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Testament
One
“There was a little cave back where I used to live. The sun hid itself slowly shedding threads of light over the humid stones. I carved my name there once on a black volcanic rock, where I’m sure it still is and will be long after I die and every trace of my existence is gone. Because to tell the truth, I never did anything to be remembered.
Dave, I know you were with me all the way and don’t deserve this load. I’m sorry. I truly appreciate you being my friend through everything but this is just too much. I don’t like where I’m at, I don’t like where I’m going and I can’t get out of my head all that I left behind. But don’t feel guilty, for real. This is just me and my stupid self.
All I wanted was to ask you to spread my ashes on that cave. You know how to find it. Back home. I liked living there. But life seems to take me further away each time and this is the only way I know of hitting the brakes. I even had somebody there. Gretchen. Now it’s all gone.
Don’t hate me Dave. I can’t do this anymore but that doesn’t mean I’m not with you. Wherever you are I’ll be tagging along and whenever you like we can still have a drink together. Just close your eyes and I’ll be right there.
A hug.
Eli”
He was hoping to wake up, but when he looked up from the note the body still hung from the ceiling. The wooden floor of the flat creaked under his boots as he limped his way across the room and fell harshly to his knees. He held his friend’s lifeless legs with eyes wide open in disbelief but Eli didn’t move an inch. Never had he felt so empty.
Only after some minutes did he come back to Earth. That’s when the tears kicked in. The neighbors heard David’s shrieks and strolled out to beg for privacy unknowing that they were violating a much deeper one. Sometimes privacy can’t be counted in square feet and everybody should just back off. They learned it the hard way. If there is one sight that tears apart all common misconceptions and biases we have about life it is that of death.
Even if some of the people in the building had witnessed death before, the gruesomeness of this scene led many to tears. A young man hung right in the middle of the apartment, and another one cried at his feet. The orange tone of the wallpaper contrasting with the night that seeped through the window in the back provided the picture with a feeling of aridness and daunting solitude.
When David somehow managed to turn around a group of ladies mourned along with him while standing in respectful fear at the doorstep. He noticed several lit candles glowing on the hallway. He was thankful yet embarrassed, so he glided to the door, almost blinded from the crying, and slowly shut it closed on everyone. This was his loss to wail.
The silence arose from the vowels of the night. Calm and pretty. Trying to remind him that life goes on in such a lighthearted way he was almost offended. It had been too much and his eyes refused to look at this world for a minute more. Not for today. Sleep claimed him in the warm embrace he needed. A warm embrace. Something we all come to need in one way or another. Something that will keep men up at night wondering how to get and could even lead them down desperate roads. What Eli had needed.
He remembered whose apartment he was only after a solid minute awake. He got up wondering if it had all been a dream and Eli was making tea in the kitchen but the kettle never whistled. Only the birds on the outside treetops did. They truly chirped away joyful. Because life goes on whether we like it or not. That’s when it hit him. The reality check had been dangling over his head all night just waiting for him to wake up, and when the string snapped it fell on his head like a 10-ton anvil. He was sitting in a couch with his best friend’s corpse above his head and not the slightest clue of the next step. Eli had no close family and everybody they’d met on their hometown must’ve forgotten them long ago.
He remembered what he’d thought before. This is my loss to wail. Common sense smacked him on the head then and told him that if it was his loss he’d better step up and also make it his responsibility. After all, Eli had wanted that.
The note sat on the coffee table waiting to be reread and finally push David to make a decision and follow through with the author’s wishes. He did know the cave. Beautiful place indeed. Eli always had good taste. This thought almost made him smile. He had money saved up for the next roadtrip they would make to the outskirts and his job…He couldn’t even think about it. How was he supposed to set foot there right now? So that was it. He would take care of everything. He raised from the couch and grabbed the note.
-OK – he whispered
***
He turned on the car and set out just like he had every summer for 8 years. Except it was March, and his friend was even quieter than usual. Anxious in the confines of the urn, waiting to be set free in his dream place. The engine roared as they entered the highway that led home. The dry clary watched them as it nodded its approval in the mild, sandy wind.
