he was talking incessantly about all the wrong things. my eyes blinked and i saw him pushed down this sloped outlet, face down - scraping all the way down till he hit the last step, that's when i noticed his face hitting the curb and slicing off. he lied there in the same position as he had been pushed with his face inches away from his head. blood began to gather around. i stared with a grimace of unexpressed emotion as she said, "i should get a blanket to cover that."

i walked up the stairs to the attic and began my search. my destination left me to an empty space on the shelf where the one thing i wanted at that moment was no longer there. someone somewhere had already taken it. i searched the remnants of the surrounding area - found nothing of interest except this square shape with a box on it.

i should've known.