The Last Chance

Autumn Blues

Chapter Five - Propositional Awareness

Eddward 'Double D'

October 13th, Saturday

The early morning sun, though stilted through low hanging clouds, came with blinding fury. Through uncurtained glass a bright ray of autumn sun slipped through the window and onto Double D's sleeping face. Groggily, dumbly; Double D arose from his slumber like a great beast after a long hibernation. The low hum of an electric heater embedded deep in the house's wall greeted his ears and he groaned.

He looked awful. He felt worse.

A restless night of tossing and turning through strange thoughts and uneased stressors proved to be more than he could handle. So much so that his once neatly tucked bed had given way to a mess of wadded blankets and tossed pillows. For once in his life, surprisingly, he felt no want to clean the mess. Thoughts of hopeless despair came to his sleep addled mind at this feeling of inaction.

So much has changed. I have changed.

Lazily, he set about the task of shuffling out of his bedroom and down the stairs. His mind wandered; delving into deep thoughts wrested by strange plumes of anxiety. Only a few days had passed since the campfire incident, yet a whole life had seemed to come and pass in that time. A flash of Marie Kanker's wild, unkempt blue hair broke into his thoughts and despite every attempt to assuage it, his heart lurched. No matter how much he tried he knew the simple, singular answer that plagued his mind though he loathed to admit it.

She terrifies me. His mind wailed; quietly, sadly. And yet, something about her stuck to the folds of his mind, sharp and unwavering. Images of the night before appeared in his mind's eye, through terrified and admittedly tired recollection. But despite her imposing words, and her show of hostile indifference; a shred of sadness seemed to stick to her words, her movements.

Was there…regret? He questioned in silent, cautious loops of mental thought.

At the bottom of the landing his mind finally came free of the strange musing about his childhood bully. Onto more pressing matters, he felt the growling of his stomach and moved towards the kitchen. There, the promise of a delectable meal awaited his arrival. He ignored the score of freshly pasted sticky notes of daily commands, singular in intent. Resolutely he opened the refrigerator and peered into the neatly organized bins and trays sat out inside.

However, before the thought of what tasty trinket would be partaken of, a loud knocking came from behind him. Though masked by thick white blinds, the shadow of two figures cast upon the early morning light. Double D sighed, shut the door to the fridge, and meandered over towards the sliding glass door.

One finger pulling back the slats his eyes confirmed his suspicions. Eddy was, as usual, involved in some sort of sordid, one-sided, conversation with Ed about something Ed cared little about. Ed for that matter, was nose deep in yet another comic book routinely nodding in deference to Eddy's wild musings. Double D slipped away from the blinds, the safety of routine washing over him like a great tidal wave of relief.

Nothing has changed. A thin spreading across his tired face.

Nothing at all.

Though Double D had felt largely 'in a funk', as the kids would say, the majority of the morning; a sun-kissed afternoon provided the energy to see to his waiting chores. More so, by the time the trio had left his home and away from the cul-de-sac and into town, Double D was positively invigorated. The hope of a fun trip at the local arcade with close friends, no doubt, aided his sudden positivity.

"I see no reason to believe that," protested Double D, pale blue sneakers digging into the road's asphalt as he walked. A winding path proceeded, narrow lines of solid yellow and white traffic signage slipping between swathes of passing motorists.

Eddy frowned, comically, beating his own chest with a closed fist. "What!? Flipping that van is nothing for a businessman like moi." He flourished with a strangely un-french sounding french accent. He continued, smirking like a comic villain, "I sold a bike to a handicapped kid for double what it was worth, you underestimate my suave-ness."

Double D snorted, sarcastically, "Yes, though you seem to be forgetting his father coming down and nearly wedging you underneath the school for that."

"Details, details," Eddy scoffed, "I still got the cash."

"Yeah, until that squirrel stole it."

"He's got a bounty on his little furred head, don't you worry about that," Eddy sneered.

All throughout this, admittedly animated conversation, Ed traveled at the back of the pack silently. There was a distinct lack of exhalation of laughing or victorious cheering from some captivating novelty. A handheld video game one day, a graphic novel the next, one time even a small hamster tucked into a pocket had kept the attention of the tallest Ed. Though a man of few words, something seemed uneasy about the silence pervading the air in this moment.

Double D turned to check up on his silent companion and noted a look of strange anxiety affixed to Ed's lips. More still, no such item of interest common to the teen was to be seen anywhere about his person beside a comic book hung limply from a wide back pocket widely lacking any attention. Double D frowned at the unusual nature of this set of circumstances.

