and my brothers were messing around with me knowing full well of my phobia. They never meant harm, did Jack and Rak. &#x200B; It was the middle of summer that it happened. I had to go summer school due to me lacking in Maths. "Beware of rapists, murderers and all of the sort. Everyday a child falls victim to their lies, and everyday a mother like yours cries her eyes out when her child disappears," was what my daddy would say. "Stay with your brothers, they'll help you on the way of life." They did. Until they couldn't. 4:57pm. I was running so late, my lazy ass had overslept. I was walking with both of them on that hot summers evening. Their bellies were full of Mama's scrambled eggs, mine rumbled like a 8.2 on the Richter Scale. The heat was overbearing. I'd stopped sweating on account of the fact that I had no more liquids in me. My brothers fed me some hot bottled water as we went down the road. My hair was plastered to my face when it happened, but my ears were clear. &#x200B; Some distant howling could be heard from in front of us. The school wasn't far from us, something like 55 metres, but the heat made it seem like a thousand. The tumbleweed crossed over the road in a typical movie fashion. I paused for a second to see if I could hear the howling again. I heard it so many times that day, it was crazy. At first, the natural assumption was made that my brothers were pulling my ass. I looked at Jack first then Rak and told them, "I swear you two gonna kill me one day. Stop that howling or later on, I'll kick your butt's." They looked at me with a frown, probably thinking the heat got to me. I'll never know what they were thinking, those two had the mindset of a perpetual motion machine. They told me that I was exhausted, and that maybe it wasn't a good day to go to school. So we turned back, my head still down and hearing the howling. I slowly lost touch in my fingers since so much tingling was going on, that I didn't notice when they let go. When I decided to lift my head, they were gone. From the bottom of my heart, they just disappeared. I panicked, and mustered energy from my reserves to walk to the school entrance and get a teacher to call my parents. When the phone was answered, my words were mixed, but I'm not sure that my message got across because my parents started laughing. My daddy had to give the phone to my momma who had composed herself. She told me in the sweetest voice I've heard her say, "Darling, Rak is right here with us, and Jack is upstairs napping." And sure enough, I could hear my brother calling for the chickens in the distance. I told them that I felt sick, and wanted to go back home. They managed to get the principal to drive me home (some foreign family connections that I'll never understand). &#x200B; I woke up halfway through the car ride, and heard him mumble about some goddamn coyotes in the area.