Part 1

He wasn't the type of child to kill birds with a hammer
No, he was terrified of death before he met her
She tried to teach him not to be afraid
He ran anyway

Once he realized his mistake he was miles, and more importantly, years away
So he set out to find her

But even death herself is not immortal
And by the time he tracked her down through the roads and the towns and the faces, they were both taught of her ephemeral nature the hard way
And she was gone

He killed to win her back
At first it was animals
They were all from the pound, he could bear to suffocate them if he knew it was their fate
But the things he met in their frozen, defeated eyes were but her relatives
It enraged him to be reminded of her
By the time he began to feel comfortable killing, he was suddenly mutilating the sacrificed pets
It became a ritual for him to dissect and tear through the guts of his victims, with gloveless hands
The animal shelter stopped letting him adopt their dogs once he had gone through a dozen

He killed to win her back only most of the time now
Part of it was the testosterone rush; he was in the best shape of his life
It was an adventure to find his victims now, most often he would take dogs from neighbor's backyards
and then put them back in a hundred different places
The police became involved

A Thought From Another Mind

It was the dress that gave it away
The red dress

I used to tell her: "you're never not going to die" and then smirk
She would tell me that she believed me, and that I could stop saying that
Then she would smirk and we fell over each other like newlyweds

I think she was smart; I know she was beautiful
Certainly, she was all I could see

I know she was beautiful because I could see the eyes follow her whenever we went out
I know she was because she was the worst dressed girl I had ever met, and I still fell in love with her
I know she was because I would find myself seeking her reflection in the TV when we watched movies
I know she was because we never once watched them

It was still a secret to her; every time I told her how stunning she was, it was the first time
And I believed her, I wouldn't believe any other girl
She was a summer morning

I think she was smart because I never felt safe around her
I think she was because she was careful not to smile too much
I think she was because she was such a gorgeous creature it would have pained me not to
I think she was because she never did tell me if she loved me

She was the first to hit me
She was the first to show me what was underneath my own skin
She was perfect

The dress was draped over the railing with care
It belied every other detail of the scene