Tanner: A Fictional Narrative

Tanner lay in his crib fitfully as he navigated through his dream. A boy of four, he could hardly comprehend that he was in the grasp of a nightmare. He walked in this imaginary realm through a narrow valley, in soft green grass that reached his knee. It was a beautiful place with the songs of birds and the rush of water from a nearby river. On both sides of him were mountain peaks that rose high above him, frosted with early snow. Further above the rocky behemoths were puffy white clouds that peppered the early evening sky. But in the distance a black wall threatened the serenity, a massive storm that roiled miles ahead and seemed to be gaining ground fast. Despite the thunder and the birds Tanner could hear something else, or someone else. He searched for the person, being drawn to the voice instinctively. It was his mothers, and she was screaming. “Mom,” Tanner yelled. He looked around frantically, becoming aware how fast the storm in front of him was moving. The wind was picking up, and the warm air chilled quickly. “Mommy,” he yelled again. The boy wondered where his father, Marcus, was at. Why he wasn’t there helping mommy. The screaming got louder, and Tanner could hear …show more content…
He felt the spray of blood across his shirtless body, twenty years in the past. The light was fading from her. He saw the man dead on the floor across the room by the bed and the bloody marks where his mother had crawled to the crib. But the man across the room was dead and it wasn’t him who shot her, he thought. The revelation wasn’t a new one, it haunted Tanner every second of his life, but the local police only cared for an easy answer. The murder weapon in Harold’s hand was all they needed, and the man’s criminal record and known mob dealings were just the icing. The police claimed he had shot Tanner’s mother and then