The walls were closing in on me but I couldn’t scream for help. I was gasping for air, but it wasn’t there anymore. I didn’t realize that the day that started off so wonderfully, was coming to an end in a brutal way.

The sun was shining high over our heads. The birds chirped with enthusiasm, and the younger kids played in the green grass. It was the fourth of July, and everyone was anxious for the sun to go down and the fireworks to begin. I walked over to the picnic table where my family laughed and played. “Want some? Want some?” My annoying sister asked me while holding a huge piece of watermelon and an arm full of melon juice up to my face. I nodded a ‘no’ and walked away to sit next to the rest of my teenage cousins. We all laughed at my goofy cousins jokes then sat in silence when we had nothing to say. The sun finally went to its resting spot and the moon took its place. The entire Enriquez family sat in a bunch on the grass waiting for the entertainment to begin.

Ten minutes passed and nothing even sparked in the sky. I got frustrated sitting on the hard floor for so long so I stood up and began to walk to the picnic table to serve myself another plateful of the Mexican food I loved. The same second I turned my back on my family to start walking my cousins, aunts, and uncles all screamed in horror. I turned half way but wasn’t able to make the complete turn before I collapsed to the floor. At first I thought I was tackled by one of my uncles because of the amount of forced used, but when I looked around to see which one it was there was no one there. I looked on the ground to find a good hand rest so that I could stand up, but as soon as I moved my arm, I felt an excruciating pain coming from my stomach. I laid there in confusion. I then tried again to move my arm when the pain came back. All of a sudden, my family rushed over to me and I saw tears in their eyes. I looked down towards where everyone was staring and I realized I had blood oozing out of my stomach. That’s when it came to me; the screams of horror were when my family saw me collapse. But how did I get a bullet wound when I heard no gun? I wanted to ask my mom but I was afraid the pain would come back. I felt no pain I was just afraid the shooter or shooters would return and shot the witnesses. I wanted to tell my mom to take me to the hospital just, so they would be away from the scene and away from any harm but she was already one step ahead of me. My older cousin lifted me with the strength he received from the anger he felt.

We arrived at the hospital to find no one in sight. My younger cousins ran around looking for a doctor but they had no luck. I saw my cousin, Cindy, scramble her way through the crowd with a pair of tweezers in her hand. When she finally arrived to me she told my cousin to put me down on a table so she can pull the bullet out on her own. At first my cousin was refusing until my mom demanded him too. As soon as I was laid flat on the table my cousin leaned in to remove the bullet. I could feel the cold metal tweezers enter my body and I screamed in pain. She went on as if she never hearing my scream. I continued and so did she. The pain was so unbearable that I began to pass out. I couldn’t believe that just earlier in the day I was at the park with my many cousins and the next I knew I was passing out in an empty hospital.

In the distance I could hear my mom but she was standing by my side. “Mari, hey!!”. Everything and everyone began to fade away and I didn’t know what to do. I opened my eyes again and I was in bed with my mom holding up the alarm clock. “You got half an hour before we leave to school.” OMG! It was just a nightmare, I thought to myself and I got up to start another regular day.