The Sweetest Lies

• Nihlah Razick, Grade 10, Malek Fahd Islamic School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Beyond Words 2015' competition

My head throbs and my vision is blurred, but I can make out the road and lights in the darkness. Where my body meets the ground, the pathway has been painted a deep red, blotched with shades of brown.
He holds my hand as we reach the crossing. He looks to either side before letting me drag him across.
Arms help me to my feet and I stagger around for a while like the drunken man in cuffs being pushed into a vehicle. They lead me towards another vehicle with flashing lights, supporting my frail body. Their mouths form words but it’s non-existent the moment my eyes flicker towards him.
I stop in my tracks.
His face is void of emotion, eyes staring blankly when our gazes lock. I feel tears in my eyes and a sob that borders on hyperventilation escapes.
Hands grab at my wrists pulling me away, but I manage to slip through and reach him. Tears stream down and my hands shake uncontrollably as I touch his pale ones.
Halfway to the other end, I hear the screeching of tyres too late and the roar of an engine. Bright lights blind me and the noise becomes louder. Something solid slams into my back and I let out a shriek as I’m thrown off my feet and fall to the floor.
You promised me that when I fell, you’d be there to catch me.
He looks his usual, blue eyes that always remind me of the ocean and brown hair that now sticks to his forehead. My fingers brush unkempt hair off his face and I contract my hand away to see it covered in blood that is mine as well as it’s his.
When I slip my hand in his he doesn’t move away, doesn’t even flinch.
I hear him shout something but the noise drowns him out. I hear a loud collision behind me and another scream but I don’t know whether it is mine or someone else’s.
You promised me that when I cried, you’d be there to comfort me.
I feel the coolness of the ring he wears on his finger as my tears fall onto his face my blood mixes with the blood on the road.
Someone pulls my arms and a scream rips through the silence. They carry me, kicking wildly, desperate to be at his side.
They put me on a stretcher that morphs red when I’m laid down.
‘Please,’ I whisper through hysterics.
The car screeches, and I see him on the tarred road, lifeless.
You promised me that when I needed you, you’d be there for me.
I scream his name until it becomes nothing but painful sobs.
All those promises at first seemed like truth.
But they were far from it, weren’t they?
In the end, you were the one that pushed me.
You were the reason for my tears.
Your leaving was the reason I needed you.
All the promises you made.
All the sweetest lies.