“Cheer up now Alice,” Alice’s mother said.

  She was in the passenger seat and glanced back at Alice, who was pouting and avoiding eye contact.

  “We’re sorry we couldn’t play at home.”

  “It was an urgent call from work, Alice,” Alice’s father stated. “But don’t worry, we’ll show you something that’ll blow your mind away. You’ll love it, it’s related to dragons.”

  Flinching at the word ‘dragon’, Alice couldn’t stop her excitement from bubbling up within her. However, she still had to let them know of her displeasure and continued sulking.

  “Will you forgive us if we surprise you?” asked the mother.

  Well if it really were something that amazing, Alice thought she’d forgive them.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Reluctantly, she nodded in response to her mother, eliciting a slight giggle.

  Alice’s brows furrowing, she let out a “Hmph”.

  “You even rejected our hugs earlier,” the mother said, playfully feigning sadness. “We’ll be sure to make it up to—.. honey—!”

  After the briefest screech of tires, Alice’s world flipped.

  With it happening so suddenly, everything became a blur. Alice remembered it like a slideshow, snapshots of doom itself.

  The inside of their car, damaged beyond repair.

  The world through the windows flipped upside down.

  Her mother’s bloodied hand, limp.

  The suffocating seatbelt that kept Alice strapped to the seat.

  Uncomfortable, she undid it, falling to the ground; the roof of the car.

  She crawled to her parents, glass scraping her arms and knees.

  Then she saw it all.

  Red everywhere.

  Lifeless.