Status: For those who might have a slight sense of deja vu- Yes, this is a remake of the original. The characters remain the same with a similar plot, but a highly different chain of events.
A Lifetime in the Nighttime
Cheery Bells
Duran shook his head in disbelief. That wasn’t something you see every day? He thought to himself. With a careful turn on the slick ice he padded back inside, the door chiming overhead. Oh how he hated that bell and the merry twinkle it sent through the store. Livingston’s looked incredibly empty as he scanned the room looking for where Trojan ran off to. Sighing he made his way back to the front desk where he would await the next customer to trot inside and buy a new book.
“You know, if you weren’t my best friend and I had no clue at all what that face meant, I would think you were getting ready to kill someone.” Trojan laughed from behind him, waltzing up to his seat with a stack of fantasy books.
“No it’s not that. Just aggravated I guess. It’s that damn chime! It’s so… cheery! And not to mention do you see how off center it is tied up on that hinge? I thought you measured it on both sides before you put it up there?” Duran raised an eyebrow, but Trojan was buried within the first page of the Never Ending Story and was paying no attention whatsoever to him. “Real nice, bro.”
A cheery bell wasn’t all that was on Duran’s mind. He couldn’t help but think of the phone call he had right before the ray of sunshine bustled through the store. It was like as the small blonde came in and wiped him clean of what he was thinking of before, but now that she was gone, all he had left to think about was Rachel and what she had said to him.
“Should I call her back?” Duran turned looking for the answer he needed in his best friends eyes.
“In all honesty D, I don’t think you should. I mean she’s a good lady and all, but to hint towards breaking up with you on the phone? That’s a little low- especially for Rachel.” Trojan crossed his arms over his chest and looked his best friend right back in the eyes.
Duran rubbed at his temples. It wasn’t that she hinted at breaking up with him, she just urgently suggested that he come over her house after work and have a serious talk with her. Rachel was never less than kind when she proposed such things but this call seemed a bit out of tune for her. She seemed distracted and what Duran thought sounded like, stuffy? As if maybe she had been crying? Which was another example of rare behavior for her. Rachel never cried. Showing emotion was something that only her closest friends and family saw of her. The only other time Duran had ever seen or heard Rachel cry was when her grandmother past away last July. Maybe it was just another tragic event.
He tried shaking the thought from his mind. It wasn’t good to wish for such things seeing as he knew she would have told him that something like that was wrong. That would have been one of the first things she said. But then again, she couldn’t be breaking up with him either. As he thought about it, his heart skipped a beat and he felt the urge to do something to keep his mind off of it. Immediately he started to fix the newspaper stand next to the front desk, making them all the same direction and neatly align them in the center of the shelf. Next was the Science Fiction section. For the next two hours he organized the whole first three rows and dusted the top of each hard cover collection.
“Are you skipping out on lunch, D?” Trojan asked, scaring the daylights out of Duran as he appeared behind him with their lunch boxes.
Duran hadn’t even realized what time it was before Trojan showed up. With a gulp he shook his head up and down and reached for his red bag. Inside he had everything in its place and color coded. Just like everything else he owned. Trojan had always picked on him but how could he help it? It was his best friend and he didn’t know anyone else as organized as he was.
“Are you still thinking about her, man?” Trojan asked, shoveling steamed broccoli into his mouth.
“When don’t I think about her?” Duran couldn’t even finish his meal. He was too sick to his stomach.
He was safe with Rachel. She fit so well into his life and assisted him with everything he ever had planned. She never complained and was always just happy to spend time with him wherever they were. He was sure that she would never hurt him let alone leave him. Breaking up shouldn’t have even crossed his mind. But Duran still couldn’t help but think of the way she sounded on the phone. Something was terribly wrong and Trojan was right about most things whether Duran wanted to admit it or not.
“You know, if you weren’t my best friend and I had no clue at all what that face meant, I would think you were getting ready to kill someone.” Trojan laughed from behind him, waltzing up to his seat with a stack of fantasy books.
“No it’s not that. Just aggravated I guess. It’s that damn chime! It’s so… cheery! And not to mention do you see how off center it is tied up on that hinge? I thought you measured it on both sides before you put it up there?” Duran raised an eyebrow, but Trojan was buried within the first page of the Never Ending Story and was paying no attention whatsoever to him. “Real nice, bro.”
A cheery bell wasn’t all that was on Duran’s mind. He couldn’t help but think of the phone call he had right before the ray of sunshine bustled through the store. It was like as the small blonde came in and wiped him clean of what he was thinking of before, but now that she was gone, all he had left to think about was Rachel and what she had said to him.
“Should I call her back?” Duran turned looking for the answer he needed in his best friends eyes.
“In all honesty D, I don’t think you should. I mean she’s a good lady and all, but to hint towards breaking up with you on the phone? That’s a little low- especially for Rachel.” Trojan crossed his arms over his chest and looked his best friend right back in the eyes.
Duran rubbed at his temples. It wasn’t that she hinted at breaking up with him, she just urgently suggested that he come over her house after work and have a serious talk with her. Rachel was never less than kind when she proposed such things but this call seemed a bit out of tune for her. She seemed distracted and what Duran thought sounded like, stuffy? As if maybe she had been crying? Which was another example of rare behavior for her. Rachel never cried. Showing emotion was something that only her closest friends and family saw of her. The only other time Duran had ever seen or heard Rachel cry was when her grandmother past away last July. Maybe it was just another tragic event.
He tried shaking the thought from his mind. It wasn’t good to wish for such things seeing as he knew she would have told him that something like that was wrong. That would have been one of the first things she said. But then again, she couldn’t be breaking up with him either. As he thought about it, his heart skipped a beat and he felt the urge to do something to keep his mind off of it. Immediately he started to fix the newspaper stand next to the front desk, making them all the same direction and neatly align them in the center of the shelf. Next was the Science Fiction section. For the next two hours he organized the whole first three rows and dusted the top of each hard cover collection.
“Are you skipping out on lunch, D?” Trojan asked, scaring the daylights out of Duran as he appeared behind him with their lunch boxes.
Duran hadn’t even realized what time it was before Trojan showed up. With a gulp he shook his head up and down and reached for his red bag. Inside he had everything in its place and color coded. Just like everything else he owned. Trojan had always picked on him but how could he help it? It was his best friend and he didn’t know anyone else as organized as he was.
“Are you still thinking about her, man?” Trojan asked, shoveling steamed broccoli into his mouth.
“When don’t I think about her?” Duran couldn’t even finish his meal. He was too sick to his stomach.
He was safe with Rachel. She fit so well into his life and assisted him with everything he ever had planned. She never complained and was always just happy to spend time with him wherever they were. He was sure that she would never hurt him let alone leave him. Breaking up shouldn’t have even crossed his mind. But Duran still couldn’t help but think of the way she sounded on the phone. Something was terribly wrong and Trojan was right about most things whether Duran wanted to admit it or not.