SONYA A WATSON

The Gingerbread Man– written 5+ years ago

Waves of despair were pushed back with a smile. The soured scent was doused with the smell of red roses and the harsh cold winds were calmed and warmed with the image of the sun in the naked blue sky. The thief’s words jabbed at my mind until the fear came flooding out then he soaked my mind in desires. Pieces of the vessel’s mind were stolen, broken then reshaped to ready it for the upcoming battle. The thief had slept for thirty years. The sleep was never restful yet the thief seemed at peace. The vessel had been given the name Amara Bay by a cruel mother and an absent-minded father. Amara Bay was a thoughtful daughter, a helpful resident and a kind sister yet a celebration was slated to take place minutes after her death. Amara looked at her father with the dark brown eyes he had given to her and she saw emptiness. She listened with the small ears her mother had given her and she heard disgust.  The thief revelled in the chaotic space the mother and father had built for their daughter. The thief. The first Gingerbread Man. Adam sucked his victims into the pit of his darkness when he gazed at them with his empty hazel eyes. His sinister smirk struck fear into the very core of his victims and the calloused hand that held his sharpened blade made them weep then plead to the heavens for mercy. The thundering pain inside her mind paralyzed her thoughts and her lips and yet she refused to surrender. His thoughts slithered through the small crevices of her mind and soon she was slaughtering and burning his victims with his hands while taunting their families in his voice. The bones of his victims nourished the earth; the smoke cleaned the air and the blood filtered the water yet there were no words of praise. The mind of the vessel and the mind of the thief that had been joined at the behest of the thief was cleaved in two. The pale-skinned brown-haired man orally gave birth to a shapely young woman with mocha skin and tightly coiled black hair.  Although the battle between the thief and the vessel existed within her mind, she felt the thief’s slime coating her skin and gnawing at her flesh as she struggled to stay afloat in the sea of disturbing thoughts the thief had flooded her mind with. The vessel. Amara Bay. I was a thoughtful daughter, a helpful resident and a kind sister yet I was being herded like cattle to the slaughter for people who never worried about the emptiness of my heart, the strength of my mind and the freedom of my soul.

“Adam,” I said. “Why are you inside my head? You’ll have thirty years inside this body,” I bent down.

“What are you doing here?” Alexander placed his hand on my shoulder.

“I just,” I sighed. “It doesn’t matter,” I got up.

“You just what? You’re the first girl to ever be chosen as a vessel. You should feel honoured.”

“I don’t. I had a plan. I wanted to get out of this town and make something of myself and now,” I pulled away from him. “I have to protect random people that I don’t think deserve protecting.”

“You’re so selfish,” Alexander grabbed my hand. “The blood you spill will help the crops to grow, the water to stay pure and the barrier to stay up,” he squeezed my hand. 

“I didn’t steal this from you. I’m going to die. Do you care that I’m going to die?”

“It’s for the greater good,” he let go of my hand. “Your death will mean something unlike mine.” 

“That’s what this is about? You want praise and gratitude?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing I guess. Please leave me alone,” I sat next to the well. “Please I just want to be alone,” I hugged my knees.

“Fine,” he walked away.

“Why won’t you talk to me?”

Adam wormed his way into my heart and he fed it half-truths. The thief threw a slew of insults towards me and wove sadness through the strings of my heart when he discovered that my heart was full. It longed to feel the warmth of Gabriel’s smile and my soul ached for the comfort his words gave me. As the moon looked down on the fertile ground below, I staggered towards the edge of the town. In the absence of roses, the air was doused in its scent and the slight smell of pine pulled on the hairs on my skin.  Adam soaked my mind in fear while I wandered aimlessly through the densely packed woods. My heart thrashed about inside its bony cage and the sound pried the wells of my eyes open. My cheeks were damp and my eyes were soaking in tears while my throbbing legs walked towards Gabriel. The man who had captured my heart had never seen the cruelty of my people with his green eyes. He had never struck me with a stone he had thrown with his large calloused hands. I had never felt his chiselled arms around me. I had never felt his light brown beard tickle my skin. I had never ran my fingers through his dark brown hair. I had never felt the man I loved yet my love steadied my heart and numbed the pain in my legs. I ran. Breathless and drowning in worry Adam’s troublesome past crept towards the surface. 

“You’re late,” Gabriel said.My heart fluttered and Adam hushed it. Gabriel pressed his hand against the invisible barrier and I pressed my hand against his. My heart gushed and the constant chatter was quieted. A weight was lifted and the soul that had once felt grounded flew. I wished for his breath to feed me and I longed for his warmth to fill my heart with joy.

“I got distracted.”

“I wish I could touch your hand. I wish I could play with your curls,” he sighed. “I want to feel what it’s like to kiss you,” he lowered his hand.

“You can’t come here anymore,” I sat down.

“You don’t mean that,” Gabriel sat down.
“Remember when we were kids and I told you about the Gingerbread Man?”

Gabriel nodded.

“I’m his vessel and he’s coming for me.”

“We’ll fight him.”

“The barrier will be down for three days,” I said.  “He will stockpile people from the city and he’ll let them loose in here and then he’ll kill them.”

“We’ll make sure that he doesn’t take you.”

“He’s already sunk his claws into me.”

“There has to be another way. Make him choose another vessel,” he pounded his fist against the barrier.

