demons (standard:other, 429 words)
Author: giborim	Added: Apr 17 2003	Views/Reads: 3081/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
we all have demons.

Sweat pouring down my head, I pull the sheets tighter over me, I
remember it all like it was yesterday.  Peering out the sheets, quickly 
so he doesn't see me.  His sharp razor-like nails reach out to grab me; 
teeth almost mimicking the same razor-like appearance protrude to 
display a glowing greenish-yellow scowl.  He comes out from the closet 
or hides under the bed.  Demons are the reason you wait until morning 
to go to the bathroom even though you know you might wet the bed.  
Demons are the reason you climb into your parents bed hoping they know 
the secret to protect you.  We all had demons as children.  Sometimes 
they don't go away as adults. 

I don't know quite when it happened but my demon morphed.  He no longer
grabs my feet.  My demon has grabbed my heart and mind.  No longer do I 
find him by my bed at night hoping that somewhere in the darkness of 
the night he can steal a moment, just a moment, to scare me.  He lives 
off my fear. 

My demon has found new tricks to scare me.  Cancer is the new weapon of
choice.  My grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, and good friends 
have all been caught by my demon. Slowly he creeps upon them and takes 
something from them.  His attack starts small but precise, maybe with 
the lungs.  Gradually he attacks cell by cell then moves in for the 
kill and attacks the organ.  His grip slowly tightening around the 
porous tissue and squeezing it until the air that brings life can no 
longer enter.  Then my demon will move into the blood stream and attack 
the whole body, by this time he will have won.  Hopefully we will catch 
him first and destroy him.   It is a never-ending war. Sometimes he 
wins.  Sometimes I win.  Luck seems to be the deciding factor.  I watch 
my friends, lying out in the sun, smoking cigarettes, driving behind 
cars with massive exhaust, anything that is known to cause cancer 
forces me to wonder.  Who will be next?  Who will my demon catch? 

You may not see him, you may be lucky.  Maybe he will never reach out
and start attacking your loved ones the way he has mine.  He has 
destroyed my world.  My web of loved ones diminishes slowly as he, as 
skillfully as a sniper, eliminates person after person. As a child my 
sheets were my shields from my demon.  I now look for these sheets that 
will protect me and I realize I will never find any. 


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