Blue Through the Grey
In The Moonlight
Morning, or maybe afternoon? Whatever it is, it's pretty cold. I look out the window and I'm pretty sure I see a snowflake. I push open the car door and step foot onto the cold ground. Cold, that's really all that runs through my brain since I don't really have anything else to think about. Well, I also think about getting warmer clothes. Maybe a jacket, why didn't I bring a jacket? Stupid. Then I think about my mom always telling me "It's cold, wear a jacket" Thanks, mom, thanks for the warning. I abandon the highway and go into a small town. Why would I do that? To find friggin clothes and some food hopefully. Bam, right there in front of my eyes is a store, a clothing store. Well, goodwill but it's still something. The doors don't open so quietly. Every alien, scavenger and wild animal in the universe could probably have heard me foolishly lunging open the door. No coats, figures. Hoodies, yes. Oooh, bigger bags than mine. I grab one, stuff some clothes into it and change into some camo sweats and sweatshirt and head off to find food. Convenient store, not so convenient. But I do what my instincts tell me to do and enter at my own risk. GO INSIDE, YOU NEED FOOD. But there might be someone here. AND? YOU HAVE A RIFLE, DUMB ASS. I step through the broken door and breathe in my surroundings. Chips to my left, cases of water to my right. GREAT FIND, NOAH. Thanks. My eye catches something behind a long row of coolers. A shadow of someone but who? I remove the rifle from my shoulder and proceed with caution. I round the row of chips and eventually my arm outstretches and reaches for the door handle. SO, YOU FIND FOOD AND THEN RISK YOUR LIFE BY INVESTIGATING A SHADOW? YOU AREN'T THAT SMART ARE YOU? Shut the hell up, brain. I pull open the door and step in. My boots crunch glass, I'm exposed and so is she. She's not hiding very well and I can easily see her. Compromised. Alien? I would've been dead already.
"Out," I say, trying to sound big and bad but only the sound of a squeaky mouse comes out. At this point, we're both aiming at each other. "Drop your weapon"
"No," She says, stern and with much more confidence than me. "Drop yours first."
"That's not gonna happen."
"Then I'm not dropping mine." Her eyes look tired, she's been through hell.
"You're human," I say. "You would've shot me if you weren't."
I don't think she heard me because she says "Huh?"
I reach into my pocket to grab the locket and show her that I'm not the enemy and bam. Either I'm screaming or she is and there's a certain pain in my chest that feels almost like I got shot. I am in so much pain, it's a very unbearable pain. I should've said; HEY, LET ME SHOW YOU THIS LOCKET TO PROVE I'M NOT THE ENEMY. I don't blame her for blasting me back against the coolers, hard to tell what I had in my pocket. I pretend to be dead so she doesn't shoot me again. I can hear her sniffle and say; "Oh god, I'm so sorry" She takes my locket and gets the hell out of there.
"Scared?" My school nurse asks. I came in for an eye check and now I'm being bombarded with questions.
"Not really. They've been up there for a month, wouldn't they have done something by now?" I lied, yes I was fucking scared. Who the hell wouldn't be?
"I don't think they're here for any particular reason. Maybe they're just flying by." Damn, were you wrong Mary.
"Could be," I say. "Who knows. How are my eyes? Good, can I leave? Thanks, see ya tomorrow."
I walk down the halls, getting that same creepy stare from the same creepy girls. They smile, I smile, they follow, I go to the bathroom and hope they aren't waiting. Most of them leave but there's one girl that waits, one beautiful girl, and her name was Jessica. She smiled, tucked her long flowing blond hair behind her ear and bent down to the water fountain.
"Hi," I say, for the first time, I'm actually feeling kinda shy.
"Hey," She says, rising from the fountain. For a moment that feels like forever, we just stare each other.
"You're beautiful," I say quickly, I feel my face getting hot and I need to abort.
"Thanks, Noah. I'm sure you say that to the whole cheerleading squad and I'm really not looking to hookup in your backyard and watch the mothership dance around in the fucking sky." Burn, I've never felt so burned in my entire life.
"Okay. Well." I'm out of words. "Whatever." So childish. Like; Whatever major loser.
"Bye Noah. Really nice talking to you."
What. A. Bitch. No, I'm the bitch. How did she know I hooked up with Cassie and watched the mothership as our lips locked? I'm disgusting. I guess that's why the nice girls push me away. I will conquer her defenses and get her to a movie before those damn aliens come down to kill us.
