My 2nd Story!
A suffocating silence filled the air. My eyes shift from the wooden dining room table, bobbing in the water, to the family of four crowded on the roof of a house down the road. Holding each other tightly, their faces were blank with a hint of sorrow in their eyes. I knew living here had this risk, but the job offer was too great to pass up. I had no one or thing to live for, so when I weighed the pros and cons it seemed like a gamble worth taking. Now I wonder if that was ever true. What was the purpose of life if bad things continue to happen? If the good have to suffer? If we all are doomed to die? The fact that my handsome paycheck came to me every month did nothing to make me feel worth more than a piece of dirt. The musky scent of humidity overwhelmed my nose. I switched to drinking the heavy air in through my mouth, for if I had to witness that sight of the tragedy surrounding me, I didn’t want to smell it, too. My past experiences did nothing to refute my pessimistic views of life and mankind. As I look out from the little roof that holds me above the calm water, I take in the city’s remains from the brutal beating of Mother Nature.
Down the way is couple holding each other on their own makeshift boat. The anguish in their faces tells it all – not who they are, or what good they have done, but that they have lost. Perhaps they invested in their home, now washed away with everyone else’s. Perhaps they lost a family heirloom, a pet, or maybe even a child. My heart empathized with them, for though only my convenience and mere shelter had been taken from me here, I knew what it felt like to grieve. I used to have the whole world in my hands, but didn’t know it. With no mother or father, I struggled to find a place where I belonged, or simply wanted to be. Until I met Sari, short for Seraphina, who truly embodied the meaning of“angel.” We spent ten perfect years together as best friends and lovers. That’s the best way to have a lover, in my mind. One you can be silly and vulnerable with, because no matter what, they’ll look at you on your worst day and see the best in you. But love, as I had always thought, does not last. It can be snatched away from you in an instant, like my Sari was taken from me. I lost hope in humanity when that driver sped away from the scene, too cowardly to face the man whose love he had stolen away forever. Seventeen years have passed since that day, and I still cannot forgive mankind for its destructive patterns.
A piercing cry interrupted my thoughts. It came from a roof a few houses over, so I made my way down what used to be Maple St. to investigate. The whimpers reminded me of a newborn infant. My mind raced back to when Sarah and I tried so hard to conceive, but were faced each month with a blaring negative that seemed to mock us as time went on. I saw a woman, lying on her side, and a puppy bent over her hand, attempting to wake her by its licks.
“Here, puppy,”I called, and the little guy ran over to me. I tried to dry his shaking body that was matted with his brown patched fur, and he snuggled right up to my warm chest. My heart began to fill with all sorts of feelings I hadn’t experienced in years. I checked his blue collar, seeing that the tag was engraved with the name Buster along with a woman's name and phone number.
“Is this your mommy?” I asked him, quickly realizing I was committing my pet peeve by using a baby voice to talk to a dog. I reached over to the woman, to shake her awake. Her skin was clammy and cold to the touch, and I felt my stomach lurch. Helplessness overwhelmed me, as there was nothing I could do. The dog whimpered again, and I glanced at him. I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility towards something –or someone – a feeling I hadn’t had in a while. “Well, boy, I guess you can come with me.”
I heard rumbling, and the honking of a horn signaling the arrival of a rescue boat. Grabbing my little friend, I shouted and waved until the driver made his way over. I had to beg and plead, but the man let me bring Buster aboard the very crowded, dreary boat. He signaled to the woman, and I just shook my head.
“It’s a shame, huh? So many lives lost.”
I agreed and climbed on board. I sat in between a woman in raggedy clothes with her head down, and a man who hadn’t showered in days. I wrapped up Buster in my coat and held him tight, and his little heartbeat pounded against my hand. A goofy smile spread across my face, leaving me feeling like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes too large. As we were driven out of any further harm, excitement and hope filled me up for the first time since I could remember.
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