I woke up to Kerem nudging me.

"Taşkın, get up."

I rubbed my eyes as I sat up.

"What happened, Kerem?"

I said this and then lay back down again.

"What do you mean, what happened? We're having breakfast."

"It's almost twelve o'clock."

..

At first, I didn't realize because I was sleepy, but then it hit me.

"What!? How did it get to be twelve!?"

I threw off the blanket on me and ran to the bathroom. I started washing my face.

Kerem was laughing at that moment. It annoyed me.

"How can you be so calm, Kerem!?"

"We're late for work! We should have been at the gym hours ago!"

"Maybe you've been working there for a long time-"

As I spoke quickly and angrily, Kerem responded in a very calm tone.

"Taşkın, today is Sunday."

"Which means no work today."

Water was dripping from my face, falling drop by drop to the floor.

I grabbed the towel and wiped my face.

"You could have told me this while I was lying down. You have no idea how scared I was."

"You got scared, but you're not sleepy anymore."

"I think we should start waking you up by scaring you. There's no trace of sleep in your eyes."

He laughed after saying this.

Honestly, thinking about what I had just done, I found it funny too.

I started laughing with Kerem.

Seconds later, a pillow was thrown at my face.

The pillow stayed on my face for a while and then slowly fell to the ground.

Kerem kept laughing.

I turned my head to where the pillow came from.

It was Cengiz.

"We only have one day off, and you're ruining it."

"Why are you laughing so early in the morning?"

Kerem stopped laughing.

"Little prince seems to be angry."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Kerem."

Kerem was looking at Cengiz with a smirk.

"I think I need to punish you."

Cengiz had laid back down. When he heard Kerem say this, he pulled his blanket up to his throat.

"W-what punishment?"

Kerem was slowly walking towards Cengiz.

Suddenly, he jumped on Cengiz and started tickling him.

Cengiz was laughing and saying, "Stop, stop, don't."

At that moment, the door opened. Ahmet came in with some bread in his hands.

"Look at these guys. (laughs) Stop playing and come have breakfast."

"The bread just came out of the oven, it's very hot."

After heading to the kitchen, he paused and looked at me.

"Taşkın, I got you a cheese-filled pastry too. They just came out of the oven."

Kerem and Cengiz both said at the same time, "Don't we get any pastries?"

Ahmet had placed the bread on the counter and was slicing it with a knife as he turned to us.

"You get some too, but Taşkın gets more."

I entered the kitchen and sat on one of the empty chairs.

Kerem and Cengiz had separated.

Cengiz was heading to the bathroom to wash his face, and Kerem was walking slowly to the kitchen.

Kerem sat on the chair across from me.

He took one of the cucumbers on the table and brought it to his mouth.

As he chewed the cucumber, he started talking to Ahmet.

(chewing) "I'm jealous though." (Haha)

Ahmet turned around and gave Kerem a dirty smile.

"Who do you think you are to question me, you son of a bitch!?"

"W-what are you sa-"

Ahmet violently stabbed the knife he was holding into Kerem's eye. Kerem let out a piercing scream and fell off the chair. As he writhed in pain on the floor, blood gushed from his eye, spreading across the ground, painting everything red.

Ahmet quickly opened one of the upper cupboards and pulled out a large cleaver.

"A-Ahmet, stop! Don't do it! What are you doing!?"

Taşkın's voice trembled as he backed away in fear.

"Shut up, Taşkın! You'll be next!"

Ahmet shouted with rage, as if he had gone mad.

"W-what...!?"

Ahmet approached the screaming Kerem on the floor. He lifted the cleaver in his right hand and brought it down mercilessly.

Kerem, trying desperately to protect himself, covered his face with both hands, but with the blows of the cleaver, his left hand was nearly severed at the wrist.

His hand was hanging by a thin piece of flesh and was swinging loosely.

Kerem's blood widened the red pool on the floor even more, with droplets of blood splattering on Taşkın's clothes, the kitchen walls, and the refrigerator, staining everything.

With each blow from Ahmet, the kitchen echoed with more piercing screams, mingling with the sound of bones breaking and shattering.

