The Second Ballad-Blue Rose

There are times in life when you want to do some sort of good, but in your good intentions, you end up hurting the other person unintentionally. I had heard my Aunt talk to my mother about getting my sister married as soon as possible.

I was shocked by her remarks, my sister was only 20 years old now, and she was barely in the second year of university. But as my paternal Aunt Samantha continued, "I married off my daughter when she was just eighteen years old, and now she has three kids and is happily married".

I could clearly see how her words would upset my mother, while my father preferred to ignore any sort of remarks, the only person who spoke was my second paternal Aunt Sally, "Oh, and I'm sure she's the most educated mother there could ever be".

I could feel the joy in my bones from that burn, and Aunt Samantha scoffed and dissed the remark as easily as her daughter's education.

I really looked up to my Aunt Sally, she was a confident lady, who excelled in her research regarding the functions of the human brain. She was one of the reasons I thought being a doctor wouldn't be so bad. Even though she was older than my mother, since she married late, her son was younger Michael was even younger than me. Yet he was as smart as his mother and probably would have been in highschool if it hadn't been for the car accident.

Aunt Sally lost both her husband and son in the car crash and she was stuck in a coma. I always had faith that she would wake up one day.

But now she stood in front of me. How strange is the dream realm? The dead, the alive, the real, the fake, fiction, and non-fiction all co-exist here.

I had entered a room that was unsteady, it was well furnished but from time to time it shook and all the furniture and lamps rattled along with it. Aunt Sally stood by the door as if expecting me to visit. Looking at her long flowing hair, her fair skin that didn't show much signs of aging and the beautiful blue dress on her slender body did not compare to the smile she gave me as soon as she saw me.

"Mary Sweetie, come inside" She smiled

'Why are these dreams making me cry so much damn it', I immediately embraced her into a hug. She laughed and said, "Why are you crying, sweetie?"

I wiped my tears and replied, "It was just really good to see you"

"We just met yesterday though", she giggled.

'Huh?' I looked at her puzzled.

"Can you go fetch Micheal from the market dear? I'm afraid he's taking too long to come back" she smiled.

I felt nauseated. I recalled the funeral, where they never showed Micheal's body because of how badly torn it was.

"I'm sure he'll come back soon", I said trying to smile.

"He probably forgot to buy the eggs again. Tell you what, I'll make pancakes for both of you, so hurry and fetch him"

"Ah, alright then...", I decided to quietly obey, before leaving I told her that she looked pretty.

"Hahaha, what a sweet talker" she laughed, waving me goodbye.

Somehow as soon as I stepped outside, I was already in a bazaar. I looked back to mark the building I had just come out from, and to my surprise it was the cafe building again. It was filled with people this time, but it seemed mismatched to the bazaar right in front of it.

I walked down the market in search of Micheal, he was nowhere to be seen. I passed by a crowd of people sitting in a circle, a man standing in the middle was speaking to them loudly, "Do good to your fellow brethren"

'Must be a priest of sorts', I thought as I kept walking.

The mans voice became louder than the narrators.

"Be Kind to your Brethren!!... You must slaughter your brethren that would be the greatest act of your kindness"

I was horrified as the crowd suddenly cheered on the priest and the people started getting up. I noticed they all wore black uniforms as the one Henson had worn before.

'Did Henson kill someone?' the thought finally dawned. I had been so lost in his image that I failed to ask him about the blood on his clothes.

Suddenly gun fires could be heard, I started to push through the busy market as screams and cries filled the bloody sky.

I found an alley ahead and decided to get out of the crowd from there. Having finally escaped, I sat down on the cold wet floor to catch my breath. Somehow my light blue dress was now tainted in red blood. I checked myself to see if I was bleeding.

"MARY!!!" I heard Yaya's voice call out of nowhere. I looked around to see the source of the voice.

I ran to the end of the valley to see two struggling figures moving. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I recognized one of the figures.

"Henson?" I said and covered my mouth in shock.

He had strangled a boy and was tearing his body. At the sound of my voice, he was stunned and stood up.

"Mary,... it's not what it looks like..." he looked back to check if the body was still moving, "You have to believe me, Mary"

I looked at the body that was lying on the ground. The familiar blonde brown hair like mine, a small face, it was Micheal. My knees gave in.

"It's the narrator Mary! It wasn't me! I didn't do this" Henson justified.

'It's just a dream, Mary, it's just a dream,' I reassured myself watching young Micheal's body.

The scenery slowly began to change and it was like I knew what was going to happen.

'Oh no, not this, please', the background shifted back to my Aunts room, with me, a bloody Henson and Micheals body appeared in front of my Aunt.

"Oh, you are back Micheal? Did you get the eggs? We are going to have pancakes so wait a bit"

My aunt smiled at her son's dead body. I grabbed the nearby to stand on my feet.

"Oh, who is this handsome gentleman?" My aunt asked Henson, who stood in shock at what was happening.

'Narrator, please! Get me out of here, please' I pleaded the narrator.

The narrator only laughed at my dismay,

"Embrace the madness!" he called out, and I felt dizzy. Henson quickly grabbed me and rushed out of the door.

"Mary, where are you going?" My aunt called us back.

"Mary! Mary! Mary!" her voice echoed in my head.

As soon as we got to the door, Henson grabbed it and whined. It was burning. He still grabbed it and opened it. As soon as we dropped outside, i could feel my face hit the cold sand.

I turned to look at the door of the ship, that was now burning in bright flames, shut.

I buried my face in the sand and sobbed away.