Through the Night Pt. 2

TranscriberEllie: Sorry for the delay in posting this. I had to work a double shift yesterday, and, well it sucked and I just really didn't have time to get on here. Sorry again.

"We just have to last through the night."

Things were better once. I try to remember that, but I can't tell if that makes it worse or not. I remember when I went to bed early and I woke up early. I had to. Farms start early and require rest. I remember when I didn't panic at the sight of a bug. I would just swat it away or ignore it. After all, bugs are everywhere, and you can't ever really get rid of them. You kill one and pretty soon there'll just be another one there in its place. I learned that early and just kept an eye out for the dangerous ones.

Now I know better. They're all dangerous.

I learned that the night I heard her screaming outside. I was watching tv. Some creature feature called Critters that I knew had to be turned off before Mark saw any of it. He was terrified of monsters; in the closet, under the bed, hiding in the shadowy parts of the barn. He was starting to get over it ever since I had the idea of giving him a flashlight with one of those green lightbulbs in it and told him that monsters are scared of the color green. I don't know where I got that idea, but it seemed to work.

They had just found the mutilated cow when I heard the screams coming from the back porch. I ran outside, and I saw him. I saw Mark on the ground. Dead, of course. Bugs everywhere. It was like the ground itself around my poor boy was made of bugs. She was standing on the steps, screaming. The bugs were moving towards her. I grabbed her and pulled her to the door. She tried to get away from me, to get to Mark, I guess. She didn't want to just leave him out there, dead or not. I didn't want to, either. But I had to get her inside before she died, too.

Ten years old. Ten fucking years old! That's all he was. A ten year old boy just starting to get over his fear of monsters.

I finally got her inside. She was crying and tearing at her hair. I made her sit on the couch and kept a tight grip on her wrists. I didn't want her to hurt herself. I asked her what happened.


"He started twitching and crying...and...and he said he could feel them...then he fell down...and....we just have to last through the night. That's all. We just have to last through the night."