When Time Stood Still   

          A heartbeat thudded louder and faster, as time began to slow. Behind the face of a girl, a terrified mind of a frantic teenager raced with fear. The smell of smoke filled her nostrils as a scream burst through her tightly closed lips. The whole world suddenly stopped spinning within her, and she collapsed to her knees in tears. As if in slow motion, the storm of chaos that had erupted among the passing students in the high school hallway were driven to silence. Each horrified individual could suddenly hear the girl’s breath, short and stained with sobs, as they formed a circle around the scene of every student’s worst fear.

          It was a beautiful day in May. Outside, a warming sun beamed through the greenest leaves, casting the shade of color into the school building. A breeze blew through an open door from the hallway, and swept in a relaxing warmth, which did not help at all to cool the moment. Katrina, a beautiful and innocent freshman, stood upon her knees and let her long brown hair trickle down over her eyes. Her boyfriend Michael lay on his back, trembling beside her knees. This dead silence somehow could not be penetrated by the frantic and crazed sophomore being beaten to the ground behind them, his smoking .45 Magnum dropping with a thud to the floor. The haunting image of a rampant school shooting would haunt these hallways forever. The nightmare was already flashing through Katrina’s mind.

She watched herself playfully frolic down the hallway with her boyfriend, as he watched her dance upon his every fantasy. They smiled at each other, with a passionate tenderness entrancing their eyes.  It was a smile that could never be recognized as a flirt; but an acknowledgement of love. As if being woken from their dream, a terrifying reality suddenly split the air with the crack of a gunshot. The bustling students were suddenly screaming as they ran in various directions. Another shot tore a hole in the serenity and more screams erupted from everywhere. Katrina’s hand was taken by Michael as he sprinted towards the nearest exit. His head violently shook back and forth, his face grimacing as he pushed with every bit of energy in him to drag himself and Katrina to safety. As they ran into a new corridor, they were oblivious to the huge dripping bloodstain on the wall. There were more people running through the halls than they had even believed to be in the school. Michael and Katrina stopped in the midst of the commotion and stood, helplessly looking around for a way out. Their grip on each other’s hands loosened, and finally was separated. Their heartbeats raced as their eyes frantically darted around in fright. Time had already begun to slow down. Katrina’s mind raced and all the sound echoed around her. The world became a blur of slow motion as her head turned to a distance no more than four feet, between her forehead and the barrel of a gun. She fell back as her mouth opened, letting her scream announce the arrival of another angel to heaven. Out of nowhere, the shadow of her boyfriend flew precariously through the air, his adrenalin lifting him up so as to catch the bullet in his left lung. The bullet bore through his back and took a spray of blood with it. Michael fell to the floor, gasping for breath as a teacher found the killer and tackled him.

Michael’s breathing became short and he lay in Katrina’s arms. She could hear his blood entering his lungs with every gurgling exhalation. The air around them was still and silent, almost amplifying her sobs. Michael felt a tearing pain burn inside his chest. His hands were pressed tightly against the small hole in his chest, his fingers trying in vain to stop the blood from seeping through. It felt as if the life inside of him was being drained through his wounds, and the carpet beneath him became steeped in it. Michael tried to breathe deep breaths, but his eyes filled with tears and an excruciating pain devoured his body. He looked up at the girl who he had just saved, and somehow managed to smile. She leaned over him, her tears splashing down upon his cheeks, and then she spoke. It was almost like a whisper, except her voice was choked and sorrowful.

“Why…? It should have been me, Mike. It should have been me…”

Michael continued to gaze into her eyes. He traced the outline of her cheek with his eyes, and then across her beautiful face. Every little detail about her couldn’t be more gorgeous. Her hazel eyes were mysterious and glowing with passion, her cute little nose oversaw the radiating temptations of her luscious lips, and her silky smooth brown hair flowed elegantly from her head. He somehow instinctually knew inside, inside his heart whose beat was slowly waning, that he loved her. He loved the sound of her voice, even now as it mourned his doom. He loved her mysterious nature, and the kind and respectful personality that lived inside such an amazing body of a girl. His conscience had for so long tried to translate it, but it was too difficult. There was no way to express in words such a feeling. Michael tried to reply, but stuttered. He stuttered not from the intolerable pain that was now searing his entire upper torso, but just as he had always done while in the presence of this amazing girl.

“I…I…I love you. There’s…there’s just no way I could possibly tell you without making a fool of myself. I…”

He was cut off by his unstoppable reflex to cough, and his blood trickled down from his lips. Determined, he started again.

“I can’t live without you. If…if…..you…were the one in my place right now, I don’t think I could live. Maybe it’s extreme at an age such as mine, to give your life for the one you love, but…I guess that’s just how much I love you. And so now…I can rest…”

Michael let out a sigh but Katrina quickly caught him. She hugged him tightly against her, shaking him to do whatever she could to keep his soul from escaping.

“Please, you can make it,” she whispered as her salty teardrops landed in Michael’s hair. “Don’t leave me, please! Michael!!!”

Michael turned his head to look up one last time into her cloudy eyes. His strained voice could be heard by no one but Katrina, who had her arms fastened around him, her hands covering his exit wound.

“Katrina…you were my only rose without a thorn…”

With these words trailing from his final breath, Michael’s eyes rolled to the side and his head fell motionless in Katrina’s hands. The blood on her hands rubbed off into his mangled hair, and her tears continued to drop onto his face. She slowly lowered his head back to the crimson stained carpet, and only then did her eyes finally leave the face of the boy she loved. Katrina looked around at the circle of students that she never even realized were there. Most of them were in tears as well, and Katrina slowly rose to her feet, with Michael’s last words spinning through her mind. Everyone stood there quietly crying. The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of sirens drawing nearer. More and more of them joined in to the whining cluster of sound that was finally filling the air. Police cars and ambulances arrived outside the school with their sirens blaring, almost as if playing a funeral song for the stone cold freshman sprawled in the middle of the hallway. Two paramedics suddenly burst through the circle of students and ushered Katrina out of the way. One of them knelt down to take Michaels pulse, then slowly looked up at another and morbidly shook his head. The two of them picked Michael’s body up onto a stretcher, then took him away. They were followed by Katrina’s long stare, until they were out of sight; and finally, once again, the world began to turn.