Crimson Sky: A Short Story

This post is adapted from my short story called ‘Crimson Sky’ which was featured in INKspire. You can check it out here.

Image by Canva

I was outside, walking to the park. I had practically begged my mom to let me go to the park because she argued as to why I needed to go out in the freezing cold weather when I could get sick. I told her that I just needed to go out to get some fresh air, and after my relentless arguing, she finally gave in. I was tired and hungry. My stomach growled because all I had had since the morning was ice-cold water. The cold numbed me a little, and when I felt numb, I felt nothing.

I tried sleeping, but whenever I closed my eyes, I had moments of full consciousness and intensity when everything would hit me at once. But there were also moments of numbness that radiated through me, my body unwilling to feel anything at all. I wanted my boyfriend, Julian, to return my texts and calls, talk to me, or just show a remote sign of affection. I didn’t know why I was so attached to him even after I fell out of love with him. I thought of how maybe I didn’t want to lose him because he had been my best friend for years, but that was no reason to lead him on. And that certainly wasn’t a reason for him to treat me the way he did — rough and at his disposal. I’d been friends with Eric for seven years now, and he had never treated me the way Julian did. So why should I put…