Matt had gone home straight from the hotdog vendor's stall and gone to bed. Next morning, he woke up and sat on his bed ruffling his hair and then he picked up his phone to check if anyone had called or left a text message or a voicemail. He did not find any call from Elaine or Alan. He didn't remember clearly, why he was expecting some word from either of them. He thought about it for a few brief minutes in his head and it all started coming back to him. So much information had been bombarded on him so quickly that he was still experiencing difficulty in coming to terms with all of it. Slowly, he recollected all the details and made every effort to calm his nerves. He now thought about the fact that there was no phone call from either Elaine or Alan. He wondered if Alan had eventually managed to find Elaine. He believed that to be the most likely explanation.
He got off his bed. He dawdled over to the bathroom and finished all his bathroom chores. He changed out of his nightwear and into some presentable clothes. He was all neat and spruce, ready to head out for college after a quick, filling, breakfast. He had spent a prohibitive amount of money on the clothes he was wearing. He had something special planned for his girlfriend at college. He made his way downstairs to make himself some eggs, sausage and to pour out a glass of some milk to drink. He had a fleeting thought of skipping breakfast, but some strange instinct told him that he'd need to keep up his strength on this day. He was afraid to dwell on it, but a small part of him worried about what might have become of Alan and Elaine, and about why neither of them had dropped in a word. He chomped on his breakfast hastily, grabbed his bag, his car and door keys and trotted out of the house, into the morning sun. Unlike Alan, Matt was not a genius. Although Matt, Elaine and Alan had been friends most of their lives and did share very many likes and interests, Matt's intellectual focus was on subjects related to economics, arts and humanities. Once out on the porch, he tried Alan's number again.
Alan's phone said it was switched off. Matt was getting irked now. He was also starting to feel ever so slightly more anxious. He tried again to achieve the same outcome. He tried a few more times until finally, he gave up. He walked to his car. Matt stood there and planned his next move, his hands hunting for the car keys all over his pants. He figured that he would make his way over to Elaine's house and find out for himself, whether or not she had returned to her house and was safe. He felt a little apprehensive, but he had never known Alan to be so light and careless about serious matters. He knew him to be quite the opposite – excruciatingly thorough, paying close attention to the very last detail. So, he swallowed his doubt and getting hold of his keys, he whipped them out of his pant pockets and got the car's front door open. He got inside the car and set course for Elaine's house. He would not let himself think about what to expect once he got there. He put some very loud, classic rock music on his car's audio system and grooved to the tunes, in his seat. It was a rash move and he had not thought it through. The first song on his playlist was the 1974 hit song, Before the Deluge from the album, Late For the Sky sung by the famous classic rock musician, Jackson Browne. The song's defeatist build to its lyrics instilled a sense of gloom in Matt's already restless heart. But the melody did not take long to settle in. Not long after, as it overcame him, Matt found himself engaged in the song. As thoughts about Alan and Elaine rushed in and coupled with the lyrics of the song, they quickly redrew a tenebrous picture of the worst things to expect in his head. He hurriedly changed the track and the next song on the playlist was another great hit called The Highway to Hell sung by wildly popular, classic rock music band, ACDC. He enjoyed the upbeat track and very quickly, all the doom and gloom took a back seat to his new high spirits.
Matt's cell phone began to buzz and ring.
Matt was driving. It was his girlfriend, Rachel, from college. They had been together for a little over two years now. He would not drive and talk on his cell phone at the same time. He did not want the day to bring any bad luck.
YOU ARE READING
Four Weeks - The Beginning
Fiksi IlmiahYoung Alan, who has known all his life that he is enhanced, believed that his father died a few years ago from a car crash. By the information received from a certain friend turned enemy he discovered that his father, who was actually awaiting him o...
