Xadrin woke up one day near the end of the summer to the earth quaking (or so his shocked face seemed to think). His eyes shot open, his body awake but his mind still living in a happy, numb, content dream. His eyes seemed to say that it had been an important dream, one which gave him clear direction through the valley of his soul.
His phone vibrated again. It was Dan.
He rolled his head back against the pillow and groaned, then said, "Fuck it," and answered the phone.
"Hello?" he said gruffly as he sat up.
"Xadrin," Dan half shouted into the phone. "You smokin' pot up there?"
He paused. "No...I just woke up."
An exasperated silence. Xadrin could hear the interdimensional wind in the space created by that infinite silence, and he looked as though he were holding Pandora's box. He held his phone just away from his ear.
"Xadrin. I can smell it from all the way down here. Guys across the hall tell me they can smell it every day. They said they didn't wanna snitch, but their parents came to visit and made them tell me."
Xadrin sniffed long and sighed. "Yeah, I mean, I'm not smoking right now. I just woke up."
"Come on now, you're a nice kid, man, you really are, I got nothin' against ya. But John's coming today. I told him about the smell, he's comin' to give you your thirty day notice."
"My what?"
"He's kickin' you out."
"You can't evict someone based off of—"
"He can evict ya for whatever he goddamn wants! It's not up to me, I'm just lettin' you know. I'm just the messenger, alright? I got nothin' against ya, or against pot if I'm being honest. I'm just doin' my job here."
"Alright. Well. I guess...thanks for letting me know."
"Okay." He paused and the anger in his voice faded with a tired sigh, as if he had just done something dishonorable and against his own moral code, but the accomplishment of which was essential for the fulfillment of his sworn duty.
Dan was a kind man who was unwillingly born with a harsh voice and a hulking, intimidating body. He was surprised to find himself in positions and jobs which utilized those qualities. The waters of life seemed to have carried him along their currents with little resistance from him. In his voice you could hear the consciousness of his regret, his understanding that he had taken the easy path, his only half self-forgiveness at doing what he needed to in order to have a place to live and food to eat. It was with gratitude that the manner in his voice changed and he spoke with gentle sincerity.
"Now, is Jesse alright?" he said.
*
A poem written by Xadrin documenting these events:
I woke from sleep
To hear the dreaded sound,
The Phone, the call to come
And coexist within a world
That doesn't care.
...
I sighed and sat up straight
The best I could while fighting
With my Otherselves that live
Within my mind, "Unhook your
Arms from 'round my neck;
And leave your kisses with your
Wisdom here; I'll take what I have learned
YOU ARE READING
Pale Fragments
Science FictionAn alien Robot came to me before she left to die. She sang to me the stories of how her ancient world and species ended, how she was created to travel through Time, how (in the far future) she met an essential boy named Anders, how she named herself...
