Joel: The Terror in Plain Sight
This is chronicled retelling of one of the surviving members of a terrible tragedy.

The day broke open with hopeful pleasantries and gave way to a grand direction but unbeknown to me deceit tainted the air and coated the soil beneath me. It was supposed to be a routine gathering filled with merriment and jaunts through the park's many trees. The moment was pure and marvelous to be amongst so many friends. There were coolers of drinks being handed around and I swear I had no ill intention on my choice of beverage.. It was given but like a poor draw of the cards I played with what I was dealt with. In the brief pauses between speaking to my friends I would take a swig and not too long after the can was empty. The person in front of me at the time held a gaze on my and his breath turned faded. He asked where I got my currently empty drink and I had mentioned that an individual just had given this to me out of one of the coolers.

I see the light pitter of tears fall toward the ground and everyone present watched this man have his being destroyed in a matter of moments. The strength of us was joel's cousin jimmy so try and aid in his trying times. I still can’t comprehend what happened because one moment he was there trying to help and the next his lifeless corpse laid stretched on the ground below. There was no sound he just died put forth with such subtlety that nobody even felt the shift in the air as he fell. Time became slow and everyone made the the mad dash to the forest to try and outrun the mad titan on his rampage. My heart thundered like a drum as I saw friends fall victim to a variety of cruel deaths. Each step was one closer to safety but the splaid corpses began soar toward me impeding my advancement.

I didn’t want to be swallowed by the waves and I was only a few feet from a large oak tree. The forest was thick and twisted and turned and I knew that I could hide there. I outstretch my hand and touched the large tree and look behind just long enough to see the horror of joel feasting on Mitch’s entails his cold eyes begging for help. An additional glance lets me see that Spencer and Caitlin had made it to their car and were home free but all I could hear was the screaming moments later as joel materialized in the back seat and made their escape futile. I run as deep into the wood as it would go the mud sucking me down with each heavy step. The forest is safe I beg to whatever god could hear but my action was only answered with hushed whispers echoing around me. I found the hollowed shell of a tree and found stead while I wait for my coming doom. I hear screaming close and it made it to my ears but not my muscles as I would not fall into a trap.

My current cover provided simple cracks for me to observe through and I can see joel's sister Juli sprinting through the woods with reckless abandon. A brief sound chimed through the wood and she stood there still and calm. I try and signal but the can of diet pepsi began to shake and shiver as the sound of aluminum cans began to trickle through the area like heavy rain. A swarm of these can culminated and bounded through the forest and after her then she was gone. I stood still and heard the wails and screams of my friends terrorizing me to help but I remained steady. After it was all done the sun showed again and the trees gained life and I hobbled my way home.

Weeks later I attended funerals for those who still had bodies to bury and waited for my turn to come. I still wait and wonder who gave me that inciting can of diet pepsi. As I sit in a chair illuminated by a single lamp with the figure in front of me basked in shadow I ask to see his face. Slight irritability issues as the as he refrains from moving but the slight breath exiting his breath stung my nostrils and made me choke… is that diet pepsi I smell.

There was this period of time around like 7th to 8th grade
Where he would try to film these short videos
With some of his friends from school,
not the ones he would post
what a crying shame,
im talking behind camera
and his personal "collection"
So anyway
he'd have us be doing skits ya know,
haha funny times, jokes, tee hee
but then the stories would twist in a weird way...
like he'd try to get some of the boys to like kiss and we'd all be like
"That's ♥♥♥♥♥♥' weird man i don't want to"
and he'd be sitting there with his camcorder in one hand
and he'd be wearing no shoes
tall socks
really long shirt for an 8th grader
like XXXL tall
and we weren't sure if he was wearing anything under it
and wed be in the woods
and when wed say ♥♥♥♥ like
this is weird man
hed be like nop its not weird
YOU guys are being weird
just let it happen
you guys are being little silly's