Lovely Death, a painting by Jasper Munoz (grade 10)

Friday the 13th

By Nina Goncalves Vieira

A bloody dress,

A woman screaming.

Screams so loud that they could be heard from the end of the dark hall.

Their masks hid their faces from us

taking my life into their own hands.

They did as they were taught.

Many men and a few women surrounded me,

Their eyes were focused on the blood around me.

The man whose head reflected from the bright light on top of us was in charge,

Raising his hands, he ruled all.

Breathless; my face the color of a prune due to the lack of oxygen;

Tears poured from my eyes from the very first breath.

Warm hands embraced my entire being,

It will be okay, the voice said.

I wanted to scream, too, only no sound escaped from my throat-

The tears that dropped from my eyes were my only way of communicating.

Congratulations, it’s a girl, the doctor said. 

Biography

My name is Nina and I’m a sophomore. Outside of school I’m usually playing lacrosse, volunteering with CISV, being an international student ambassador and helping these students adapt to the school, or tanning at the beach. I’m also a staffer at the Patriot Post and editor of the lit. mag!

  How do you resonate with your piece? Why is it personal to you?

My piece is personal to me because I was born on March 13th and for my entire life I thought the day I was born had been a Friday, but I recently found out it was actually a Thursday.

What message do you hope to convey through your piece?

Since I wrote it around Halloween, I hope to get a dark imagery but surprising end through my piece.

   What artists and/or writers inspired or influenced your work?

Usually when I’m reading a book where the writer has a very distinct style that I love, I tend to write some things in a similar manner. So a lot of writers inspired my works.