“I can’t.”

“You won’t,” he got up.

“Don’t do that,” I said. “I tried four years ago to end this. I gave you an out and you didn’t take it,” I stood up. “You can’t blame me for this.”

“I thought that we would have figured out a way to get you out of there by now,” he sighed.

“I want you to be happy. Find someone in the city. You can’t come here anymore.”

“I have loved you for more than half of my life. I won’t let you go,” he pressed his body and his palms against the barrier.

“And I have spent more than half of my life wondering why.”

“What did I ever do to make you wonder?” he said. “I love the way the moonlight makes your brown skin glisten. I love how you pucker your lips when you’re thinking really hard about something. I love how your dark brown eyes look in the night. I love you,” he smiled.

“I love you too,” I whispered. “That’s why you can’t come back here. He wants me to kill you. You’ll be my fourth kill and when I do I’ll die. Please do this for me,” I tapped my fingers on the barrier.

“You’re asking me to abandon you when you need me the most. I won’t do it.”

“I am asking you to do this one thing for me before I die. I just want you to be safe,” I pressed my lips against the barrier.
“I just want to be with you,” he dragged his knuckles across the barrier.

“Run,” I imagined what his knuckles would feel like when they grazed my lips. “Run as fast as you can,” I dried my eyes with the back of my hand.

“I’m not giving up,” he said before he left.

As the trees creaked and the wind howled, the thief walked leisurely through my memories. His heart was naked. It bled emptiness and attacked the love I carried for Gabriel. He hunted down my desires and he hid the image of my mouth pressed against Gabriel’s thin lips. The thief draped the longing for Gabriel’s freckled nose to be pressed against my neck in darkness. Adam dragged me towards my wooden house at the other end of the town. My legs wobbled and the tall thorny bushes that kept the slanted wooden house somewhat hidden pricked at my skin. He poured out the thoughts in my mind and the feelings in my heart. While I thought I had been emptied, I soon realized that the thief who had been mucking about inside me had left behind anger. He had woven my anger with his own and it flooded my mind and coursed through my veins until it took hold of my body. The thief released me. I was no longer a slave to his whims yet I opened the brown oak door to the place where I was reared and I took a hatchet and a knife from the kitchen. I crept from room to room in search of my family and when I found my mother on the couch in the living room I buried a hatchet in her skull. My yelping father died slowly. I felt nothing when I watched the blood soak through the sheets.  Adam was quiet and my heart was the same. I had planned to suffocate my brother while he slept. I wished a painful death for him. I wished to deprive him of the freedom to breathe much like he had done to me but I chose to wake him.

“Hello brother,” I cracked my knuckles.

“Where did that blood come from?” he rolled to the other side of the bed.

“Mother,” I looked at the blood on my blue blouse. “It could be Father’s.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Oh,” I chuckled. “Did you forget that they would lock me in the basement when I was bad?” I shoved him. “I think they had it coming. You have it coming,” I smirked.

“Wait. Wait,” he held up his palms. “What would the Gingerbread Man think about killing your brother? Your twin?” he snivelled.

“He was going to kill you and I think he knew that I wanted to do it so he let me go,” I picked up the pillow.

“I want to live please,” he cowered in the corner.

“I wanted a family who loved me. I guess we can’t always get what we want,” I smothered my brother with the pillow. “I am yours now,” I watched as my brother’s body thrashed about violently as I used the strength from the Gingerbread Man to keep the pillow against his face. “He’s dead,” I threw the pillow on the bed. “No,” I rubbed my brother’s shaved head. “You can’t have him,” I knelt down. “No,” I reached for the pillow. “You can’t have him,” I grunted. “No,” the Gingerbread man closed my eyes, covered my ears, plugged my nostrils and numbed my body.

“Amara!”

I opened my eyes.

“Run Run.”

“Amara put it down,” Gabriel glanced at the weapon in my hand.

“Run Run.”

“I have an idea that can save you. I just need you to put the hatchet down.”

“Run Run,” I staggered towards him.

“Take back control. Please?”

“Run Run,” I peered over my shoulder and the shimmer of the barrier was gone.

“I’m not going to lose you!”

“Run Run,” I felt the tears roll down my cheeks.

“You can kill him,” Gabriel smiled.

“Run Run,” I bent down and I put the hatchet next to me. “Run Run,” I drew in the dirt with my finger.

“We can be together now. You’re outside of the barrier. All we have to do is kill him and we can use this.”

“Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t get away from me! I’m the Gingerbread Man!” I lunged towards him. My fists broke his nose and bruised his cheeks yet Gabriel refused to fight back. I had murdered my family to right their wrongs. The only wrong Gabriel had committed was loving me so I planted my feet on the sturdiest memory I could find. I climbed to the surface and I stopped the attack on Gabriel. “I don’t have a lot of time. I just need you to know that I’m sorry,” I kissed his cheek. “I love you and I wish that we could have been together,” I swung the hatchet and I was thrown down the well with Adam.

“You silly girl. Do you know what you’ve done?” Adam ran through the darkness to get to me.

“I saved someone I loved,” I looked up at the small opening. “I guess I’ll have to fight you for it,” I clenched my fists. “I will be the Gingerbread Man,” I punched Adam.

Rewrite Coming Soon

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