Nicotine – Chapter 2

          After sending yet another mug of coffee to Cassie, Liz starts to work. She took Blake’s folder and looked at Blake’s picture. Then, clutching a copy of the target’s binder, she closed her eyes and concentrated, biting her lip. Slowly, a golden glow surrounded her being and formed a smoky shape above her head.

          The smoky shape, still glowing, floated off and disappeared through the ceiling. Having done that, Liz opened her eyes and went to the coffee machine and made a mug for herself. As she leaned against the counter, savoring her coffee, she wondered if her doppelganger at her campus is doing the assignment that’s due on Tuesday. 

          Meanwhile, the smoky shape has split into two upon exiting the building and streaked off into two different directions. One of them went straight towards a pub downtown, where Blake is now sitting, drinking with his best friend. It materialized into an exact copy of Liz right on the stool beside Blake.

          She blinked her eyes, trying to adjust to the dim light. Blake looked beside him and saw her, sitting there, clutching at a binder and trying to figure out where she is. Upon realizing she’s in a pub, a look of horror crossed her face. 

          “Oh, crap!” she cried out, making a few heads turn to look at her. She looked around and saw a few scary-looking men leering at her. She clutched the binder even tightly and struggled to remain calm. It’s not just the men in the pub that’s scaring her, too. She’s underage, and if she’s ever caught here, it’s not going to look good on her records. As she took a few deep breaths that stank of stale beer, she heard Blake’s voice next to her.

          “Hey, aren’t you…” he narrowed his eyes, trying to remember. “You’re that girl from the newsstand at the corner, right?”

          “Huh?” startled, she turned around and saw him. Immediately she breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized him. She handed him the binder. “No, I’m from the office just now. Although I do work at the newsstand on weekends,”

          “Oh, great,” he said as he received the binder. “Not even my first day and work already,”

          “Oh, and Cassie said to study that and meet her at her office at 10 tomorrow,”

          “Great. Thanks,” he replied, putting the binder of the counter and taking another gulp of his drink. “You’d better get out of here before security comes. The bartender’s gone for a while now,”

          “Um, okay,” she said, and faded into nothing, leaving behind an empty stool. Almost immediately a burly man walked in from the back door, looked around and walked back out. She’s just in time. 

          “Hey, who’s that?” the guy next to Blake asked him. He’s a tall, lanky man with messy brown hair falling all around his head, making his head look like a mop. His eyes are small and sharp, and his voice gives the impression of someone who’s always stoned. “That your new girl? A little too young, ain’t her? I’d watch out for Chris Hansen if I were you, buddy,”

          “Just shut up and finish your drink, Luke,” Blake growled, taking another gulp. 

          At that Luke burst into laughter and patted him on the back. “Hey, relax, dude. Jeez, you’ve been such a ray of sunshine lately,” and then he noticed the binder on the table. It was plain brown card, with CLASSIFIED stamped on the front cover. “Hey, what’s that?”

          “That, my friend,” Blake pulled the binder closer to him and placed his forearm on it. “Is what we’re celebrating right now,”

          “Work already?” his small eyes widened with surprise. “Whoa. They don’t waste any time, do they?”

          “Apparently not. Guess I’ll be going straight home after this,”

          “Aw, man!” Luke said, clearly not approving of the idea. “What about the chicas down at the club? I need a wingman, dude!”

          “Luke, I’m sure that the chicas will be all over your wingman if he decided to come,” he winked at Luke. “You’ll have a better chance with them if you go without me,”

          “Sheesh, whatever,” Luke rolled his eyes and finished his drink. He knew what he’s saying is true, anyway. So far, he’s not had much luck with women. The last time he had this bright idea for a double date with his best friend, he ended up going home alone. Both ladies went with Blake. He knew he should’ve resented him for that, but he’s his best friend for what seems forever.

          Besides, given his nature, he’d find the humor in that and laugh it off anyway. He stood up and picked up his keys from the bar counter. “You need a ride home?”

          “Nah, I’ll walk,” Blake said as he finished his drink and stood up, holding the binder at his side. “I need to stop somewhere on the way. Take care, buddy,”

          “Yeah, you too,” Luke said as he walked out. On the way he winked at a lady sitting alone at a table, smoking. The lady rolled her eyes and looked away. He shrugged and went out. Blake, on the other hand, took the back door and went into the back alley. It’s a shortcut to his apartment.

          He took a right turn and entered a lane bordered by shops. He walked along the lane until he came to a store with Abbey’s written on the front door and walked in.

          “Hey, Blake,” the old lady at the front counter said as he walked in. She lifted a large paper bag filled with items on to the counter. “Here’s your groceries. We ran out of cheese, though,”

          “Thanks, Abbey,” he said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “How are you doing?”

          “Oh, fine, as always,” she turned to reach for a fly swatter on the desk behind her. “Those knees of mine are giving me a hard time, as usual,”

          “Well, you shouldn’t be working too hard,” he said as he paid the bill. She rang it up in the cash register. 

          “Oh well, the bills need to be paid anyway. And don’t you go on giving me the Social Security speech. I won’t take it,” she said as she swatted a fly on the counter. After flicking it away with the end of the swatter, she turned and looked closely at him. “You, young man, on the other hand, should take better care of yourself. I hate to nag at you, but all that cigarettes?” she motioned to the paper bag. “You won’t go past fifty at this rate,”

          “Abbey,” he looked back at her. “Thanks for reminding me. You’re so like my mother,”

          “And you’re so like my son,” she looked at him seriously. “And that’s why I keep reminding you. Because I care,”

          “Well, I care about you too,” he said. “That’s why I keep telling you to just take the money and rest,”

          At that she threw up her hands and put them at her hips. They looked at each other and smiled, and there was an understanding between them. “Well, so long Abbey,” he said as he turned and walked out. She was looking for something beneath the counter, but she raised her hand in a wave without looking.

          He walked out into the street, and saw the stars overhead over the glare of the street lights. As he walked home, thoughts ran over his mind, random thoughts of everything and anything at all. He barely saw the people that passed him. His feet knew the way well, and without even thinking about it, he found himself standing in front of his apartment building. 

          He entered his empty apartment and turned on the lights. It was a large space, bought with the money from his first job. However, it always bothered him about how empty it was. Oh, it was well-furnished, with the best furniture money can buy, and since money was never a problem, there’s always something new every week.

          But however much he tried to crowd the space with furniture and gadgets, it still seemed empty to him, and he don’t know why. He placed the binder on the coffee table, and the groceries on the kitchen table, and walked into his bedroom. 

          “I need a shower,” he said to himself out loud. His voice echoed back at him. He shrugged and undressed and walked into the large bathroom. He stared at himself in the large mirror set on the wall. Now here’s a familiar face. “You need a shave,” he said with a smile, and his reflection mimicked him. He sighed and took his shower.

          After a long, warm shower, he went out in his towel and sat on the couch in front of the TV and switched it on. After flipping through a few channels, he settled on an infomercial. The product is yet another useless kitchen appliance, a sort of vegetable blender. He turned the volume up and laid back, feet on the table.

          That’s when he saw the binder. After a bit of reflection, he reached for it and flipped it open and read leisurely. It described a cemetery on the west side of this town. On the next page is attached an envelope with pictures in it. It was pictures of the graveyard. It’s not a particularly scary-looking graveyard, but almost serene-looking.

          One picture caught his attention. It was of a stone angel, standing tall over a grave. The writings on the base are faded, and the stone itself is green with mold. The rest of the pages are just accounts of strange occurrences that happened recently. Overturned earth, broken headstones, and stray bones. Maybe it’s a grave robber.

          He closed the binder and put it on the table. Then he stood up, went to the kitchen and put away his groceries. When he came to the cigarettes, he bit his lip. Maybe Abbey’s right after all. Oh well. He shrugged and lit one, and took a deep draw. He blew out a cloud, and put his hands together. 

          The smoke condensed into a statue of a little girl in full size. She had long hair, reaching to her elbows, and her eyes were empty, staring into space. He sighed and turned away and the statue turned back to smoke. He flipped on a switch, and an exhaust fan sucked up the smoke. He glanced over at a picture on the refrigerator door. It was a picture of him and the little girl, only he was a little thinner and less bulky. He finished the cigarette looking at the picture, and making stone rings from the smoke absentmindedly.

          “I’m going to bed now,” he said aloud. The infomercial answered him: “Thank you, and good night,”

          He turned off the TV, poured himself a glass of milk and went to bed. He stared at the ceiling for a long time before finally falling asleep.

Nicotine - Chapter 1

The woman peered at him through gold-rimmed glasses, reaching for a folder that he had placed on her desk. She leafed through the papers inside, then took off her glasses and looked at him again. He didn’t seem to mind at the very least. It was an interview, after all. And first impressions are important anyway.

          So he kept both feet planted on the floor, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood there, staring straight ahead. It has been a long day of failures coming in and going back out again, and she’s looking more than a little messed up. A lock of golden hair hung across her face, escaped from the tight bun she kept in place with hairpins at the back of her head. Rings are beginning to form under her otherwise bright eyes, and lines of strain crossed her forehead as she squinted down at the folder in her hands.

          The small room was dimly lit, with hints of lingering smoke making the room even gloomier. A plastic potted plant stood wearily in the corner, as if trying to wilt, but without success. His eyes stealthily scanned the room, noting details down, trying to figure out what kind of person his future employee will be. A half-filled ashtray rests slightly to the left of her desktop. A smoker. An empty coffee mug, with brown stains down the right side of the handle. A lefty. No wedding ring. Shirt sleeves rolled back.

          She, on the other hand, is totally absorbed in the contents of the folder, leafing through it rapidly, giving an occasional nod and a pleased hum. Finally, she carefully rearranged the sheets and placed it in front of her. Then, she lighted a cigarette, took a deep puff and leaned back in her office chair, crossing her legs as he looked at him again.

          He’s not the tallest man she’s ever saw, but he does seem to fill the small area with his presence. Broad shoulders, and a thick neck. He gave the impression of being sturdy. This man kept his dark hair short and trimmed, and his clean-shaven face bears the hint of a beard. His stance is good, and he kept his facial expressions under control.

“So,” she finally spoke. “Blake Freeman, right?”

          “Yes, ma’am,”

          “You have got an impressive resume, there. In fact,” she paused and took another puff. “So impressive that I’m beginning to wonder. Why on earth would you apply for a job like this?”

          “I have my own reasons, ma’am.”

          She sighed and flicked the ash from her cigarette into the ashtray. “I suppose you do. However,” she took another puff. “I noticed that there was no mention of your expertise in there. Oh sure, you specialize in eliminating targets and acquiring items, that I know, but how? You need to sell yourself more. This is an interview, you know,”

          Without speaking, Blake stepped forward and subtly took the half-smoked cigarette from her fingers. “If you please, ma’am,” he said when a look of annoyance crossed her face. She waved her hand in dismissal. Her face hinted interest, and a little awe at his daring. Stepping back, he took a deep draw from the cigarette and released a huge cloud of thick smoke. She raised an eyebrow. 

          “That’s not enough. A smokescreen? I’ve seen better,”

          “Oh, you haven’t seen better,” he replied as he assumed a stance, as if he’s holding a sword with both hands. To her amazement, the thick smoke swirled and condensed into a sword in his hands. The blade glinted in the dim light, and he twirled it a few times with one hand and stabbed the floor with it. Resting his weight on the sword, he said, nonchalantly, “And that’s how I got past airport security,”

           She was just staring, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at him. Suddenly she leaned forward and flipped back to the first page of the folder. “Wait a second. It says here that you’re only 33. How on earth did you master that kind of skill?” she looked at him, waiting for an answer. 

          He shrugged, and returned the now stubby cigarette to her. “That’s for me to know,” he pulled the sword out of the concrete floor. It left a hole in the gray carpet. He ran his finger down the length of the blade, and the sword dematerialized back into smoke and disappeared into thin air. “And for you to find out,” He looked at her and gave her a mysterious smile.

          “Oh, well,” she sighed again. “Looks like you’ve got the job. I’m Hayley. Cassandra Hayley,” she held out her hand, and he took it. “Thanks, boss,” he said as he shook hands with her. “When can I start?”

          “Will tomorrow be okay?”

          “Tomorrow’s great. See you tomorrow,” he said as he turned and opened the door, letting fresh air waft in. There was a smile on his face as he walked out of the building and into the streets. Tomorrow, he will be one step closer towards his objective.

          After Blake left, Cassandra leaned back in her chair and unconsciously reached for her coffee mug. Upon realizing it was empty, she set it back and sighed. “Liz!” she screeched. Almost immediately the door opened and in walked a teenage girl, with the same hair and eyes as Cassandra. She was holding a binder in her hands, and her golden curls tumbled messily about her head.

          “Yes, Cassie?” she said, a little timidly. “Did I do something wrong?”

          “What? No, no, no, sweetie,” she said, panicking a little. “I just needed a refill on this coffee,” she held out her mug. 

          At that Liz smiled and took the mug. “Well, you don’t have to sound like you’re mad at me, Cassie. I’ll get whatever you want,” she chirped as she literally skipped out of the door, forgetting to close it behind her. Cassandra put her face in her palms as she rested her head on her desk. 

          Elizabeth was her little sister, and she’s agreed to give her a part-time job as her personal assistant to cover for her college expenses. She’s a little unstable at times, but she can be in a few places at once, which made her great at office work. Plus, she does make a great cup of coffee. 

          She straightened up again and noticed Blake’s folder on the table. She picked it up and placed it in her desk drawer, then leaned back in her chair again, hands clasped on her belly as she stared at the ceiling. Blake does seem to have a lot of secrets to him, but he seems nice enough. And he does have that aura of professionalism, and he doesn’t talk much. She likes that in a man. Maybe she won’t have to hold interviews again for a long time. She smiled at the thought.

          Liz came in with a steaming mug, still clutching a binder in her arms. She caught Cassie smiling to herself. She set down the mug on the desk and started to giggle. That startled Cassie. For some reason, she started to blush. Getting caught off guard like that, by her little sister… That’s not very good. 

          “What are you giggling at?” she scowled as she reached for the mug and took a cautious sip. Not too hot, but not cold either. Just warm enough to taste good. She sighed in satisfaction and lost her scowl.

          “Nothing. You’re smiling,” she said, starting to giggle again. “I haven’t seen you smile like that since Randy –”

          “Whoa. Stop talking,” she cut her short. ‘Randy’ was not the name she’d like to be reminded of. The unemployed boyfriend she put up with until he dumped her. “What’s that binder you’re carrying around, anyway?”

          “Oh, this?” Liz started, disoriented by the sudden change in topic. “Well, let’s see… Oh, it’s the next target. I kinda forgot to give this to you. Eh heh heh heh,”

          Cassie sighed and rubbed her temples. “You’ve been carrying this binder all over town, made coffee and answered phones but forgot all about it? I swear, if it wasn’t because you were my sister…”

          They looked at each other for a moment and smiled. Liz placed the binder on the table and stepped back and waited. Cassie flipped through the folder for a moment and mm-hmmed. 

          “Have this delivered to the man who I just hired and a copy to, um, the guy with the… the…” her brows creased in concentration, trying to recall either a name or a feature.

          “The what?”

          “You know, that guy… The one who can, uh, can make, um…”

          “Chester? The guy with the strange tattoo on his neck?”

          “Yeah! That’s the one!” she settled back and let out a long whoosh of air. She must be getting old and senile. “You know, Liz, keep this up and maybe I’ll let you take over my company,”

          “What? No way!” she stuck her chin out. Her face wore an almost horrified look. “I want to make a shelter for poor homeless kittens! I don’t want to run your company!”  

          “Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Cassie rolled her eyes. “Anyway, send a copy to both of them and tell them both to meet me here at –” she glanced at the organizer on the wall. “– 10 in the morning tomorrow.”

          “Okay, Cassie. Anything else?”

          Cassie chugged down the remaining coffee and held out her mug. “Yeah. More coffee,”

Clouds

   “Clouds sure are pretty, huh?”

    Alex snapped out of his book instantly. Visions of prisoners in Bastille vanished as he slowly regained consciousness of his surroundings.

    “Huh? What?” he asked.

    “I think the clouds are just pretty today,”

    Alex looked up. The sky is big over the field they were in. He can see a few round, fluffy clouds in the east and streaks of white against the pure blue higher up.

    “Yeah, sure, nice one Cass,” he looked back at his book, trying to find the place where he left off. Cassie pouted and looked at his book.

    “The French Revolution? Come on, Al. We’re in a pretty field on a beautiful day. What’s with the book?” she said, obviously annoyed by his studiousness. “Close that thing for a while and lay back,”

    With a sigh, he dog-eared the page and closed the book slowly and carefully placed it at his side. Cassie smiled and laid on her back in the short grass. Overhead, she can see the sky between the branches of a shady tree.

    Alex looked at her for a while, and did the same, crossing his arms under his head. The clouds floated slowly across the sky.

    “Hey, I can see a bunny!” Cassie said suddenly, pointed to a cloud. Alex squinted at the cloud. “They all look like bunnies to you,” he said.

    “Come on,” she laughed. “What does that one look like to you?” she pointed to a pure white cloud a little apart from the others.

    Alex squinted again. “Looks like a cumulus to me,” He can hear Cassie sigh beside him. “On second thought, it does look like a plate of mashed potatoes,”

    He looked over to his side. Cassie had her eyes on the cloud, and she is smiling a contented smile. For some reason it made him smile, too. He turned his gaze back to the sky.

    The sky looked deep, as if you could get lost in it if you gaze long enough. Some clouds seem further up than others, making the sky seem deeper. A soft breeze blew, bringing the smell of grass and wood and swaying the branches above. The sound of leaves rustling is deafening, but pleasant.

   They laid back in silence, just enjoying the moment of peace.

    “You know,” Cassie said, after a while. “I think green, blue and white are a really nice combination,” she kept her gaze at the sky through the swaying branches.

    “Uh-uh,”

    “Not much of a talker, are you?”

    “Nope,”

    “Is something wrong?” she said, concern in her voice.

    He looked at her, and she was looking intensely at him, her eyes seemed to be looking deep inside of him, brow furrowed in concern.

    He sighed and looked back at the sky. “I wish today never ends,”

    There was a long pause as Cassie looked back at the sky and thought deeply. “Yeah, me too,”

    He looked at her. The clouds are reflected in her eyes. Her voice is soft and gentle as she spoke, and there was a sadness in her voice.

    “You know, this must be what heaven feels like,”

    “Yeah,”

   The leaves rustled again. Far off, at the horizon, a tiny point of light is slowly growing in size.

   “I really – never mind,” she said, “That one looked like an elephant’s head,”

   “Cass,” he said, his eyes on the growing point of light. “It’s close. I can see it from here,”

   “Don’t look at it,” she said firmly, her eyes searching for a shape in the clouds.

   “Cass, we haven’t much time left,” he said, anxiously. “Can you promise me one thing?”

   “What?” she said, distractedly.

    “Well, if – if –” he hesitated. “If, say, heaven is real,” she looked at him. “If heaven’s real, will you come and look for me?”

    “You don’t believe in God,”

    “No, I don’t, but if it was real all along, will you?”

    “Yes,” her eyes are downcast. “Yes, I will,”

    “I’m glad,” Alex said, and relief was in his voice. “I’m really glad,”

    She looked at him, and tears were silently running down from the corner of his eyes.

    “I’m scared, Cassie,”

    Cassie moved closer and hugged him, and he tried so hard to keep from crying, but the tears won’t stop coming.

    “Hush, now,” she said, still embracing him. “It’s ok. Let’s just look at the clouds for now,”

    He nodded and laid back, his face hardened. Cassie laid down close to him and laid her head on her chest, and he put an arm around her waist and held her close.

    They both tried to keep their gaze away from the now rapidly growing light in the sky, and tried to just enjoy the moment, knowing it will never come again.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

“Miss Ching?”

I started and immediately stood up, simultaneously sending my stationery clattering to the floor as I knocked the swinging table down. Everybody else in the class roared with laughter.

Including him.

Mr. Rahman sighed and took off his glasses, wiping it against his shirt. “I suppose you won’t know the answer to my question,” he said wearily. “You may sit down. Miss Gloria? Would you care to answer?”

I sat down and gathered my pens and notepad, eyes glued to the floor. My face is burning. I just hate these swinging table tops. You know, the kind that comes with the chair? This isn’t the first time I messed up in Mr. Rahman’s class. He’s got a habit of putting a Mr. or Miss in front of everybody’s name.

In fact, I’ve been making a fool of myself since the beginning of this semester. Since he joined our class. 

Tall, dark and handsome, built like one of those rugby players you see on ESPN. I can never concentrate when he’s sitting in front. In fact, I have no idea what Mr. Rahman has been teaching this past two months.

“Very good, Miss Gloria. Now, for the next problem…”

I finally gathered all of my stuff and set them down on the empty chair next to me. My friend Mai used to comment on how I’d bring ten different pens to class and never actually used them. I rarely took notes. 

Especially when he’s sitting there. I can feel my face burn again.

One of these days, I’m going to rupture my facial veins just fantasizing like this.

“Mr. Ralph?”

I froze. Oh my God, it’s him! He’s been called!

“Would you demonstrate in front how x would change with y in graphical form?”

I suddenly got very interested on x and y. I settled down comfortably and propped my face on my hands and watched. Smiling like some psychotic stalker. Joker would be proud.

He shrugged and stood up after a pat on the back by one of his friends. He walked slowly to the whiteboard, with a gait that said easy confidence. He picked up the marker and drew a perfect loop between the two lines, smiled (ohmygodhissmileismakingmefaint) and sauntered back to his seat.

Mr. Rahman leaned on the rostrum and looked at Ralph’s masterpiece, an eyebrow raised.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Ralph made a mistake here…” he said, and corrected it with a differently colored pen.

I don’t care. That’s how I’ll be doing my graphs from now on. Oh, he’s just so perfect! I swooned. I can only imagine him wrapping his big, strong arms around me, as he looked me deep in my eyes and said, in his deep, strong voice, “Hey, baby, wanna get married?” And I said… and I said…

“Miss Ching?”

I snapped out of my temporary view of paradise and looked around. Everybody’s looking at me, especially Mr. Rahman. “Is something the matter? You look faint… Ralph, can you take her to the nurse’s office?”

I think I really fainted then, because the next thing I know, I was being carried by someone through a long corridor. I opened one eye and looked, and almost fainted again. Ralph is carrying me in his big, strong arms! I snuggled against his chest and smiled. I could get used to this.

“Here she is,” I heard him say as we arrive at the sick bay, all too soon. His voice is just like I imagined, and I blushed again. I was put on a bed, my temperature taken, and my eyes checked.

He sat on the chair next to the bed and watched. I started blushing again, and the nurse looked alarmed. “Oh, dear, I must get the doctor,” she said, and left us to ourselves.

We sat in silence for a few moments, me fidgeting, and he texting someone. Finally I broke the silence.

“Hey, thanks,”

He looked up. “Oh, no prob,” and looked down again.

“My name’s Ching,”

He smiled. My eyes fluttered again. “Mine’s Ralph,”

I was about to say something else when someone walked in. It was another guy from our class. Damn, what a pest! I clenched my fists under the blanket.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Ching here fainted suddenly,”

The other guy looked at me and held out a hand. “Hi! I’m Joe,”

I shook his hand and smiled. “So, are you guys, like, buddies?”

They both exchanged a look and smiled. Uh-oh. I do NOT like that smile.

“We’re… more than friends,” Joe said, looking deeply into Ralph’s eyes, gripping his left shoulder.

“Yeah,” Ralph said, almost too passionately, “More than friends,”

No. No. No. I decided to push it.

“Like, you guys are in a team together or something?” I said, trying to deny what is slowly dawning on me.

“Nope. Closer than that,” Ralph said as Joe gave him a peck on the cheek.

I dry heaved. This could not be happening to me! All my fantasies, broken! I don’t know what happened next, but I got a three days medical leave after the doctor checked me. Turned out I got a fever right then and there.

I called up my best friend Phoebe and told her what happened. She just laughed and said she’d still try to get him anyways. The slut. I told her I don’t care anymore, and she can do whatever she wanted. I knew that guy was way too perfect to be available.

When I returned to class, I can barely look at him anymore. I still daydream in class, but of what could have been and how I’d like to strangle that guy.

A week later, I saw him making out with Jane under the staircase. I could not believe my eyes. Wait till Joe hears about this! My eyes glinted with vengeance, and I feel like a butterfly as I floated over to Joe, who was having a drink at the fountain.

“Hey,” I said, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

“Oh, hey. Ching, right?” Oh, so Joe has an accent.

“Yeah. Guess what,” I said, my voice getting all excited. “I just saw Ralph making out! With a girl!”

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if he was looking at a pink elephant. “Y..eah, so?” he asked. “Have you been watching long?”

I was taken aback. He doesn’t seem mad or jealous at all! Or…

“Wait, isn’t he your boyfriend?” I blurted out. Whoops.

At this, he laughed so hard that he had to hold on to the fountain to keep from falling. All the while I’m standing there, looking like a hammered sheep. “Are you done?”

“Oh, oh, whooo…” he said as he wiped his tears. “You have GOT to be kidding me. He’s my cousin,”

“WHAT?! You kissed him!”

“I’m from French. It’s common for me to kiss my relatives,”

“WHAT?!”

Living Still

When you first step into this town, I guess the first thing you’ll notice is the quiet. The thick, heavy quiet, and the lack of people. Sure, most towns don’t have that much people anyway, but this town seems deserted. However, it’s not.

Welcome to Aldelati, the town where dreams come true. It’s situated in the middle of nowhere, and no crops grow here. The people are strange, and the animals are dumb. And to think that this place used to be so busy, too.

Used to be? Yes, my friend. This place wasn’t always like this. There was a time where Aldelati was the place to be. Placed in the intersection of several – several, mind you, not one or two – important roads, we can’t help but have all sorts of people coming in everyday, and different people coming in as soon as those leave.

And I’m in the place to know, too. See, my dad runs one of the biggest inns in town, and I used to get to meet all kinds of strangers every night. Tired businessman, laughing couples, noisy families, classy wives of merchants, you name it. We had it all.

Being the son of the innkeepers, I naturally run a bar on the ground floor of the inn, with me as the bartender and a couple of friends as waitresses. And, oh, my girl Relda. She’s the head waitress here. And between me and her, we had a lot of gossip coming in every day.

Sometimes the gossip had nothing to do with this town, sometimes it’s about some superstar, but most of the time, it was something close. Like how Mary Sue took two men home last Saturday night, or how Mr. White’s son sells crack at his old man’s farm. Petty things, really, but I like to be informed. It made the life in this busy town better.

So I guess I can only tell you what happened to this town only through the gossip I get. From what I’ve heard, it all started with Grendell deGract. She’s Relda best friend, and the second prettiest girl in town. After Relda, of course. So it’s no big deal to say that there’s a lot of gossip surrounding her.

To add to her popularity among the bar customers, her widowed mother’s rumored to be a witch, too. The people around here knew her as Old Witch deGract, but affectionately. See, Mrs. deGract is a good witch. She helped with the crops, gave blessings to newborn babies, helped in delivering them, and, as good as the gossips can tell, helped ladies stay young and beautiful.

One day, a fine young man entered town, Randy Lisper. He’s a good-looking man, and seemed quite rich, too. A lot of the ladies went crazy over him, but Grendell, she went head-over-heels in love with him. Now, it is said that Lisper was engaged in some other town far from here, and that he’s on the way to some other faraway town on a business trip, so I guess he’s not thinking of checking out the babes on his one night stay here.

But then again, I guess I was wrong. My guess was that Lisper saw how easy Grendell was going to be, and he took her with him for the night. But of course poor Grendell thought that Lisper fell in love with her, and she’s just heartbroken when she woke up alone next morning. She spent the whole night at my counter, getting drunk and crying.

When we had to close for the night, Relda sent her home, still crying. She told me that Mrs. deGract looked somewhat different that night, as if she hasn’t slept in days. What happened next, nobody knew. What we knew is that the next morning, there’s a huge uproar, and the whole town is in shock.

The local cemetery has been literally turned inside out, with tombstones and gargoyles strewn around as if they were swept by a hurricane, and each plot emptied. All the dead townsfolk are gone, and not a single bone remained in any of the coffins. Only one dead body remained in the whole cemetery, and it was Randy Lisper’s.

He was impaled on one of the spikes on the fence at the far side of the graveyard, facing in, with the spike going in the base of his spine and going out the back of his neck. The most disturbing thing about him was the fact that his face was frozen in a laugh.

Grendell and her mother was nowhere to be found. Some people went to their house and found it empty, but they saw something weird there. As soon as they entered the house, they saw handprints all over the place. Every square foot of the walls, ceiling and floor were covered with reddish-brown handprints, as well as their furniture.

The handprints came in all sizes, from adults to children to even babies.
Of course, nobody would live in the deGracts’ house after that, and the mayor had it burnt down. During the burning of the house, some folks said that they can hear Grendell howling, but some said they heard nothing. We set the graveyard in order again, and the mayor decided that we build a library on the foundation of the deGracts’ home. Lisper’s body was taken down and cremated, and his ashes were sent back to his hometown with no mention whatsoever of what happened.

Try as we might, the town was never the same again. Little by little people stopped coming in, and the roads leading in and out of our town became overgrown with grass. We never left, though. Soon we found that nobody was hungry or thirsty anymore. My bar was still filled with people, but people just ordered a beer and never drank it.

People also started looking older and became so thin that bones showed through their skins. I noticed that Relda’s cheeks have lost all flesh and skin, and now her teeth showed. Everybody looked almost skeletal, but nobody died. We just went on doing stuff that we do, but now we never went outdoors anymore. The sun hurts our eyes.

But if you happen to come here at night, you’ll find that this town is quite alive.
And that’s how Aldelati became what it is now. We’re still here, still living, but hardly any new gossip comes into town. If you do come by, be sure to stop by my bar. We’ll be happy to have you.