The Waltz of The Miserable

A story of happiness and regret

*My first post here, I am sorry if there are any grammatical errors, English is not my first language*

Wed was sitting at this desk at math class, he couldn’t concentrate on what the teacher was saying, which was normal and odd at the same time, usually he just wasn’t concetrating, but this time he couldn’t. He raised his hand “Can I use the restroom?”, he asked the teacher. “Can’t it wait?”, “No”, was Wed’s answer. The teachers let him go and he went. His head was aching so bad, he could hear his brain pumping blood, it felt like his head was growing. He passed the computer class, which was full, like all the other rooms. The teacher in there was talking about something, but none of the students were listening. He went down the steps and looked outside, it was cloudy and rainy, like always. As he opened the bathroom door, a man, wearing a tux, came out of there. He looked at Wed, almost angrily, but didn’t say anything. The man walked away, but Wed stayed by the door and looked the man, “Why a tux?”, Wed wondered by himself. Wed quickly gave up on figuring why and went to the bathroom. He went by the sink, which had a mirror right in front of it. A toilet flushed and a boy, roughly his age, came from there and went next to Wed, who was taking two pills from his pocket. Wed took one of them and drank some water from the sink. The boy was looking at him. “What?”, Wed asked. “Nothing, I was wondering, do ya got some paper?”, the boy asked as he took a small plastic bag of weed from the pocket of his hoodie. Wed started looking around his pocket and found a note that said “math homework page 23 1-5″. Then he gave it to the boy. “Thanks”, the boy said and started rolling a joint. Wed opened the window, “Hey, can I have a drag from it?”, he asked. The boy nodded. Wed got the first drag from it and blew the smoke outside and then left.

Wed stepped outisde of the bathroom to find out that the school was silent now, outside it was completely black, you couldn’t see anything. Wed looked behind him, there was no door, but a wall. His head wasn’t hurting anymore, that was good. He started going up the steps, but his footsteps made no sound. Doors to every classroom were open and lights were on, but there was nobody there. He looked inside one of the classrooms, there were papers, pencils and other things on the desk, but nobody inside. He went to his math class, but it was the same, empty. “Hello?”, Wed shouted, but he got no answer. He took his cellphone from his pocket, but it wouldn’t open, like it was broken. He went to his desk, took his bag and went down the stairs and tried opening the front door, but it was locked, it didn’t move at all. He tried as hard as he could, but couldn’t. He left his bag there and started walking around, trying to find somebody. He went to the teachers lounge, but it was empty like everything else. Next to the teachers lounge, there was a huge window, Wed looked outside, it was still all black, it was darker than the darkest night that Wed had seen.

Then he heard noise, coming from the school’s gymnasium. Wed started walking towards it, as he walked the music got a little louder, it was something classical. Before the entrance to the gymnasium there was a long hallway, with only one light in the middle of it. It was one lightbulb, hanging from the ceiling, without a shade. The music was Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow Waltz. Wed recognized it, without knowing why. He walked through the hallway, as he passed the lightbulb, he gently touched it. The lightbulb swung beautifully, almost hitting the wall. Wed looked at it a while, then continued his way to the gymnasium. He opened the door, it looked like a party there. It was decorated with gold and silver, some champagne classes were left on the floor, a wooden gramaphone was in the middle of the room, playing that little Lehar piece and a woman dancing next to it with a imaginary man. The woman had a beautiful black dress with a little golden details. As the piece ended, the woman noticed Wed. They looked at each other for a bit. “Why don’t we have one last dance?”, she asked. Wed didn’t answer. “What do you say, darlin’?”. She started walking slowly towards him, the noise of her high heels hitting the wooden floor echoed around the room. She stopped right in front of him and looked him in the eyes. “The next song is about to start, dance with me just one last time”, she said after a moment of silence. “But, I’m not dressed properly”, Wed finally said. “Your clothes won’t matter, darlin’, I just want to dance this one last waltz before the night is over”, she whispered in his ear. Wed looked at her, she had a tear in her eye, but she was smiling. “Okay, one last waltz”, Wed said. She took him by the hand and walked him in the middle of the room. The record started playing that same Lehar piece and they started to dance. “Thank you.. This has been the most wonderful of nights in my life. I hope you feel the same”. He put his head at her shoulder and nodded. He started crying as they danced for the final time, but she kept smiling, even though she could feel his tears.

Author's Note

Ignore grammar stuff, what did you think of the story and especially the ending? This was based on another story, so the main character isn't as fleshed out on this one, but still I would be interested on opinions of the characters.