The stereo was on and it confused its sounds with those of the engine and small whirls of sand forming on the pavement. Then another sound came. At least that’s what David would’ve sworn. He looked at the passenger seat and with a warm half smile said peacefully:
-You’re welcome
Dave, I know you were with me all the way and don’t deserve this load. I’m sorry. I truly appreciate you being my friend through everything but this is just too much. I don’t like where I’m at, I don’t like where I’m going and I can’t get out of my head all that I left behind. But don’t feel guilty, for real. This is just me and my stupid self.
All I wanted was to ask you to spread my ashes on that cave. You know how to find it. Back home. I liked living there. But life seems to take me further away each time and this is the only way I know of hitting the brakes. I even had somebody there. Gretchen. Now it’s all gone.
Don’t hate me Dave. I can’t do this anymore but that doesn’t mean I’m not with you. Wherever you are I’ll be tagging along and whenever you like we can still have a drink together. Just close your eyes and I’ll be right there.
A hug.
Eli”
He was hoping to wake up, but when he looked up from the note the body still hung from the ceiling. The wooden floor of the flat creaked under his boots as he limped his way across the room and fell harshly to his knees. He held his friend’s lifeless legs with eyes wide open in disbelief but Eli didn’t move an inch. Never had he felt so empty.
Only after some minutes did he come back to Earth. That’s when the tears kicked in. The neighbors heard David’s shrieks and strolled out to beg for privacy unknowing that they were violating a much deeper one. Sometimes privacy can’t be counted in square feet and everybody should just back off. They learned it the hard way. If there is one sight that tears apart all common misconceptions and biases we have about life it is that of death.
Even if some of the people in the building had witnessed death before, the gruesomeness of this scene led many to tears. A young man hung right in the middle of the apartment, and another one cried at his feet. The orange tone of the wallpaper contrasting with the night that seeped through the window in the back provided the picture with a feeling of aridness and daunting solitude.
When David somehow managed to turn around a group of ladies mourned along with him while standing in respectful fear at the doorstep. He noticed several lit candles glowing on the hallway. He was thankful yet embarrassed, so he glided to the door, almost blinded from the crying, and slowly shut it closed on everyone. This was his loss to wail.
The silence arose from the vowels of the night. Calm and pretty. Trying to remind him that life goes on in such a lighthearted way he was almost offended. It had been too much and his eyes refused to look at this world for a minute more. Not for today. Sleep claimed him in the warm embrace he needed. A warm embrace. Something we all come to need in one way or another. Something that will keep men up at night wondering how to get and could even lead them down desperate roads. What Eli had needed.
He remembered whose apartment he was only after a solid minute awake. He got up wondering if it had all been a dream and Eli was making tea in the kitchen but the kettle never whistled. Only the birds on the outside treetops did. They truly chirped away joyful. Because life goes on whether we like it or not. That’s when it hit him. The reality check had been dangling over his head all night just waiting for him to wake up, and when the string snapped it fell on his head like a 10-ton anvil. He was sitting in a couch with his best friend’s corpse above his head and not the slightest clue of the next step. Eli had no close family and everybody they’d met on their hometown must’ve forgotten them long ago.
He remembered what he’d thought before. This is my loss to wail. Common sense smacked him on the head then and told him that if it was his loss he’d better step up and also make it his responsibility. After all, Eli had wanted that.
The note sat on the coffee table waiting to be reread and finally push David to make a decision and follow through with the author’s wishes. He did know the cave. Beautiful place indeed. Eli always had good taste. This thought almost made him smile. He had money saved up for the next roadtrip they would make to the outskirts and his job…He couldn’t even think about it. How was he supposed to set foot there right now? So that was it. He would take care of everything. He raised from the couch and grabbed the note.
-OK – he whispered
***
He turned on the car and set out just like he had every summer for 8 years. Except it was March, and his friend was even quieter than usual. Anxious in the confines of the urn, waiting to be set free in his dream place. The engine roared as they entered the highway that led home. The dry clary watched them as it nodded its approval in the mild, sandy wind.
The stereo was on and it confused its sounds with those of the engine and small whirls of sand forming on the pavement. Then another sound came. At least that’s what David would’ve sworn. He looked at the passenger seat and with a warm half smile said peacefully:
-You’re welcome
♠ ♠ ♠
Comment please. For the first time I don't know how long it's going to be and any suggestion on lenght and style is welcome :D