Chapter 43. Flashing Before My Eyes

Joey’s POV

[In the forest, at night]

“Really?” I thought as the beast kept slashing and biting my almost lifeless body, “Why did I jump in, knowing fully well what the outcome would be?” I thought. Something about it felt divine and benevolent, yet I wished I didn’t do it. “I wish Natasha had listened, then maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess,” I thought. As I felt the thread of my life about to snap, thoughts of how I had lived flashed through my mind…

***

[A few years ago]

“We didn’t make so much today,” I said to my mom as I counted the coins in the hat.

“How much is it?” she asked, still sitting on the floor with her back leaning against the brick red wall of the building.

“A dollar and thirty cents,” I replied, “that’s barely enough to get us through the day,” I said.

“Humph!” mom sighed, “I guess busking ain’t as lucrative as it used to be back in the day,” she mourned shaking her head in disappointment.

“Here mom, let