CHAPTER ONE:
Rud, dubbed so since his developmental years. He had acquired this nick name due to his inability to pronounce his words correctly because of a speech impediment, a particular word he found trouble with was 'rude' which he said as 'Rud'. And so, it stuck, became a part of his identity, an identity which, after all these years had still not taken full form. An identity that as of the past years had been slowly broken down and been manipulated into something poisonous and spiteful. One that sought out all the horridness within any who had the misfortune of interacting with it. An identity that attracted nothing but trouble. Breaking down this personality into just one word, you could say that Rud was rather rude, but that would be putting it lightly.
And so here he sailed, on a beat wood kayak, the water lapped at its sides and if they had been an inch lower the rickety little thing would have sunk with great speed. You could describe it as a perfect day, the sun shone through the Rocky peak that displayed perfect and mighty forms upon the horizon. Rud's glasses reflected those rays perfectly back onto the water's surface and so it highlighted his reflection with a warm, golden outline. Staring at that reflection you would see the man: he was average hight, with average brown hair and a square head and a boring face, his neck was slim compared to the head that balanced on it and following the neck downwards you would see a skinny body with arms that stretched to just above his knees, knees that bent and buckled wherever they were taken. Despite the great sunshine, the air was cold in this November month and so he sported a thick jacket of tan leather, with straps and buttons dotted and strung all about the thing and was by the very definition of the word, odd. Compared to the jacket, the rest of his clothes were boring. Boots that had been worn down from a lifetime of walking and Levi's that wore green stains on the knees from another lifetime of falling over, thick square rimmed glasses, a white shirt and an old friends fishing cap completed the look.
He pulled his paddle through the water, one stroke after the other, cutting into the surface of this vast expanse of water until he lifted his head up from his task and spotted his objective, no longer a black pea on the horizon. Despite its separation the island was much like the rest of the surrounding forest, black pine needle trees that stood high and curved off at the top. Rocks the size of people that dotted the shoreline and a mix of soil and dirt that made up the most pathetic beach ever. However, uncharacteristically for the weather of this fine day, there was a thick fog that slithered around the trees bases and spilled out and thinned over the beach. With one bump! His vessel touched land, it lurched forward and bashed his shins against another seat in front, to which he let out a curse followed by sharp breath in. Undeterred though, he swung his leg around and then the other, stepping out into the shallows and grabbing his kayak by the front, pulling it up onto dry land. He hid it between two rocks despite the fact there was probably not many kayak robbers in the middle of absolute nowhere. Walking out onto the shore, he turned to face the horizon, in the air was a sense of new. This way the fresh start he desired after thirty-five long years of trauma and hurt committed both by and against himself. And so, taking advantage of the daylight hours, he headed within in search of his new residence. What he set off in search off was a humble cabin, small but charming in character, built by his grandfather many years ago yet still standing. Wholey forgotten about by Rud's family and society.
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CHAPTER TWO:
To understand how Rud ended up in this isolated patch of North American wilderness, we must look two months previous. Much of the past decade had seen him bounce from odd job to odd job, no two occupations the same and only similar in the fact that they never garnered enough for the man to live comfortably and that he had only managed to keep the placement for a month or two at most. By now every employer in the town knew of is unreliability and tended to turn him down at every inquisition, and so with great shame and contempt Rud turned to his brother for assistance.
In their youth, despite being twins, you would've never guessed that these two were friends let alone brothers. It was as if Rud's brother, known as Isaiah or Isaac if you knew him, almost appeared as a shinier version of his counterpart, longer and richer brown hair and fuller in his appearance with hazel eyes that soothed the soul and proportioned limbs that appeared sturdy. Rud despised Isaac completely. Maybe it was jealousy, or maybe he found him to be insufferably kind, Rud never found an ounce of warmth in his heart for his brother. As they continued in life the differences grew and grew and no longer living in the same house meant for the most part they fell out of contact, Isaiah left home for college to pursue a degree in the arts. During his degree he fell deeply in love with a woman named Mary, a woman I could only describe to you as ethereal, the pair were made of reach other and they knew it, marrying straight after they finished college and deciding to settle back into Isaac's hometown to start a business with the goal of bringing art and life back to this shrinking town. And until a storm ravaged their shop, life was perfect, that storm being or protagonist.
Isaac welcomed his brother with open arms, after years of separation perhaps he'd now have the brother he had longed for. Rud grit his teeth, being managed by his sibling was perhaps a worse fate than death and stacking shelves day after day with brushes and paints and occasional pretentious artwork that he pretended to understand in refusal to be upstaged by Isaac. But there was one positive for Rud, one thing that made it all worth it, the ethereal Mary.
