CasualFridays
There was a time when I believed everything I did led to a distinct purpose. I felt as though my life was being guided by some supreme force who was watching over me... a kind of referee who would blow the whistle if something unfair happened. That was beforehand. Before I lost my love, lost my purpose and lost my god. Now I know the rules are not governed and I can no longer live by them. I have no need for them anymore. They are to be broken like hearts, promises and dreams.
Jacob sat on the creek bank patting out mud pies, with leftover ingredients evidenced across his face, t-shirt and cut-off blue jeans."Mmm-mm, them are gonna be good." proclaimed Rebecca as she swung herself from the lowest branch of the nearby birch tree, her tennis shoes peeling off flakes of the river tree's bark. Jacob smiled as he anticipated the dessert they would never eat together.
She waited there, in the cold room; seated with an empty chair across the lonely table. Her fingernails were chewed down to the pink, yet she continued to tug and pull and clip them with her front teeth. The inquisition was over and she had confessed everything. She was at their mercy, which she assumed didn't exist. Now it was just a waiting game to discover how harsh her punishment would be. The morning after prom brought a cool grayness to the previous day's vibrant warmth.
Greg considered how he should begin. How do you explain to your best friend's wife that her husband is dead? Everything that he considered seemed contrived, at best. He reached out he fist to tap on the front door, when it swung open. There Angela stood, her eyes wide with surprise. Soon those eyes would be squeezing out a relentless torrent of tears no matter the words Greg chooses.
The attaché was in hand, covered by the coat he should have been wearing as he stepped into the cool, late autumn evening. He was startled by the suddenly percussive, overlaid flapping and cooing of the pigeons directly outside the firm's doors. The birds rose into the setting sunlight over the downtown skyline as he slid to his knees; only now aware of the bullet hole in his chest and the red stain spreading across his starched, white oxford.
There she sat, my ancient grandmother, holding our newest born son. Her posture was stiff and unfolding as she gave no emotion away to the tiny man. Yet he did not cry or fuss. It was as if he perceived his very life was in danger. Then, perhaps in a pulse-stopping moment of sheer and unwavering bravery, his walnut-sized hand reached up and touched the leathery face of the matriarch. It was the first and only time I would see the tears of his great-grandmother.
"You have no common decency." The woman said. I found this quite humorous as debris from the chicken salad sandwich she was eating came flying from her mouth. "I would agree with you ma'am, as I consider my decency to be quite uncommon. And it is quite a shame too, as I feel this whole incident could have been avoided had you any regard for the sanctity of a person. Uncommon decency indeed."
His heart raced like a fat man in the 10th mile of a marathon. He felt as though he was going to die. Maybe that would be preferred over his current form of living. There was nothing true about his life. His work, his marriage, his car and his kids. They were all constructs of what was expected of him. But the thought of leaving any of that for the unknown was about to do him in.
She had been under my skin for days, keeping me awake and causing me to grind my teeth to bluntness. No one would miss her, except me. I felt her absence with every draft I wrote. The other girls were so flat and lifeless. I wanted her back, but she was gone and would not be returning. Murdered in 12 point Courier by her cold and calculated creator. Me.
"There are people who take care of this ma'am." Said the officer. Sara refused to relent. "No! Those people are part of the system! You're all here to keep us quiet and compliant and as soon as a blade of grass grows above the rest, you cut them off. Like you did with my son!" Her voice had now risen above the din of the police office and she had garnered everyone's attention, including Ray's. He knew she was now a target because of her outburst, but he needed her alive. That was going to be difficult now.
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