Just Another Day

I look up at the sky, swinging to and fro, the carefree breeze petting my locks.

She flies; the wind dances by

She shines; stars in her eyes

She glides; Nature gently smiles

I get off the tyre and pick up my bag. As I walk towards class, hordes of laughing faces greet me. “Hey, see you at 6:00 today?” asks the school stud Ryan eagerly. “Sure thing Ry”, I float by. “Missed you at rehearsal. Where were you?” Rachel, the Drama Club President yells. “Uh..oh, down with a lil’ cold, babe”, I whisper in a hoarse voice. One of my many talents. “Okay, but don’t forget today. We need you. The whole drama will fall apart...”, “See you,” I put up my best smile just to get away from her shrillness. That voice annoys me.

The school corridor, full of young faces with bright smiles. Keith, the jock waves his hands towards me. Sharon, the cheerleader throws me a kiss. Her blonde hair reminds me of cotton candy.

Inside class, Mr. Turner asks us to open Page 69 of American History. The Civil Rights War.

“And even as President Lincoln set out to battle the demon of slavery, there were demons in his own Congress, who did not want him to succeed”, Turner’s fingers slowly brush against mine as he walks past my desk. Pink candy.

Tick-tick-Gong! As the seconds-hand of the clock assaults the hour-hand with a loud bang, I rush outside. Outside the school premises, the candy man waits with fluffy pink cotton candy. I treat myself to a dozen.

Nothing can stop the craving for blood like cotton candy. People think vampires like drinking blood but what they really like is blood thickened with sugar. My phone rings. It’s Rachel. Two hundred and forty pounds of thick blood glucose. One of these days, that bitch will get what she deserves.

I throw away the phone. I run and run for dear life. The sun smiles at me. The wind whispers softly. “So you want a normal life? A human life? Fine, the sun won’t burn you; you won’t need blood to survive, your killer instincts will be numbed. But...”, the Supreme One had said with a chuckle, “you will become a woman during the day. At night, you will turn back to your original self.”

I run. From the screams. The smiles. The humans worse than hellhounds. How the other vampires warned. How I was adamant on living a normal life. How I wanted to finish school. Be a lawyer. Help the community. This was too small a price to pay, wasn’t it?

And I remember that bite I took. The dead girl in the alley. Whose face I see in the mirror. Whose hair flies with the wind. Whose smile makes the stars happy. Whose truth Turner knows.

Down the city, the civilization, the hills I run until I run out of breath. What a joke! Vampires can’t cry.  I creep inside the run-down house at the fringes. As the daylight dims, I change. I stand beside the mirror watching myself transform like some damn werewolf.

Then I get inside my cushy coffin and close my eyes, tired and sleepy like a normal human, waiting for another day. Like today. The dark vampire world doesn’t seem so dark anymore.