Kerem was no longer trying to protect himself because he was dead. Both his arms were shattered, his face was unrecognizable from the cleaver blows. His eyes had a vacant stare; his pain was over.

Taşkın, practically glued to the wall, watched in horror as it all happened. Blood dripped from the cleaver Ahmet held in his hand. Pieces of flesh still clung to the blade.

"You're next, Taşkın, come here, you son of a bitch."

"W-what!? No! Don't!?"

Ahmet attacked Taşkın with all his might using the cleaver.

...

..

(A DEAFENING HUM AND RINGING)

"Taşk-" (Indistinct chatter and hum.)

W-what's happening? Who's talking?

"Are-Yo- yo-u o-ok?"

A hum echoed in my mind. My head was splitting.

"Snap out of it!"

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I got a solid slap on my right cheek.

What's happening?

The hum and ringing in Taşkın's mind slowly began to fade.

Suddenly, I saw Kerem in front of me.

He was holding my shoulders with both hands and shaking me.

"Ahmet, he seems to be coming to."

"Yes, what happened all of a sudden?"

I was still in the same place. I was sitting on a chair, and there was cheese and salad on the table.

Everything seemed normal.

Kerem was looking at me with worried eyes. He had green pieces of cucumber in his mouth. Apparently, he hadn't finished eating them.

Kerem was still shaking me.

I got up from my seat in fear and pushed Kerem.

Kerem fell backward onto Ahmet.

"Y-you were dead! Your arms were shattered and you were lying lifeless on the floor!"

Kerem froze while trying to get up from where he had fallen. Ahmet was also looking at Taşkın with anxious eyes.

Ahmet was the first to speak. "What are you talking about, Taşkın?"

Taşkın pointed at Ahmet with angry eyes.

"You! You killed Kerem!"

"You mercilessly chopped him up with a cleaver!"

Kerem had stood up. He was listening to Taşkın in confusion. He was baffled.

Ahmet was trying to maintain his calm and bewilderment and attempted to communicate with Taşkın in a calm voice to soothe him.

"Taşkın, first take a deep breath."

"We don't have a cleaver. We never did."

Taşkın got angry again and pointed at the cupboard.

"Lie! You took the cleaver from that cupboard!"

"Taşkın, you made all this up in your head. None of this happened."

"We'll see now!"

Taşkın rushed forward, pushing Ahmet aside and heading for the cupboard, but he couldn't reach. He turned back, grabbed the chair, and stood on it to open the cupboard.

He started throwing out the plates and bowls inside. Ahmet and Kerem were trying to catch him. He searched for minutes but didn't find what he was looking for and finally came down.

Kerem and Ahmet were watching Taşkın.

"You- you hid it, didn't you? Where did you hide the cleaver!?"

"Taşkı-"

Kerem cut Ahmet off and shouted.

"Taşkın! There's no cleaver. No one died! What's happening this morning!? We were just laughing, but now you're acting like you've lost your mind! Get a grip already!"

Taşkın was quickly looking left and right.

"C-Cengiz, yes, Cengiz. He must have seen it!"

Kerem and Ahmet simultaneously said, "What Ker-"

Without listening to them, Taşkın rushed to the living room. Cengiz wasn't there. He went to the bathroom. Cengiz was washing his face.

"Cengiz! You saw it, right? Ahmet chopped up Kerem with a cleaver!"

"What!?"

"What are you talking about, Taşkın!?"

"Have you gone mad!?"

Taşkın was staring into Cengiz's eyes with a piercing look.

"Stay away from me, Taşkın! I'm scared!"

Cengiz was backing away.

Taşkın grabbed Cengiz's shoulders with both hands and started shouting.

"How did you not see it! You must have seen it!"

"A-am I losing my mind!?"

"N-no, t-this is impossible!"

"Y-yes, it's not. I-I saw it. I saw it, yes!"

Cengiz pushed Taşkın with all his might.

"Stay away from me!"

Upon Taşkın Cengiz's own push, he stumbled back a bit. As he tried to regain his balance and move towards Cengiz again, Kerem and Ahmet intervened, grabbing his right and left arms and forcibly pulling him towards the living room.

"Let go of me!"