"Ed? Are you alright?" he said with a curious and concerned tone. Ed snapped back from whatever deep thought had clouded his mind, eyes stunned and looking towards Double D with unrest.

"Yeah," he claimed, though his tone was anything but convincing. It lacked the common pattern of albeit energetic vocal pitch. Instead what was left was a slightly depressed if not altogether alarmingly low response followed by estranged silence. Double D stopped in place and the rest of the group did so as well, cued by his sudden physical shift.

"Now, now Ed," he started turning to fully face his compatriot, "a problem earned should be a problem solved."

Ed shifted, uncomfortably, normally unsharp and doey looking eyes transfixed by a rock lying quietly amongst the road's debris.

"Spit it out, lump-head," Eddy added, picking at a stain on his long jean shorts.

Ed was, for all intents and purposes, a terrible liar and even worse at hiding emotions. He took a deep breath and with unbreaking eye contact utter the words, "Sarah is playing tonight."

A moment of silence protruded in the gentle afternoon sun only marred by the lowing of meaningless automobiles whizzing past.

"Huh?" Eddy blurted out, obviously confused. Double D raised an eyebrow towards Eddy, hushing his outburst. Ed continued solemnly, dramatically even, as if the world had only an hour left before succumbing to some great cosmic calamity.

"Softball, she's pitching tonight at school; she's really excited," he finished.

Double D, strangely trying to push back the feeling of laughter bubbling in his stomach calmly replied, "Oh…dear, I thought it to be a much worse issue."

Ed shot up, straight like a board and eyes more serious than in any time during his young life before or after. "No, Double D, it's a huge problem!" He protested. Then in one largely coordinated, almost rehearsed movement, Ed produced from his pocket his severely disfigured cell phone and turned it on. On it was a website displayed behind large chasms of cracked glass and webbed fractures.

It read, '10/13, early release of Polar Bears and Aliens! Come get your copy tonight at 7!' in large read lettering. An advertisement to be sure, one for the local gaming store at the entrance of the town mall. Eddy squinted, craning his neck to look as closely as he could through the phone's disfigurement. Ed yanked his phone back after a few seconds and threw his arms wide in abject despair.

"Polar Bears and Aliens is coming out tonight! How can I go to Sarah's game and pick it up at the same time!?" He wailed. Double D, stifled a small, good natured laugh and placed his hands on his hips.

"Ed, you know this is important to your sister; it would be a worthy endeavor," he said with closed eyes and a bright smile. Ed pouted, dramatically, and folded his arms across his orange graphic tank top.

"But the polar bears have to be avenged, Double D!" He protested, indignantly. Eddy, no longer interested, shrugged his shoulders with indifference.

"Why not do both, blockhead?" He mused flippantly.

Ed retorted, pathetically, "I thought of that! But it would take too long to walk into town after the game ends!" He continued, "The store will close!"

"Jeez, pipe down the yelling," Eddy groaned, pinky finger in his left ear. Double D, on the other hand, pondered the predicament seriously; fingers gripped around his thin chin in thought. Ed, suddenly struck with inspiration, fell to his knees with both hands clasped together in a pleading prayer.

"Come with me!" He cried, desperately before finishing with, "If you guys come we can make an excuse to leave early!" Ed's eyes were deathly serious and even more so he looked almost ready to cry as he pleaded.

Double D considered the thought. Eddy did not.

"No stinking way, blockhead," he stated firmly, "school games are boring as hell." Ed hung his head low, defeated and more than a little disappointed. Double D on the other hand spoke differently.

"Come now, Eddy, would it not behoove us to assist our friend?"

Eddy's eyes glazed over before responding quietly about hooves not being relevant to this conversation. Double D snapped his fingers after a second, hit with profound inspiration.

"Are you sure you don't want to go, Eddy? Some attractive girls might be at a girl's softball event, don't you think?" Double D said slyly with a mischievous grin on his lips. Eddy perked up, suddenly very interested in the prospect of chasing girls at a mostly girl's event.

"Why didn't you just say so, sockhead?" He reached down and pulled out his wallet. Inside was a small, worn piece of paper yellowed by time and obvious abuse, which he retrieved. "Time for 'Operation; Skirt-chaser' to finally start!" He laughed, taking in the full content of his small note with avid attention. Then he coughed, realizing his outburst, slipping back into a mood of purposeful uninterest.

"Ahem, well I suppose we could go check things out; 'cause I'm a nice guy and all," he finished, rubbing the back of his neck. Ed leaped from his kneel position and took both his friends into a giant bear-hug and squeezed.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He blurted through blubbering gratitude.

"Come on, you idiot, I just washed this shirt!" Eddy yelped, hands clawing at the impenetrable wall of arms and B.O. Across from him was a helpless Double D turning disturbing shades of blue.

A heavy, glistering moon sat just above the brightly lit track and field when the Ed's finally meandered up the road and into the highschool parking lot. In the distance a small crowd sat mostly in and around the softball bleachers. From this distance the loud chattering of casual conversation more closely resembled insectoid droning than intelligent conversation. Double D, plastic cup in hand, lagged behind his friends as they approached the field. In it was a half-drunk cup of diet lemonade, which Ed had so graciously offered to him in thanks for this afternoon.

He passed through a heavy chain link fence and onto a flat plane of colorless concrete, curious of the setting around him. Relatively speaking, for a small school, the field's gallery was exceptionally more than large enough for the barely 30 people in it. To the farthest western side was a mostly emptied area save a few straggling on-lookers.

Eddy stopped and turned on his heels to face Double D, walking backwards as he maneuvered past the bleachers. A smile firmly placed on his thin, devilish features.

"I didn't realize the softball team was so…voluptuous," He snickered debaucherously. Double D rolled his eyes and frowned. In response, though, Eddy's grin grew wider into a great smile and pounded his chest with one closed fist.

"Relax sockhead," he said languidly, "watch a pro work his magic."

Before Double D could protest, however, Eddy shot up a set of steps leading into the gallery towards a particularly lively group of young women in softball attire. Double D took no time in extracting himself from the presence of what would surely be a disaster and sat beside Ed on the front row. Out, just a few dozen feet from where the teen was seated were numerous young highschooler girls ensconced in bright overhead dome lights. Ed pointed, wildly to the far center of the field towards a short blonde. Surely enough Sarah, Ed's younger sister, was practicing pitching several softball throws with a large heavy ball. Ed stood from his seat and shouted his sister's name, to which she turned and rolled her eyes in response.

"A fine night for the elegant game of softball wouldn't you agree, Ed?" an enthusiastic tone in Double D's voice. Ed sat back in his seat, turning to look at his friend with a big dopey smile.

"It is, Double D!" Ed shouted. It was at this juncture that Eddy, face taut and annoyed, slipped into the seat beside Double D begrudgingly. Double D turned to face him, trying his best to hide a small smile of relief as he did so.

"Did it not go well, Eddy?"

Eddy snapped his hand shut like that of an alligator's jaw. "I don't wanna hear it, sockhead," He said.

"It was pretty hard to watch," came a loud, venomous voice from the direction Eddy had just come from. Double D's stomach snapped shut, as if having fallen thirty feet straight down an elevator shaft when he heard it. Slowly raising his head to look over his left shoulder he could see the all too familiar figure of Lee Kanker. Eddy spoke first, standing up to face her in a fast, defensive, and almost anxious stance.

"Oh hell; a harpy," Eddy snapped back, obviously taken aback by her presence. Behind her stood a stunned and very conspicuous looking Marie Kanker juggling three soft drink cups and a hotdog on a pale white napkin. Double D and her eyes locked for just the briefest of moments before the tension was too much and they both turned away. Double D could feel Ed's sudden dismay without even looking towards him and it was beginning to become palpable.

"What do you want?" Eddy replied after a pause, angrily. Lee adjusted herself, cocking her hips to one side in mild amusement.

"Oh nothing, lover-boy," she grinned, "I have a…" She paused, looking for the right word. "Proposition," then she pointed towards Double D with one red-painted index finger. Suddenly all eyes were on Double D for the second time this week causing his face to swell in embarrassment.

"M-Me?" Double croaked out weakly, pointing a trembling finger towards himself. Lee smirked like the devil herself and cleared her throat dramatically.

"Miss Marie over here," she nudged her sister with her shoulder, "is gonna have to quit her job."

*A note from the author; Sorry for the short one.

Someone said it; 'I can't wait to see the next chapter in a year.' As much as I dislike the idea of leaving threads unsown I find myself in the odd predicament of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. A year has passed since the last update and am sure that a lot of my previous viewers may have moved on. However, despite the realization that so long has passed; my passion for this story and writing in general never wavers. Hopefully the new found tricks that I have developed over this long and frankly stressful year will be sincere enough for any of you who may have dismissed this story as KIA. If not though, I sincerely hope you all will accept my heartfelt apologies for the length of time it has taken to see this story through. The story will continue to its conclusion even if it's the last thing I do. Thank you.

~ ZillanReese