Kayleb Feyds: Short Story

Kaleb Feyds was finishing up mulching the wrap around blanket of flowers and shrubs that surrounded the two-story beige house that sat at a corner in a average neighborhood. He had already trimmed the shrubs and cut the grass. Every once in a while he would stop maneuvering the mulch around and take his forearm to sweep his dark brown hair that was stuck to his forehead due to excessive perspiration. It was eighty-seven degrees out on this Saturday afternoon and Kaleb had been working hard since eight-thirty this morning on this small landscaping job.

Though he was getting much too overpaid, he didn’t care. He lived his life from moment to moment, so the amount of money he earned made no difference to him. The only thing he was looking forward to was his honey ham and cheese sandwich that was waiting for him back in his car.

“And maybe some company too” , the voice in the back of his mind sang. A smile appeared on his face as Rebecca Dolly’s face entered his head; her long blonde hair cascading over her slim shoulder with her blue/gray eyes twinkling in the sunlight as she smiled warmly. They had known each other for years due to his random side jobs he would do around her parent’s house.

He stood up from his crouching position and threw the empty mulch bag aside, the smile still on his face. The rumbling of his stomach distracted him, turning his smile to a small grimace of hunger. He placed one hand on his stomach and looked at his watch on the other to see the time.

“Two-fifteen”, he read aloud to no one in particular. His feet led him to his ’67 Shelby Mustang parked on the side of the road without another thought.

His car meant a lot to him. Sure, it wasn’t the typical working man’s truck equipt with all the tools or space needed for the job but he was perfectly content with it. He had built this pride and joy from scratch. The body was given to him for free and he started from there; digging through junk yards for the parts he didn’t care to spend too much money on. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford the parts. He simply enjoyed the search, the excitement and accomplished feeling of finding the parts himself.

He reached through the rarely closed windows to unlock the door form the inside and opened it. Ducking his head, he stretched through his car to the passenger seat, moving his garbage aside to get to the cooler. He grabbed his favorite sandwich out of it, his stomach growling in anticipation.

Before leaning out, he searched for his keys in his pocket and when found they were put into the ignition and turned. He found his favorite alternative rock station on the radio, and smiled in approval as a Three Days Grace song was played aloud. He turned the volume up and, stepping back cautiously, closed the door; letting the music blare through the speakers. He leaned against the driver side door, facing away from the house and pressed the sandwich to his lips.

As soon as he took a much too large bite of his precious sandwich, a voice sounded behind him.

“Hey”, she said in her soft voice.

He casually turned his head around to see her. She was wearing a baby pink sweater with what seemed to be a white tank-top underneath. Her long legs were partially covered with dark blue jean capris and her feet were bare. With cheeks full, he replied with a hand covering his mouth, “Hwi Webecwa.”

She giggled at him. She walked over to meet him on his side of the car, trailing her freshly manicured hand on the hood as she did.

He finished chewing his food and swallowed. When she reached him he smiled confidently at her and offered her half his sandwich.

“Sure. Thanks.” She said as she grabbed the half from him. “So I heard you playing your guitar the last time you were here on a job. You’ve improved.”

Kaleb blushed, something he rarely did. He was normally a self controlled, confident twenty-three year old man. Rarely did anything, or in this case someone, shatter his invisible armor. But Rebecca was different. He’d hoped she’d feel the same way.

“Thank you”, he said, nodding his head slightly in her direction.

“Soooo?” she said impatiently.

Kaleb knew what she wanted but played the dumb card. “What?” he said. She pleaded silently with her eyes and pouted her lip.

“Pleeeeeeease let me hear you?” She clasped her hands together and bent her knees slightly.

He gave in like a man with a gun to his head and walked to the trunk to get his guitar. He walked back over to the hood of his car with the guitar and sat on it. He did whatever tuning that needed to be done and then looked to her.

“Ready, Ms. Impatient?” he said looking her in the eyes. She shook her head and waited. He placed his fingers upon the correct frets and played the song “She is Love” by Parachute. He sang along with a smooth voice directed at her the entire time. She looked at him breathlessly.

“Wow… “, was all she could say.

She sat down next to him on the hood, her bare feet on the front wheel. She looked over to him, surprisingly catching his gaze. His blue-green eyes bore into hers as he stood up to stand in front of her. His heart raced; he couldn’t think and from the look on her face, neither could she.

His hands seemed to move on their own to cradle her face. He paused to wait for an objection but none came, so he leaned in and for the first time, their lips touched.