"I said let go of me!"

Once they got Kerem and Ahmet out into the living room, they knelt down and tried to calm Taşkın down. He was thrashing wildly.

Cengiz watched in fear.

"Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

"Ahmet! Don't kill me!"

"Stay calm, Taşkın! No one's going to kill you!"

"Why would we harm you!?"

"Just calm down!"

Kerem turned to Cengiz.

"Cengiz! Go get some cologne! Maybe it'll help!"

Cengiz stood rooted to the spot.

Kerem grew impatient when he saw Cengiz wasn't moving.

"Move it, Cengiz!"

Upon Kerem's shout, Cengiz snapped out of it.

"O-Okay!"

Taşkın's struggles had lessened slightly, but he was still pleading and crying.

Cengiz returned with the cologne.

Ahmet said, "Cengiz, open the cologne and put plenty on Taşkın's face."

"Be careful not to get it in his eyes," Kerem added.

Cengiz was irritated. "How can I be careful!? I'm just going to pour the cologne on his face. If it gets in his eyes, then it does!"

"There's nothing we can do. A bit of cologne won't blind him."

"Okay, okay! What are you waiting for, just do it!" said Kerem.

Cengiz poured the cologne on Taşkın's face and made him smell it.

"My eyes, my eyes are burning!"

"I told you not to get it in his eyes, Cengiz!" said Ahmet.

"I couldn't help it, what could I do?"

"Okay, it's done. At least it worked. He's calming down," said Kerem.

Kerem and Ahmet still held Taşkın firmly, just in case.

Cengiz watched Taşkın with the cologne in his hand.

They waited like that for minutes. Finally, they decided to let Taşkın go.

Taşkın was lying on the floor. He hadn’t fainted; his eyes were open, but he was staring blankly at the ceiling without any reaction.

Kerem, Ahmet, and Cengiz were gathered around Taşkın, talking amongst themselves.

“Ahmet! Kerem! What the hell was that!?”

“What’s going on so early in the morning!?”

“We don’t know either, Cengiz,” Ahmet replied and continued, “I was slicing the bread I got from the bakery. Kerem was sitting on a chair. My back was turned. Kerem and I were joking around.”

Kerem nodded in agreement. When Ahmet finished speaking, he started to talk.

“Yes, just like Ahmet said. I was eating a cucumber.”

“Kerem, didn’t anything catch your attention?” Cengiz asked.

“Well…what caught my attention…”

Kerem thought for a few seconds.

“I just noticed that Taşkın was staring fixedly at one spot. I mean, he was just staring without blinking.”

“I thought it was because he had just woken up. It happens to everyone. You stare at a fixed point and just zone out.”

“I never imagined something like this would happen.”

Ahmet’s face took on a sad expression. “This kid isn’t well at all. These behaviors are not normal. We say we’ve been through bad things, but who knows what Taşkın has gone through.”

As Cengiz was putting the cologne back where he got it, he interjected, “Whatever he’s been through, what gives him the right to do this? He scared us out of our minds early in the morning.”

“Cengiz, shut up.”

“Shut up? Why should I, Kerem?”

“Are you still going to defend that lunatic to me?”

Kerem couldn’t say anything and turned his face to the ground.

Ignoring the conversation, Ahmet continued.

“Could this behavior have anything to do with the blood coming from his nose and ears?”

Cengiz and Kerem both turned to Ahmet.

“What blood, Ahmet?” Cengiz asked.

Kerem also looked at Ahmet in surprise. Ahmet noticed this.

“Kerem, why are you surprised? Cengiz was asleep at the time, but didn’t you hear us?”

“I only heard the part where you apologized. I didn’t hear anything before that.”

Cengiz looked curious. “What apology? What’s going on? Tell me too.”

Ahmet took a deep breath and began to explain what had happened.

...

..

“So, that’s how it happened.”

As Cengiz was trying to process what he had heard, Kerem spoke up.

“He needs to see a doctor as quickly as possible. Besides, it’s obvious that this bleeding has been going on for a long time.”

“But…I just can’t link what he did today with his nose bleeding.”

Ahmet started to look at Cengiz.

