Dents

[+] Faust

((This chapter contains drug use and mature or potentially triggering material. Reader discretion is advised.))

The faraway scent of the salted sea invaded my lungs.

It grated upon them like sandpaper until they became raw and blistered. A powerful gust of wind whipped past me with an eerie howl. I almost lost balance and collapsed into the muddy earth below. I was barefoot. Stray blades of grass sticking up from the muck tickled between my toes.

I stood in a desolate graveyard. I was alone. The surrounding area was tactfully adorned with intricately crafted memorials, headstones dedicated to people who no longer existed in the world. Many of them were so old that they had started to fall apart.

An aching wave of sorrow coursed through me. I fell to my knees before a stone embellished with a single wilted flower. There was a thorn in my heart. Even if I had somehow managed to pull it free, it would leave a gaping hole in its absence.

I launched forward in the sheets of my bed with a horrible jolt. My hasty movement flung 2D's arm off of my chest. It didn't stir him. He simply flipped over and resumed his steady snoring.

I sighed, finally able to catch my breath after such a rough awakening. I was doubtful that I'd be able to get any more sleep. I carefully shifted myself out from 2D's embrace and headed downstairs.

I went to the coffee machine first. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Noodle had already brewed a pot. There was a sticky note stuck to the top of it with neat handwriting that said it was fresh.

With a steaming mug in one hand and an unevenly rolled joint in the other, I made my way to the backyard to begin my morning routine of getting ripped while the sun came up. It wasn't an every day occurrence, but it was becoming a lot more frequent owing to my restlessness as of late.

I sat on the stoop outside the back door and looked out into the patchy yard. Madge was curled up in the soil beneath a young oak tree, snuffling quietly as if she were dreaming of paradise. Murdoc had apparently given her to 2D as a pet. It was quite obvious that he simply had no clue what else to do with a gigantic demonic yak.

In any case, 2D adored her. It was precious to see the way he tried to eagerly welcome her inside of the house as part of the family. Thankfully, Noodle stopped him before the massive creature ripped a hole through the doorway. She instead urged him to take her through the backyard. 2D reluctantly obliged. He then proceeded to try to feed Madge leftover pizza as a meal to stave the hunger of their laborious journey.

Evidently, Madge did not seem to enjoy it.

I supposed it comforted me some to see that everyone else in the house was sleeping alright. I was weirdly jealous that a yak was getting better rest than me, though.

The harsh awakenings I experienced were becoming commonplace. I'd have strange dreams that startled me from a tranquil slumber. They roused me out of bed like an internal alarm clock. I could never doze off afterward, no matter how I tried.

I sipped the coffee. It burned the roof of my mouth. I set it aside and sparked up the joint. It was actually only a roach. I had it clasped in the grips of a silver bobby pin I kept fastened to the side of my pocket.

I stared wistfully at the sky between puffs of smoke, watching the watercolor blend of pink and blue intertwine at the brink of the horizon. The glorious rays of sunlight had only just begun to shine upon the Earth, a beckoning call for daybreak.

The dream I had last night was so real that I was certain I'd lived it before.

I remembered that cemetery. I remembered that day, too. It was shortly after my dad died. I had gone to visit him alone. I was deeply saddened to find that an unforeseen frost withered the flower I buried in the soil to honor him the night before. I didn't have another one to replace it. I fell to my knees and cried.