Fantasy: a collection of short stories

One Night of Happiness

During winter break, my mom and I went to visit my aunt in Tampa, Florida. She just got out of the hospital and has no other family members to take care of her. So we decided to see how she was doing. Once we got there, my mom and my aunt start to talk it away. We were there for a long time and my phone was quickly running out of battery. I asked my mom when we were leaving and she said were gonna stay for another hour or so.

There was no way I was gonna sit there for another hour listening to these women gossiping so I told my mom that I was going for a walk. After a few minutes of just walking out of the neighborhood, I spot a sports bar across the street. I had nothing else to do so I decided to just chill to see what I can buy for food. I go in and take a seat in a booth in the corner. I didn't have much money so I just ordered a plate of fries.

I wasted my time just looking out the window when a certain conversation caught my attention. I couldn't see faces but just hearing the voices was enough for me.

A really high pitched female voice starts to get louder, "Well, it's not my fault you don't pay attention to me. It's your fault." A small pause of silence. Then a male voice, deep. Its a voice that could put you to sleep if it spoke soft enough and a voice that can wake you if it spoke hard enough. "How is it my fault that I have classes and a job to take you out to places like these? It's your fault for cheating on me."

'Oh snap'

The female voice starts to yell, "I just wanted to be loved! You can't give me that! Why don't you just get rid of your classes so you can spend more time with me?" The male voice speaks again, but this time with a stronger, more firm tone, "I paid for those classes. I'm not going to sacrifice my entire life for someone I'm not even married to!" The conversation stops. I hear water splash, ice hit the floor, and the door open and slam closed. The entire place was silent. Slowly the noise starts to rise again.

'Well that just happened'

I'm feeling pretty bad for this guy so I get up, take my plate of fries with me, find his table right behind mine, and I take a seat across from him. "So, that was some performance she put on." He sighed loudly in response. His hair, face and most of his shirt are drenched in water. Feeling awkward, I decided to speak again, "So... you want to tell me what happened? I'm not usually so nosy but I heard all of that and now I'm really curious. But you don't have to if you don't want to."

After a while of no response and still really wet, he grabs a lot of napkins and cleans himself up. "Yeah, I'll tell you. I don't even fucking care anymore." He wipes the table down. "Well, it all started a few months ago. It was actually about two months ago. She kept going out at the same time everyday. Since I'm busy with classes and homework and shit like that, I never really noticed until recently. She started to come to my place really late, like at two in the morning all drunk and throwing up. She gave me her phone to 'call her pussy'. At that moment, she received a text message that said 'Did you have a good time having my penis destroy your vagina?' At that point I was pissed. I waited before I talked to her about it. So today, I brought her here and talked to her about it. Then...that happened." He puts his hands on his face with his elbows resting on the table and sighs. "I just don't give a shit anymore. In my opinion, she wasn't very good at sucking dick but I'm glad she found someone who enjoys it." He starts to laugh for a while but then slowly turn to look out the window with an expression that I can't even explain. I felt really bad for him so I call the waitress over and order myself some more fries and order him a few 'happy drinks'. After he finished the round I bought for him, he kept ordering more. One round after another, he downed them all.

It was now dark outside and the place was almost completely empty except for the select few who wanted to forget their day. A phone call from my mom caught my attention. "Hey muffin, your aunt wants me to stay at her house just in case anything happens. The thing is that she only has one spare bedroom and I know how you like your space so I just got you a room at a motel a few blocks down from the neighborhood. You said you were at the bar place right? I'll be there in a minute to drop off the key and the bag of stuff you brought. See you soon, sweetheart." She hung up before I could say anything. She was probably in a rush. I put my phone down and look in front of me. His head was resting on the table with a stupid grin on his face. This situation really messed him up, I thought to myself. "Hang on buddy. Don't do anything stupid, I will be right back." I got up, lightly jogged outside and waited for my mom to arrive; which really didn't take long. She gave me the key, said good night and drove off. I walked back inside hoping he didn't make a mess. Once I got to the booth, I found everything exactly how I left it. He didn't move either but his eyes were closed. "Hey buddy, it's time to get some rest." I somehow managed to get him up and out of the building. His car was the only one in the parking lot so it wasn't so difficult to find. He starts to walk toward the drivers side while he takes his keys out. "I don't think it's a good idea to drive" I say to him. "Fine, but you gotta drive instead," he mumbles. He walks to me, gives me the keys, gets in the back seat and lies down. I knew how to drive but I just never driven on the actual road with other cars. I take my seat in the drivers side, "Don't blame me if your car gets busted."