“I actually have a question for you, Cengiz.”

Cengiz was surprised. “For me?”

“Yes.”

“When all this was happening in the kitchen, what were you doing? Your sleep can’t be that deep.”

“Besides, you were already awake and washing your face in the bathroom.”

“So you heard the noises, didn’t you wonder what was happening? How could you be so indifferent—”

“I’m not indifferent. You and Kerem always fight. This noise is nothing new. I thought you were fighting with Taşkın this time, so I didn’t care.”

“Oh, Cengiz. I can’t believe you,” Ahmet said while Kerem shook his head from side to side.

“Stop grumbling. Let’s think about what to do with Taşkın,” said Cengiz.

Ahmet placed his hands to his sides and leaned back, speaking.

“Honestly…I managed to convince him to see a doctor, but for some reason, I feel like it won’t be that easy.”

They all sat in silence, lost in their thoughts.

...

Taşkın sat up from where he was lying.

“Hey, why did you all go quiet?”

Kerem, Ahmet, and Cengiz jumped up in unison.

Ahmet was the first to speak.

“H-Hey Taşkın…are you okay?”

Kerem and Cengiz watched Taşkın with worried eyes.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m myself again.”

“I’m sorry for my behavior earlier. I must have had a nightmare.”

Cengiz yelled angrily.

“You have nightmares when you’re asleep, you idiot! You were awake!”

Kerem touched Cengiz’s shoulder, indicating that was enough.

“Yes…Cengiz, you’re right. I’m really sorry.”

Everyone fell silent again. Ahmet broke the silence.

“Well…what’s done is done. I mean, it was a bad morning, but just because it started badly doesn’t mean it has to end badly.”

Cengiz looked at Ahmet mockingly. “So, what do you mean, Ahmet?”

“Let’s go have breakfast. I’m hungry.”

As Cengiz was about to speak, Kerem started laughing.

“Ahmet, you really care about your stomach.” Haha.

..

I scared them. I’m ashamed of myself.

Why did I experience something like this? It wasn’t a nightmare? Then what was it? Am I going crazy?

Milaz!

You always speak at the most inopportune times! Why are you silent now!?

“Taşkın.”

..

“Hey! Taşkın!”

“Y-Yes?”

Kerem was looking at me with concern.

“I got scared when you zoned out again.”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“Good, then let’s go have breakfast.”

Ahmet and Cengiz had already gone to the kitchen.

I also went and sat on a chair. We started having breakfast.

I could feel Cengiz’s angry gaze. I tried not to make eye contact with him.

Ahmet was spreading butter on his bread and looking at me. He seemed like he wanted to say something.

“Taşkın…look, here’s what I’m thinking.”

Here it comes. I hope he’s not too mad. Actually, no matter how mad he is, he’s right.

“What do you think about going to the park together?”

Taşkın, Kerem, and Cengiz all said, “What!?” in unison.

Cengiz spoke first, “Where did this park idea come from?”

“What’s wrong with it? We’ll have fun together. Like I said, just because the day started bad doesn’t mean it has to end bad.”

Kerem and Taşkın were listening.

Ahmet turned his head towards me again, “What do you think, Taşkın?”

I didn’t want to say no.

“Y-Yes, of course.”

Ahmet was pleased with my answer.

“Good,” he said.

“And not just the park. We can go to the amusement park afterward,” he added.

Kerem and Cengiz said, “What!?” again.

“Enough already! How much longer are you going to be surprised by what I say!?”

I laughed involuntarily.

When I laughed, they started laughing too.

“Look, our mood is already getting better,” Ahmet said.

He reached over the counter and handed me a bag of pastries.

“Here, Taşkın. You’re very thin. Eat a lot so you can reach your ideal weight.”

I smiled and nodded in agreement.

Ahmet looked at Kerem and Cengiz.

“You two take some too. There’s plenty for everyone.”

As soon as he said that, they each took a pastry.

“It’s like you were waiting for me to say that.” Haha.

We laughed again. Finally, the gloomy atmosphere had lifted.

For the first time in my life, I was going to the park. And then to the amusement park. I wondered what I would experience.

I continued eating my breakfast, lost in thought.