'Yearning Freedom: Jason, Alex and Chris's Final High School Journey'

The first time I saw the monster was on a rainy day in June. Just after lunch.

It was the twentieth year since the second major war ended and we were all allowed to join school. It was the final year of our education and the beginning of a new era. For many, this meant studying at university or joining the military. Me, I was going to follow my father’s footsteps into politics.

I walked home that evening with Alex and Chris, across the town square. We discussed a lot of things, like who would be getting what job and who would be going where for study. We talked about our girlfriends, Elizabeth, Emma and Izzy, respectively. We talked about our families, how proud they were of us and how proud we were of them. It was a happy time in our lives.

We hadn’t gone far before we had to cross a street with a red light on it. There were cars driving through it as well as people walking across it. The three of us crossed without any trouble; one went to either side of the road while another waited for the drivers to give way when necessary.

Just as we reached the other side, there was a loud screech from behind us and a thud that caused me to stumble forward, nearly falling over myself and landing flat on my face on the wet ground beside me. I looked back just in time to see Alex being hit by a rusty old car driven by an even more rusty old man whom I could not make out his features as he wore a hat low over his eyes and he wore thick glasses that seemed to magnify his eyes tenfold so they looked freakishly big.

The driver got out in haste while Chris tried to help Alex up while he groaned in pain, his arm hanging limp at his side at an awkward angle from where it should have been attached to his shoulder. I ran towards him quickly but stopped when Chris suddenly moved away from him and started running towards me instead with fear written all over his face. He grabbed my shoulders tightly and ran past me towards the sidewalk opposite ours with no regard for traffic whatsoever as he waved his hands wildly above his head trying to get the attention of people around him all the while shouting incoherently at them frantically until he finally managed to attract someone’s attention: an older lady whom I recognized immediately as her son had been several grades ahead of us in school and she had always loved her son dearly even though most people thought she spoiled him rotten every now and then when he acted impulsively without thinking about it first just like Chris did right then, jumping into traffic without looking left or right for traffic signs or waiting for lights to change so he could cross safely like everyone else did; which was exactly what happened next:

Chris jumped into the middle of traffic without waiting for any cars to stop for him and instead tried desperately to dodge their path as best as he could without looking left or right for any signs or signals telling him whether he could enter or not because he didn’t care anymore; all he wanted was to save Alex before it was too late! He knew that if anyone could help him do so successfully, it would be himself alone! So just like that, he went charging into traffic like that crazy guy most people thought he was but never dared say anything out loud because they knew deep inside their hearts that they had absolutely no idea what they would do if they ever found themselves in a similar situation! And sure enough, Chris managed to reach Alex just before any harm came upon him further than what already existed!

And that is when I saw it…