Difficult Upbringing

Have you ever talked to someone who just opens up way too quickly?

Daniel and Darion were just sitting down during that contenting part of a Friday night when the first drink has been poured and a minor anticipation settles in the stomach, born of the possibility of a good night on the town. It was to be a small group for the pre-drink, consisting of only Daniel, Darion, and Daniel's friend Alex, whom with Darion was not yet acquainted and who was apparently on the way. In the meantime, Daniel and Darion were keeping each other entertained with minor discussions about this and that.

"I gotta take a s**t." Daniel claimed after his first drink.

"All right." Darion replied with predictable indifference.

Daniel walked around the corner of the living room and, a few seconds later, the washroom door closed a small distance down the hallway. Darion began pouring his second and, just as he was settling the bottle of booze down on the table and filling the remainder of the cup with soda, the front door of Daniel's house opened. The young man who entered looked much more sullen than Darion expected of a man who planned on having a social evening. He was wearing plain black sweats and a black hoodie, sagging with the same bagginess as his frown. He closed the front door slowly with the countenance of a man in distracted and glum retrospect. He rested his forehead against the closed door and let out a slow sigh. "Hey, you must be Alex?" Darion said as he rose and outstretched his arm for a formal introduction.

"Oh, hi. Yeah, hi, I'm Alex." He said as he walked over to meet the handshake.

"Cool, I'm Darion." Darion said as they shook hands.

"Listen, if we're gonna be friends, there's something you should know about me." Alex said in a raspy whisper as he stared into Darion's eyes, his own eyes glazing slightly with his eyebrows crunching together and upwards in sadness like furry fingers pinching together a swathe of beige suede. "I had a very difficult upbringing, and it has caused me to carry immense emotional baggage with me. I have a very difficult time opening up and getting close to anybody. Trust is just something that is difficult for me. I just want you to understand. No, I need you to understand, that any social and emotional distancing I do is no reflection of your character, but instead it's a reflection of my own character caused by my tough childhood."

Stunned into momentary silence by Alex’s gloomy claim, Daniel simply stared. "Uhm, all right man. I'm sorry to hear that." He eventually said, beginning to pull his hand away from the still-happening handshake.

"Thanks, it's really good to hear how accepting you are of somebody as damaged as me." Alex said, clenching onto Darion’s retreating hand and fortifying the bond with his second hand. "The whole mess that is my life started at a young age. My parents were never accepting of my young dream to become a beekeeper, and they would torment me with that denial, swatting at any bee that came close to them. I can still hear their tiny buzzing cries when I lay down to try and get some sleep, seldom as that happens. I also suffer from insomnia, you see, on top of everything else.

"When I was seven years old, I was beaten with a rolled up t-shirt. I admit, it didn't physically hurt very much because it was made of cotton, but it hurt me emotionally like so much else in my life. You have no idea how many terrible episodes I have been through. This is why I have such a hard time opening up to people. Why, Darion? Why do people have to be so cruel?"

Darion, with a look of sheer discomfort on his face, gave a more desperate attempt to retrieve his hand from the stale handshake, when a third hand came out from inside Alex's hoodie to further fortify the bond. Darion jolted with startled confusion. Alex continued his emotional breakdown. "It was when I started middle school that I was brutally ridiculed for having three arms. Kids can be so cruel. I remember that first day of school like it was yesterday. I walked into the front foyer of the school, juggling balls with all three arms for practice because at this point I wanted to be a professional juggler. Right when I walked in I was hit with a wave of cruel laughter. Why is it that kids always decide that they are..."

Alex was cut off by Daniel's footsteps coming down the hallway and around the corner. “Hey, so Alex just texted me, he says he’s coming in t... Who the Hell is this?” He asked as he gestured to the three armed Alex. He then gave a second look and obviously a second thought at his three arms.

Phoney Alex finally let go of Darion’s hand, and then let go of another long sigh. “Well, I guess I should probably get going now. It was nice to meet you, Darion. It’s so hard for me to meet people who I can really talk to and open up to. I just wanted someone to talk to, is all. I guess I’ll go now, and you will never talk to me again, like so many times before” He said, and then he turned to Daniel and said, “I had a very hard upbringing, you see. I have trouble trusting people enough to open up to them. Goodbye.”

The man walked out the front door as depressingly as he came in. Daniel and Darion, and ten minutes later, Alex, the real Alex, saw him sitting on the curb outside of Daniel’s house, but none of them wanted to go out and tell him to leave, lest he begin another depressed and desperate tirade. It was a miracle the real Alex got by him at all, and he probably wouldn’t have if the fake Alex hadn’t been emptying his eyes into his hoodie sleeves in audible crying. About an hour later, the fake Alex got up and walked into Daniel’s neighbour’s house, just as depressed and uninvited as he did Daniel’s.

Reviews

[Shannon]

This is a very interesting story. I admit I laughed out loud and the big reveal of the fake Alex. I also thoroughly enjoyed the fake Alex's voice as a character. The way he contradicted himself added something to the encounter, I think.

[Chris Woestenburg]

Thanks Shannon! I plan on making this into a sketch comedy video.

[Shannon]

That would be lovely! I hope you share it here if you do! :)

[Chris Woestenburg]

This is where it will eventually be!
https://www.youtube.com/user/HalfCutVideos

[Woody]

this is a weird and funny story. I enjoyed it very much.

[Chris Woestenburg]

Thank you! That’s exactly what I was going for!

[Aethereal]

This is an amazing story. After I read it the first time, I was so shocked that I read it once again. Perhaps you should try to write movie scripts for another “Twilight Zone” series. I'd call this episode the "Impersonator". You have quite an imagination, and it should get you far. Keep writing. I wish I had three eyes whereby the third had infrared and X-ray vision. Merlyn Monroe had six toes on each foot, but who would have cared?

[Chris Woestenburg]

My imagination is the very reason I started writing in the first place. Thanks you for the feedback! I’m not gonna lie, I really enjoyed this review haha.

[supersarahp]

Very surreal! I like it - it was not at all what I was expecting - especially the third arm

[Chris Woestenburg]

Thanks! I like writing strange comedy that borders on nonsensical.