The Game of Life

Chapter 12

Ariel's eyes swung open as she gained her bearings. Things had become so unfamiliar. Her hands shook more violently than before. Her breathing was slow and rough. Her mind felt more awake than usual however. It was as if the whole entirety of the universe had been set ablaze with electricity of a nuclear power plant. She viewed the digital clock on the bedside table and took in the illuminating lines that comprised the numbers.

It read 10: 30 am.

"Dang," her voice was so low she felt that she had said nothing.

Ariel yawned. Her arms outstretched as she popped her joints and the world's radiative attitude died down with each crack. Things were normal, but what was normal.

She took her slippers and approached the door. She knew that she would have to talk to him. Maybe she was too harsh on him. He was her best friend in the entire world or at least that used to be him. She still didn't know.

She turned the knob and opened the door. A wave of cool air hit her face. She followed down the hallway to see the front door wide open. She inched closer to see Nate placing items into the back of the van. He was really going. He had really left her.

Maybe she was stupid to think that this would all turn out to be like a Disney movie where the people get all of their problems fixed instantly and everything stays that way. Wishful thinking. She knew that Life was nothing but a game. A series of heart wrenching puzzles that dragged your soul through emotional spires. Her thoughts were cut short by Nate standing directly in front of her. She was blocking the door. He didn't say anything but simply stood there with a sort of slouch and sad and tormented look. There stood nothing but silence. This silence wasn't memorable or tense. It was just silence.

"Well are you going to tell me to move!" Ariel blurted out "Do you not have the decency to even talk to me anymore?!"

"I'm sorry," Nate's words seemed to say anything other than that. They held no remorse. Only an automated apology based on a stimulus.

"Nate I don't get it. How can you do this to me. I have been your friend and companion for way too long! I have stood beside you and helped you through everything. Who knows where you would be without me! And now you just act like all distant and....... what is this....... you can't seriously be doing this" Ariel's hysteria rolled on. She didn't wait around for a reply. She headed straight to the beach in her pajamas.

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The van had finally been packed.

Nate's eyes were swollen red from tears. His mind told him nothing more than to cry because what else could be done?

He hopped in the van and headed home. The radio still missing, he felt like the silence was intentional. His thoughts were alone with him. The constant buzzing and rumbling of the van was the only noises that occupied his time. His eyes wandered to the rear view mirror.

A chill ran down Nate's back. There seemed to be a large crowd of bikers behind him. His muscles tensed as his previous experiences with them had been anything but friendly. Their engines blared and made the vans noises inaudible. The motorcycles zoomed all around the van. Their speeds continued however as they sped away from him. Nate felt stupid for thinking those were the same bikers.

Suddenly, the car flipped.

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Ariel walked on the pier for a time. The people seemed to give no recognition to the fact that she was still in morning clothes. It might have been common for them. Who knows. She placed her elbows on the railing and stared down into the ever flowing abyss that was the dark waters. Something inside of this darkness seemed to stare back at her. This invasion of her mind made her uncomfortable and she quickly withdrew from the ledge. She ran back to the house to see if Nate had finished packing and if there was any way she could talk him out of it. She needed to know if there was ever going to be a future.

Ariel arrived at the house with no van and no Nate. She had been too late. She had planned on her approach as well as she was going to run to Nate and hug him and not let go no matter what.

"Stupid flipping Carol," Ariel muttered under her breath.

She went inside of the house to decompress all the information that had built up inside of her. Was she crazy too? Her bed laid refuge for her thoughts as she stared into the bland ceiling.

"Ariel honey wake up..."

She woke up groggily. Light pierced her eyes as she opened them. Her father stood in the room.

"I've been knocking on the door for half an hour, I had to go get a key from the front desk." His voice was cold and sad. He knew that she had been through a lot and was not going to be happy her beach trip had an abrupt ending.

"I'm sorry love but we need to go home," he said.

She hesitated. Something had changed. She didn't know what but something bad had happened. She threw the thought away and blamed it on her grogginess.

Her dad's car had a radio. The station was placed on music that her dad had bought to impress her on his times with her. The music was all from a few years back as he never added songs. He didn't see the reason. He meant well. She knew that.

Her dad's phone rang with an old tune from the 80's. She picked it up and shut the radio down.

"Hellooooo, who is th......."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" The voice on the other end had nearly made Ariel go deaf.

"YOU DID THIS, I KNOW IT WAS YOU, YOU LITTLE BI-" The phone was snatched out her hands and the call was ended. Her father placed the phone on his side in the door. He stared straight ahead and turned the radio back on.

"ummmm.... hello? