OUR PERFECT ONE-A SHORT STORY

THE PERFECT ONE

My name is Seth, Seth Wilson and I just got promoted from being a major loser to an on the run wanted criminal. I did not want it to happen! It was an accident. I was so cold!

I throw a quick look at the coat on the car sit next to me: a shapeless mass curled around itself like a snake. The irony of the situation makes me chuckle in self pity. Just a few hours ago I thought I would die without this bloody piece of cloth, now, the adrenaline rushing through my veins raised my body temperature enough for me to not need it anymore. Was all this for nothing? Was a life lost for nothing?

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and push the accelerator even further down. The colors of the night start mixing with the cold glow of an occasional street light, thanks to the speed I'm driving at now. It's almost soothing...The rain starts pouring harder and harder by each moment, blending together the already blurry edges of my surroundings.

Liquid colors. Liquid colors falling from the sky and onto my window. Liquid colors. Blood.

The image of the horrors I caused flash before my eyes.

Hey, that's my car! Stop, you thief! She said running after me in the middle of the street. Her voice rings in my ears, scratches my brain, the memory of her desperate gaze strangles my heart, makes it hard to breathe. She shouldn't have run after me. She was pretty. She was young. Oh, god, what did I do??

I should have stopped but the security guy from the mall was still chasing me. The determination on his face made it clear: he wasn't going to let it slide. Not again. He was going to catch me and send me to jail and I really, really could not afford that. I just got out of juvy.

I shut my eyes tight, trying to make those images disappear. I rub them until I see green stars dancing in circles on the black curtain that is the inner side of my eyelids. They spin and spin and spin.

Finally, I open my eyes to realize the car is also spinning! I desperately pull the steering wheel to the left, trying to regain control over the machine but, alas, to no avail. The road was too slippery due to the rain, me, too inexperienced in the art of driving. I pulled too hard and merry-go-rounded my way out of the road. Luckily, a tree was there to cushion me. Its trunk bent in half, as if trying to hug the car. The branches broke the window in front of me and scratched my face. I was tearing, I was bleeding, I don't know what happened next.

I wake up god knows how many hours-days, months, years???-later. The sunlight is gently caressing my skin, birds sing happily somewhere in the area. It's morning, the rain has stopped and I'm...in someone's room??

I immediately jump out of bed, startled by this sudden realization. How in the world did I get here? I hope I didn't mindlessly wander in the rain and forced my into the first house I came across...did i???

The familiar sound of the radio can be heard from a nearby room. The smell of mushrooms being cooked makes my nostrils tingle.

I'm so hungry I could eat a stag! No pun intended since right in front of me there's a stag head, majestically taxidermied and hung on the wall. I theatrically bow in front of it as a thank you for letting me use its room.

Nice to meet you mr. stag! Mr. stag, did you sleep well last night? I hope you didn't hear me snore.

In fact, I'm just stalling. I have no clue about what could be waiting for me outside this door. I could make my way out of the window conveniently left ajar but then what? The police must be still looking for me. It would be wiser to stay put for a while. I just hope I'm not going to be a major shock to my host the moment I reveal my presence.