My eyes quickly open. My chest, OH GOD, MY CHEST. IT'S GONE. OH GOD. I look down, it's still there but looks like shredded meat. I lean up, tasting the pain between my teeth. WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL HER WHAT YOU WERE DOING?! I didn't fucking think about, okay? OKAY, DON'T BE SUCH A BITCH. I roll my eyes, why am I rolling my eyes at my brain? Pretty sure I've gone insane. I'm ready to find her and shoot her. No, I'm not gonna shoot her, this was my fault, not hers. I'm laying here, in the moonlight, flesh torn to pieces. I scoot on my butt out the door and into the main area. Gauze? Where the hell are they? Aha, there you are bastards. I grab onto a shelf and pull myself to my feet, it's agonizing but how else was I gonna reach those damn bandages. Oh look, some Tylenol. Hell yeah. I pop some into my mouth and swallow them down. Dry as hell. I slide down to the floor and remove my shirt. Oh god, that looks worse than I imagined. I grab the bottle of whiskey that I took from the house and douse some gauze with it. THIS IS GONNA HURT LIKE HELL NOAH. BE PREPARED. I hesitate for a moment, it feels like a lifetime. I close my eyes and dab the wound with the whiskey soaked rag. HOLY FUCK. HOLY SHIT. MOTHER OF GOD. STOP, STOP IT. IT HURTS. By the time I'm done, I can barely get the bandages on. My vision is blurry, my head is throbbing, my heart is pumping and so is the wound. I'm dizzy and I just want to sleep. That's what I do, I fall to the floor and look at the tile. What a nice tile.
"Out," I say, trying to sound big and bad but only the sound of a squeaky mouse comes out. At this point, we're both aiming at each other. "Drop your weapon"
"No," She says, stern and with much more confidence than me. "Drop yours first."
"That's not gonna happen."
"Then I'm not dropping mine." Her eyes look tired, she's been through hell.
"You're human," I say. "You would've shot me if you weren't."
I don't think she heard me because she says "Huh?"
I reach into my pocket to grab the locket and show her that I'm not the enemy and bam. Either I'm screaming or she is and there's a certain pain in my chest that feels almost like I got shot. I am in so much pain, it's a very unbearable pain. I should've said; HEY, LET ME SHOW YOU THIS LOCKET TO PROVE I'M NOT THE ENEMY. I don't blame her for blasting me back against the coolers, hard to tell what I had in my pocket. I pretend to be dead so she doesn't shoot me again. I can hear her sniffle and say; "Oh god, I'm so sorry" She takes my locket and gets the hell out of there.
"Scared?" My school nurse asks. I came in for an eye check and now I'm being bombarded with questions.
"Not really. They've been up there for a month, wouldn't they have done something by now?" I lied, yes I was fucking scared. Who the hell wouldn't be?
"I don't think they're here for any particular reason. Maybe they're just flying by." Damn, were you wrong Mary.
"Could be," I say. "Who knows. How are my eyes? Good, can I leave? Thanks, see ya tomorrow."
I walk down the halls, getting that same creepy stare from the same creepy girls. They smile, I smile, they follow, I go to the bathroom and hope they aren't waiting. Most of them leave but there's one girl that waits, one beautiful girl, and her name was Jessica. She smiled, tucked her long flowing blond hair behind her ear and bent down to the water fountain.
"Hi," I say, for the first time, I'm actually feeling kinda shy.
"Hey," She says, rising from the fountain. For a moment that feels like forever, we just stare each other.
"You're beautiful," I say quickly, I feel my face getting hot and I need to abort.
"Thanks, Noah. I'm sure you say that to the whole cheerleading squad and I'm really not looking to hookup in your backyard and watch the mothership dance around in the fucking sky." Burn, I've never felt so burned in my entire life.
"Okay. Well." I'm out of words. "Whatever." So childish. Like; Whatever major loser.
"Bye Noah. Really nice talking to you."
What. A. Bitch. No, I'm the bitch. How did she know I hooked up with Cassie and watched the mothership as our lips locked? I'm disgusting. I guess that's why the nice girls push me away. I will conquer her defenses and get her to a movie before those damn aliens come down to kill us.
My eyes quickly open. My chest, OH GOD, MY CHEST. IT'S GONE. OH GOD. I look down, it's still there but looks like shredded meat. I lean up, tasting the pain between my teeth. WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL HER WHAT YOU WERE DOING?! I didn't fucking think about, okay? OKAY, DON'T BE SUCH A BITCH. I roll my eyes, why am I rolling my eyes at my brain? Pretty sure I've gone insane. I'm ready to find her and shoot her. No, I'm not gonna shoot her, this was my fault, not hers. I'm laying here, in the moonlight, flesh torn to pieces. I scoot on my butt out the door and into the main area. Gauze? Where the hell are they? Aha, there you are bastards. I grab onto a shelf and pull myself to my feet, it's agonizing but how else was I gonna reach those damn bandages. Oh look, some Tylenol. Hell yeah. I pop some into my mouth and swallow them down. Dry as hell. I slide down to the floor and remove my shirt. Oh god, that looks worse than I imagined. I grab the bottle of whiskey that I took from the house and douse some gauze with it. THIS IS GONNA HURT LIKE HELL NOAH. BE PREPARED. I hesitate for a moment, it feels like a lifetime. I close my eyes and dab the wound with the whiskey soaked rag. HOLY FUCK. HOLY SHIT. MOTHER OF GOD. STOP, STOP IT. IT HURTS. By the time I'm done, I can barely get the bandages on. My vision is blurry, my head is throbbing, my heart is pumping and so is the wound. I'm dizzy and I just want to sleep. That's what I do, I fall to the floor and look at the tile. What a nice tile.