בס'ד

Ariella Lightman March 24, 2009

Lost Life

Thomas Brown had been walking for 2 hours now in this seemingly deserted ghost town. The sound of the wind was the only music in his ears and the only interesting thing he had to look at was the old deserted "Kosher Katering" Phone rings.

"Hello...hellooo?? Silence on the other line HELLOO?!!.." He hangs up, aggravated "One more prank call I swear, I'm going to throw away this useless phone. He knew the only one who ever called his cell was telemarketers. But he brought it with him for the time; he didn't like wearing a watch. Thomas glanced at the time, 6:00, he realized it was time for him to pop another pill. He sat down on the side of the road, dehydrated, and needing genuine comfort. A black cat passed him,"Oh great...All I need right now is bad luck, how could things get any worse anyway?...'Living', down here, if it can be called that is torturous, and if I were to kill myself I know I'm for sure going to be tortured for eternity." As he spoke to himself the cat stopped in its tracks and stared at him with his green darting eyes. "Whoa, does he understand me?...you do, don't you??" The cat rolled on its back as if it was asking Thomas to come scratch him. "What do you WANT?!!" The cat jumped up startled and ran away. "What did I do? The poor cat must be lost in this ugly place; he probably was just looking for a little affection Ughhh!! I have to find him."

He got up and decided to start looking for him; his breaths were becoming shorter and heavier as he thought about the fate he may have caused for this cat. "I have to find it, I can't let it die here, I need to take care of it." He started to see green in his surroundings, more trees, and leaves on the floor. He went further then he knew this town expanded; actually it didn't seem like part of the town at all. He heard shuffling of leaves and noticed on his right something black going by swiftly. He tried to run after it but wasn't sure in what direction to go, his heart knew, this cat wasn't the one that needed to be saved. He ran with all his might through the forest, he didn't know what he was looking for anymore, maybe himself. His mind was racing, while running through the leaves he tried to concentrate solely on the sound of his breathing, and making sure it kept going. He stopped to catch his breath and looked around, he then realized he could hear music playing. He started to follow slowly, he placed his hand in his pocket to check the time, "What?! He searched around franticly...This can't be! Stupid black cat you want me to die out here don't you?!" He screamed, looking up realizing how much darker the sky suddenly got.

He went on walking, following the music, he could see from far a huge house which gave him at first glance shivers through his spine. The house had nothing scary looking about it; it was a well kept place and clearly a well-off family living there but it gave him goose bumps. He was getting closer and saw people at the porch laughing and talking loudly. "Chag Sameach!! Come join the party!"
"Umm..I wasn't invited I just wanted to.."

"Everyone's invited here! Here have a drink." He gave him a clear glass and Thomas remembering his thirst and quickly gulped it down. He started coughing and turned red when he realized it wasn't water..

Soon after, His head started to spin and he really wanted a glass of water. He walked through the door and stood there, completely frozen. In front of him was a large spiral staircase, with oak rims and red carpeting...exactly like the one he had grown up with. He was staring at the bottom of the stair case and crying as if someone was presently there. "NOOOO!! ..Come back, please come back!!!!" He felt numb all over and curled himself into a ball, kind of rocking himself. "I'm SSOO sorry, I'm SOORRY, I NEED YOUU." He exploded into uncontrollable tears. Around him he saw people dressed up, one in a spider man costume, the other in a princess, and the others just seemed blurred to him by his hysteria. He flashed back to a memory of his childhood; he remembered the masquerade his family used to make every year. "Why are you all dressed up? Is this some sort of sick joke??!" He had a sudden flashback of himself as a teenager at the top of the staircase screaming at his pregnant, tired mother.

A girl noticed him sitting on the floor and crying, she came towards him, "Hey...are you ok? Can I help you?" He looked at her helplessly and blurted out" I'm disgusting!!!! Disgusting!!" She looked into his eyes and as much as he screamed loudly all she could hear was "help me."

"Hey listen, I'm sure whatever it is that's bothering you it can't be that bad.."

"That's bothering me? It's not bothering me it's torturous! Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Sammy, and you are?"

"Thomas, not that it matters."

"Thomas it does matter, don't be so-"

"Sam, stop, will you do me a favour?"

"Anything, I want to help.."

"Then kill me, kill me now."

"Thomas...you know I can't..."

"Then you're useless to me, go away, I never want to see you again, and get me some more alcohol."

"I think you had enough..please tell me what's both-torturing you, maybe I can help." The sweet girl desperately wanted to help this man; she couldn't stand watching people suffer in their agony.

"I fought with my mother, we fought all the time, but this time was differemt."

"What happened?"

"It was so stupid, about a watch..we were standing on the top the staircase, one just like this one."

"So then what's the big deal?"

"What are you stupid? I PUSHED her! I did it!" The girls face stayed shocked but still confused.

"That's right, which is why I wasn't able to bring myself to wear a watch since."

"I..I...um..it's not..your fault." He stared at her pink cheeks and her modest way of dress, oh how naive she is, he thought to himself.

"Let me explain to you something, the reason I never saw her again wasn't because I ran away... she died, I killed her, which is why I then ran away." As the words came out he started to feel a sense of relief, for the first time in his life.