The man's eyes are like trapped fire, burning hot and blue. His smiles crooked, cruel in a promising sort of way. He'll grant all your wishes but for a price. I'm afraid of him. They're afraid of him. But we gather around anyway, and don't flinch at his cold touch. Because we have no one else.

I shouldn't be dead.

The girl next to me stares at me, naked and small as I am. She doesn't have any eyes. But she stares anyway, endless black pits raping my soul. I look at her and she smiles, the naive, innocent smile of a child. She doesn't know where we are either. My lips twitch into some grizzly resemblence to a smile. I try not to look into the socket of her eyes, mirroring this place. It's so dark...

I was walking to the park...by myself...it was night out...

I shouldn't be dead.

We're all missing a piece of ourselves. There're two boys holding hands. They're twins. They stare at me with the same ice blue eyes. They're impossible to tell apart. But one's missing it's hand, the one that should be free of it's twin. And side of the other's face is a mass of red, with little bits of white sticking out. The red isn't ruining his eye though, on that side. It's perfect as his other, as his brother's. They don't smile when I look at them.

I was almost there...I could see the slides and swings from here...I'd spend the night there...they'd feel bad for yelling then...when I wasn't in my bed and they were worried sick...when they found me here...everything would be better then...I heard a noise from the woods...there were so many trees...and then there was the man...

I shouldn't be dead...

My heart's missing. I trace my fingers along the gaping hole where it should have been. There's no red. Just black. Like there's nothing else inside. The girl with no eyes comes closer and touches it too. Her lips move but no words come out. The hole wasn't this big before, but I had been picking away at the skin, as we waited with the man. There's a pile of flesh on the floor by my feet. The hole looks better now. I miss my heart. I want to see it. But I know the man has it, and I know he won't let me see it unless I'm really good. So I don't ask for it. It's so cold...

He smiled at me like he's smiling now...I smiled back because I was afraid and wanted to be polite...he told me he'd lost something very important to him and needed it back...he asked if I could help him find it...I didn't want to but I said yes...it's good to help people...

I shouldn't be dead..

Everyone's eyes are on the man. Even the girl with no eyes, whose holding my hand now, is staring at him with awe. I don't know who he is. But he knows who we are. He says our names, and those who can hear them stop being afraid. He tells us we've all been very helpful. We're such good children. I'm so happy I've helped him. And the girl with no eyes squeezes my hand. She's happy too.

I went into the woods to help him look...I don't remember what I was looking for...but it was important...when I told him I was tired he grinned and told me I could sleep as soon as I did one last thing for him...I asked him what it was because I want to sleep so bad...and then he pulled out the knife...and I woke up here.

I shouldn't be dead...

"You're all very tired." He says, and some nod and others just stare. Because he's so beautiful. And so friendly. And so kind for letting us help. "And now dear children, you shall sleep." And we all fall asleep one by one. The boys and girls fall softly to the ground. The twins, one without a hand and the other whose head is all red, fall asleep in eachother's arms. The girl with no eyes is dreaming now, still staring up at me with the black holes she was given. Her eyelids were taken too. And now it's my turn. The grounds so soft when I fall and I can hear familiar voices in the distance. They want me to join them. And it's so warm I can't say no.

The man laughs once, shortly but that's the last I hear of him. Because all I can hear now are the happy voices of those who never wanted me when I was awake and were never happy like this.

I shouldn't be dead.

A/N: Hmm...don't know where this really came from...I've been wanting to write a story using "I shouldn't be dead" as the mantra for a while and I've been itching to write something so I could name it "And Now Dear Children" because I like how that sounds. This is really short. But oh well. I think it's really just an excuse to post something.

There's not to be a broad range of vocabularly because...well...the narrator's not really very old and I can't imagine them knowing very large words.

I haven't really gone through and checked it for errors...so be kind...

Read and Review please! I'll give you a cookie!