Falling Down The Stairs

Chapter One

Harris Pearce woke up at six AM, and took a shower. He picked up his bottle of body wash, and tried to squeeze it into his hand, but it was empty. The same was true of the shampoo bottle, and the conditioner bottle, and so he ducked his thinning hair under the water for a few seconds, before stepping onto the tile floor. Water splashed everywhere.

    He was out of toothpaste, and so he ran the toothbrush over his teeth without toothpaste. He gargled with mouthwash, and when he was finished, he poured a little bit of water back into the mouthwash bottle, to make it last longer. He half-heartedly dried his hair, and he pulled a faded, torn t-shirt over his chest. The t-shirt had come from the floor, and the water on his shirt came from his hair.

    A pair of expensive boots sat near his front porch, and he laced them up. He stuffed his ratty jeans, also from the floor, into his expensive boots. He yawned, and checked the time. It was six fifty-eight. Parents dropped their kids off at school starting at seven, and that was when he was supposed to be there. He yawned again, and made himself a bowl of cereal.

    He ate it as he drove. Milk slopped over the sides and onto his pants and reflective vest. One of the letters spelling out CAMP CHRISTOPHER ELEMENTARY was coming loose, and the milk dripped onto the damaged letter, and hung behind it, and made a puddle in miniature. When he went over a bump at sixty-six miles an hour, the puddle splashed free, and trickled down his vest like rainfall.

    At seven twelve, he parked his car, and got out in the street. The traffic had already backed itself up, and he took a few minutes getting his light-up wand and whistle from his trunk. When he walked into the street, he did not signal for anyone to stop, and no horns honked at him for striding into their potential path. He took his spot in the center of the road, on this two lane road, both lanes stopped, waiting for his instruction, and after a long moment, he blew his whistle and began waving, and they continued doing what they had been doing before he arrived.

    A few drove by with their windows down. Tight faces staring up at the crossing guard, both kids and parents.

    "Morning!" Harris said to one, smiling broadly. He was supposed to wear a reflective hat but he didn't want to, and his graying, thinning hair was long, and it blew a little bit in the wind. The kid didn't respond. She looked to be around ten years old, and her hair was blonde.

    "Good morning, Mr. Pearce," said the parent. Dark skinned, with blue eyes. A woman with short hair. Harris nodded at her, smile still on his face.

    Students were officially late at eight AM, and Harris worked out his full shift this time. He was back at his car just a few minutes past eight. He chucked his light-up wand and whistle into the morass of broken golf clubs and trashbags of things he had yet to give or throw away. He stretched, twisting his back until it popped, and then bent over and touched his toes for a full thirty seconds. When he looked up, he could see into the open window of a classroom, and the kids were looking at him, and he gave them a wave.

    Harris got into his car. His phone was on the charger, and he unlocked it, and started browsing his email. He didn't have anywhere to go today and he knew his girl was off today and would still be asleep and not ready to cook him breakfast. He yawned again, a little annoyed. He was more tired this morning then he had been. He wondered if he should start exercising more.

    There was a knock at the window. Harris looked up, and smiled. He rolled down the window.

    "Hey boy," Harris said, and before he could say anything else, a bullet went through his brain.

    Tires squealed, burning rubber, leaving marks on the road. Harris was not dead yet. He could hear the screams of the kids. He was slumped over the steering wheel, and his blood dripped down his face and onto his vest and behind the ruined letter, where it sat, and made a puddle in miniature that grew and grew.