Creative Writing: Jealousy

He was nine years old when he watched his older brother’s hand get cut off by a lawnmower. Jealousy had infested him earlier that afternoon, when Alex announced that he was going to cut the grass and no, only he was going to do it. His small fists were tight with envy as he watched Alex start that gloriously loud machine that throttled back onto itself as though having a fit, spewing blades of grass like curses, reeking of greasy black gasoline. The monster spasmed and bucked under Alex’s grip like Bucephalus, a throaty angry growl thrumming under its hideous black mouth, but Alex, king in his Hanes white undershirt and jeans, had it subjugated under his reign. A mighty Nebuchadnezzar atop his lion, Alex roared over the grass: plowing through the masses, decapitated grass whipping out …show more content…
But really he was aching to touch the great beast, as Alex rode along the outskirts of his kingdom, marking his territory, nearly skimming the trees that separated their backyard from the Steins’ when- abruptly- the engine blew out and the lawnmower simply stopped. At the almost eerie sound of silence, he called out from his position on the stairs, “what happened?” “I don’t know. Maybe something got stuck underneath it.” Alex shoved the machine forward as though to wake it up, then got on his knees and bent his head to look under the lawnmower. “Oh yeah, there is something-” he reached his hand underneath the machine and—WHAM: the engine roared to life again followed by the most sickening crunch that could only have been described as a sound from what goes on in the deepest pit in Hell. Alex screamed and wrenched his arm back and then there was blood, red red blood, so much blood that he, from on the porch, screamed too: a horrific sound that brought Dad, who was in the front weeding the bushes, running. “Damn!” Dad shouted when he saw