The motel was about two blocks away from the bar so it wasn't that long of a drive. Somehow, we made it alive. He stumbles out of the car and bends over to the empty parking space next to ours. I put his keys back in his pocket and go to open the door to the room. I didn't realize earlier but it was really late.
The lights from near by restaurants and stores were all off. The absence of the neon artificial lights showed how full the moon was; accompanied by the almost sparkling, bright stars. Both of them drew almost complete attention away from the navy blue, black, and indigo sky. The entire thing looked straight out of a painting.
I got the door open after mindlessly staring at the night sky. I checked my phone: 1:45 a.m, five percent battery. I put my phone to charge and set it on the night stand that was placed next to the bed. On my way out to get him, I hear him throwing up. He had so many shots, I thought. Once he was done, I walked him to the bathroom to rinse his mouth. I go back outside to cover the vomit with dirt.
When I returned, I checked the bathroom; he wasn't there. I turn to the bedroom and there he was, lying on the bed with his arm covering his eyes. I take my seat on the  floor and lean against the night stand. I guess I would sleep after he does, just in case he needs something or something else happens.
Silence pays us a visit and doesn't leave until someone breaks it. "My name's Charlie. I probably should've told you before I went crazy drunk. Sorry 'bout that"
"Don't apologize. It was me who went up to you randomly" I reply. After a while of silence, I hear the bed move.  I figured he was finally going to sleep. Suddenly, a warm feeling wraps around me. Charlie had his arm wrapped around my chest. He rested his head on the back of mine, "I really like you. You know that right?"

"No, actually I didn't know that. But I just found out, and now I do know." His sudden giggle near my ear and warmth of his breath on my neck gave me goosebumps and sent shivers down my spine. "You're really great. I'm glad that I met someone like you. You're like an angel that came to help me in my time of need." He moves off of me and resumes his previous position. A smile creeps onto my face. As I get up to stretch, I look over at the clock: 2:37 a.m. "Thanks, really needed to hear that. I really appreciate it. Are you gonna go to sleep anytime soon?" I ask, hoping I don't come off as rude by saying that." I won't sleep 'til you do" He answers almost immediately. I sigh, "You're such a child" I say in a sarcastic tone. "Well it's true." I laugh a little. As I got to sit back down I reach for my bag, position it as a pillow, turn off the lamp and lie down. After only a few seconds of just peace and quiet, I feel something creeping on my leg. I kick it off and hear a groan shortly after. I rush to turn on the lights and see Charlie holding his head with both hands in pain. "God, Charlie! What the hell were you thinking!? You scared the shit outta me!" I get up quickly to help him back in bed. "No! I wanna sleep with you! So if you're sleeping on the floor then so am I!" He pulls away from my grip and Lies down next to where I was lying down previously. I sigh," Charlie, get up and get your ass in bed"

... No reply, 'What a child' I thought to myself, 'It's a good thing I know how to deal with children'

I sit on the bed and cross my legs, "Wow, this bed is so comfortable, I think I'm just gonna sleep here for the rest of the night." As I turn around to lay down in the bed, Charlie grabs my leg. "Let me sleep with you!" I roll my eyes and smile. " Alright, come on. Lets sleep on the bed." Excited, he gets up and jumps into bed. Thank whatever God is up there that I wasn't completely on that bed or I would've died. I climb in but scoot as close as I could to the side next to the night stand so that Charlie has more room. I reach over and turn off the lamp and darkness quickly consumes the room once again. I close my eyes for attempt two at sleeping tonight. Before I even start to count sheep, a warmth devours me. The exact same warmth from earlier, "Charlie, I'm trying to sleep" I mumble. "Same here" He responds in a sleepy tone. "Why do you have to hug me though?" I ask before sleep completely takes me. "I felt your skin when we were leaving the bar. You were so cold. You're even colder now. I don't want you to be cold..." Charlie had said something else but I fell asleep before I could hear it. Judging on the tone of his voice earlier, he must have fallen asleep shortly after.

   In the morning, I woke up to an empty spot beside me. In his place was a note. "Thanks for taking care of me. I will show you my appreciation some other time. -Charlie" with his phone number on the back and a heart next to his name. I smiled as I packed my stuff, walked outside and locked the door. The day was cold for Florida weather. Birds were singing and the flowers shined brightly. At this moment, everything seemed to be just right. Nothing could change it.