Despite his hatred for his brother, Rud never intended for the next couple weeks to even happen as they did, made even more sour by the fact that after a while he started to warm to Isaac. There was still a tension whenever they were in a room together, but just the fact that they shared the same presence was more progress than anyone expected in such a short period of time, and once or twice towards the end of his stay the two would share a cigarette and a beer on the second floor of the shop, where Isaac and Mary stayed. At this point in time Rud had lodged himself at a local motel until he found a stable source of income. And it was on their second get together that Isaac became sentimental and gooey towards Rod, whilst on the topic of Mary.
"She's what got me through college, it wasn't all sunshine and self-absorbed artists you know, the work it was difficult, laborious, but knowing she would be there at the end of it well that made me push harder. I wanted to have a future with her and if I didn't succeed here then she would go off on her own, she loved me however she was never one to wait around for people and ignore her options in life. That's why even now I fight as hard as I can to keep her you know?" Isaac took one deep draw of his cig, "I had my doubts sometimes, I got paranoid right after college that maybe she had found someone else, she became increasingly busy, maybe something was happening that I wasn't aware of. Perhaps I wasn't enough-
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-yet I didn't know how to voice my concern to her, but my Mary has a knack for reading people. She asked me one night and I opened up for once. Quickly, my fear was put to rest. I love her, I know she would never do such a thing." He looked back at his cigarette and decided he was done with it, stubbing it out on the ash tray, listening to it fizzle.
Rud sat there with the lump of lumps stuck in his throat, for the first time in his life he felt a deep pain and sympathy for his brother, made even worse by the fact that it was his fault for it. Maybe a couple days after he started working for Isaac, he and Mary spoke for the first time, their chats became regular and much more frequent than the ones he had with his own sibling. Eventually, they'd meet up after work and walk around the town, Rud would point out any local landmarks and points of interest. Going into great detail to explain them, to never lose Mary's interest. It was cold, the night it started, they just so happened to walk past Rud's motel and in good spirit or maybe in anticipation of something deeper, he invited her in. What happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors, and these two found each other behind closed doors often, but what I can say is that they found deep solace and comfort within each other's arms that night. While Mary loved her husband, there was something different about Rud, he felt exciting and new, she knew what she was doing was wrong but that feeling of having her cake, being Isaac and eating it, being Rud, was something she loved.
And so, Rud spoke, "Huh." The sound pushed the lump down his throat and into his stomach so that he could finally speak, "I'm glad you've found someone. And in fact, I'm overjoyed for you. I think I'm going to head back for tonight, today was stressful, really stressful." For the first time ever, he hugged his brother.
Isaac watched him pick up his odd jacket and listened to him walk downstairs. Finally seeing him remerge in the parking lot outside and turn the corner to where he disappeared into the town.
That was the last Isaac saw of Rud. On the clerk's desk in the morning was a goodbye card with a cat on the front of it and small bottle of cheap wine, the card read;
'Dear Isaiah,
These past few months been wonderful for me, I don't want to stay here anymore. Unforeseen consequences have made it impossible.
I guess for years, I've held this animosity towards you, and I'm not too sure why. Please continue with your life and make sure to love Mary deeply. She's special.
Your brother, Rud.'
And rather peculiarly, Isaac's fishing cap was missing.
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CHAPTER THREE:
It emerged from amongst the brush, tiny in size but biblical in the fact it symbolised a new start for Rud. Over the year it had collected a fair amount of damage and had somewhat fallen into a state of disrepair. 'Still liveable' he thought, wrapped tightly in his odd jacket, he had spent so long trying to locate the cabin that night had nearly fallen, and the winter freeze had arrived in all its blue and grey. And so as unlocked the door he practically fell into its warmth, whilst the interior said nothing of the houses character and as previously stated was simply unappealing, the interior looked as though it had been constructed by a man of refined taste. The rug splayed in the middle of the room was deep in colour and velvet to the touch, there were three doors separating the living area and kitchen, the washroom and the bedroom and each door wore intricate carving trims. As for any furniture that was wooden or stone, it looked as though they had been crafted with care and attention, any metal ornaments or fixings were not rusted nor dented and in fact they shone. Truly this was a place for one to live a peaceful life.
Falling asleep was easier that night, instant even, as if someone had poisoned his dinner, thankfully for Rud though this was not the case, and he truly was feeling deeply relaxed. And whilst he slumbered, his mind whirred away and conjured up a new picture to show him. Before him in this dream scape was the angelic Mary, nude and glowing, a beauty of epic proportions and of biblical description. She took his hand and walked him through the infinite white, Rud saw her mouth move but no sound came out, he imagined her words were kind ones and just appreciated her lips as they silently spoke.
