Short Stories

Cee

Written 2016.1.1. Inspired by 2k16 craziness and "Poppies in July". 

11:30 pm

The sound of fireworks is fighting in my head with my thoughts. All I hear is noise around me, feel people's hands and heat, their sweat rubbing off me. 

Why am I doing this? 

My friends scream loudly next to me. I should be excited - I'm not. They jump. I jump like a robot. Like a person without a soul. Maybe that's what I am - a person without a soul. I try to wipe off the sweat from the man excitedly waving his arms around in anticipation of a New Start. I hear him talk about girlfriends and property, and how he needs to get a life. I smell beer on his shirt. I smell beer everywhere. God, I want a beer too, so I can drown all of you out. 

The music is supposed to get you hyped up. I see why it would be catchy - the beat is really strong. They also use awful speakers - the mid-bass has a huge hump in it. 

"Hey, Jay, they really use crappy speakers here, don't they?"

His voice is a drunken slur. "Who cares about speakers? I like the music. I'm happy. It's 2016 soon!"

I keep silent, because 2016 is just another arbitrary breakpoint in between two arbitrary dates. I try to give meaning to the number "2016". 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 7 = 2016. It is not a prime number. It is an even number. It is 1008 x 2. I repeat the last fact to myself over and over again to convince myself that it means something. 

Jay throws a Perrier bottle onto the ground. It doesn't shatter and stops in front of my feet. It's the first complete thing I've seen today. The Perrier bottle is green, like it should be. Regular and undamaged. I stare at the Perrier bottle until my vision is filled with thick, green glass. 

11:42 pm

My mind is trying to focus on details to retain clarity. Jay is screaming next to me. I think of lonely children locked up in cellars somewhere in China. They all look green and pale. 

"Be not her maid since she is envious.

Her vestal livery is but sick and green,

And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off!" 

Romeo and Juliet overtakes my thoughts. I see another couple kissing to the left of me. They're touching each other. I see red in their eyes. A gorgeous, bloody red that burns through my mind. Jay tries to put his arm around me. I see red in his eyes too. I see red everywhere. It's glowing on their shirts, slightly off to the left. Maybe they're all wearing badges. Or poppies on their shirt - a sea of red flowers. I look down at the Perrier bottle again. The colors are imbalanced. I like balance. It keeps everything in harmony. 

Jay tries to dance with me. I see the red in him too. It throws me off balance and I draw away instinctively. He tries to pull me closer. The red is taking over. I stare at the Perrier bottle more. 

2016 is 1008 x 2. 

"Dance with me." 

I try to. He smiles and holds me closer. I see sharp fangs, blood dripping off the sharp end. I think about the sea, the sky, the color of tranquilizers they use to restore clarity. I drown out the red so it doesn't take over me. He says something about lions - something illogical - and I think about more blue. The beautiful color of the sea. 

I hear a crack. Jay stepped on the Perrier. My heart feels torn. I try to ignore it. 

"You aren't smiling." Jay looks at me quizzically. 

The corners of my mouth go up, like curves of a new moon. I wonder if I can build a green fortress on the moon and paint the moon green. 

11:59 pm

I hear the chanting. Jay's arms are around my waist. I hear numbers being screamed out. I think of the Fibonacci sequence. The numbers don't make any sense. I see a teacher writing out integrals on the board. The marker is red. Blood red. That gorgeous kind of red. 

Numbers drown me out. They make too much sense. The natural sequence is too ordinary. I see the badges glow bright, blinding me. I try to find the Perrier bottle on the ground. I find small glass shards on the ground, green glass shards.  Jay is murmuring something into my ears. I try to look for the Perrier bottle. He says something about Central and a surprise. I see more green glass shards. My eyes are bleeding red. 

I hear someone tell me that it is 10 seconds until 2016. I mumble meaningless numbers into the void. Ten numbers. 

10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 

Fireworks blow up my mind again. The colors explode and blind me. There is too much red - too bright. People stare at the sky. I blink. Are they blind? I look for the Perrier bottle, to purge my eyes of the red. I can't find it any more. I see little green dots on the floor. Crushed. My eyes hurt from the red. Jay drags me away from the crowd. We walk to somewhere I don't know. I see dark shadows and feel someone touch me. 

Water. Voices. Talking. My eyes still hurt. I close my eyes. 

1:02 am

I open my eyes. I am in a room. I look out the window and see a glowing sea of red outside. Jay has his eyes closed beside me. I see red marks all over him. I see red on my fingertips. 

I walk out. People are outside. I am surrounded with red. My eyes are glowing red. I am red. I see someone step on a glass bottle and it shatters. I close my eyes and let the red flow through me. 

1008 x 2 = 0.

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2020, The Big Red City

"I think she was one of the rare ones who saw and understood green instead of red before she was engulfed in the great sea of red one night." 

"No, I don't think she saw green. She saw blue and yellow, and envisioned them as one. It's a pity that the red forcefully took over one day. Then she became another one of them."