The Sky is Falling

I sit there slumped up against the wall waitin’ for the chicken. God knows how much I hate that stupid chicken, but still I wait. I also watch all of them travel by. All of them walk by, lookin’ like they don’t have a care in the world. But they do, don’t they? All just hustlin’ by life, holdin’ on to somethin’ that gets them by to the next week. Isn’t what we all do?

    None of them make eye contact. Some look but none actually look at me, study me, care about me. I’m part of the landscape, another gnome on the lawn of normality.

    It’s kinda weird. I’m thinkin’ about their worries, thoughts, cares, problems, but none are even really lookin’ me. And while I watch them, I think about that stupid chicken.I’ve been waitin’ for days for the chicken, waitin’ for him to scream, yell, moan, the awful truth to me. At least the chicken’s problem wasn’t really a problem.

    A girl walks by, an amazing girl, a gorgeous girl. She really pretty, not just her figure either. Her whole aura is radiating with energy and she looks totally content with life. But it’s none of this that catches my attention. She’s actually lookin’ at me, really starin’ at me, in the eye. And then she does the unthinkable. She says hi, no hello. She acknowledges me, the gods actually talkin’ to a lowly mortal like me.

    I stare at her dumfounded, not sure what to say. I mumble a neutral toned hello and she continues to stare at me. I’m goin’ to go nuts if she doesn’t look away.

    “You’re in my english, ain’t you?” she says. I nod my head, still lookin’ at her and finally I can’t take it. I look away.

    “You’re good at english aren’t you?” she says. I nod again, lookin’ her way but not actually at her. Then she does something strange. She walks over to me, and sits next to me. I’m stunned, really stunned. It’s not an everyday thing that a goddess sits next to me intentionally. I just sit there, say nothing, not sure what to do.

    And then she says “Do you want some breakfast?” Hold on what? Breakfast? What do I say? I don’t want to go to the cafeteria. Is she trying to be friendly? What do I say? What do I say? What do I say?

“You don’t have to, you can sit if you want” she says.

“Yeah” I say relieved “I want to sit.”

She looks at me and now says “What do you usually do here?”

I muster some courage and look directly at her. Her face is so smooth and freckles line her cheeks. She tryin’ to hide them with makeup but some are peeking out.

“Sit” I say “Think. Usually”

“What are you doing now?” she asks. I’m still lookin’ at her. Her breath smells good, like peaches, her lips are a strawberry color, her eyes are a dark abyss, so beautiful. I look away. She looks so much like mom, or maybe she doesn't and I just want her to look like mom. Perfect.

“I’m watin’ for the chicken” I say.

She looks at me and doesn’t understand. I don’t expect her to though.

    “What chicken?” she says. I’m still not lookin’ at her and instead look at the mural painted on  the wall that looks like a horse painted it.

    “The chicken that told the animals that the sky is falling.”

She looks at me and I look back. She doesn’t understand, but, she’s tryin’. And then her face changes. I don’t know why it changed but it became sad, her frown mopping up her face with grief, like she understands. For some reason I become mad.

    “Why are you here?” I say “Why are you talkin’ to me?”

    She’s quite but finally says in a small voice “I heard about your Mom” and this only succeeds to piss me off more.

    “You didn’t care about me before” I spit out in fury “You never talked to me before.”

    “I know” she says “I never saw you before though.”

My temper cools and I say calmly “No one ever sees me.” She’s quite. “How did you find out?”

    “I saw you come in one day. My parents work there. I asked my mom why you were there and…” she trails off. We’re quiet and then she says “I’m sorry about your Mom” and she puts her hand on my arm.

    My temper flares again. “There is nothing wrong with her” I say. She just looks down. “She’ll get better” I say softly.

    We don’t talk for a long while and then she takes my hand. She says only a few words and they echo in my mind. My sister died of it too. One tear falls from her face. She clenches my hand. She understands me, she sees me, she understands me. And then I cry with her, both of us holding each other.

Reviews

[Kevin Shea]

Really liked the mystery in this piece. Well done! Characters very believable. Action moves fast, not too descriptive. Really good job!

[WesJade]

I must say I didn't know where this was gonna go, but I really liked it and thought it was sweet, or should I say bittersweet? Anyway I really liked it.

[Quad7]

Thanks. I wasn't really sure if if this was any good, so it's good to know somebody liked it.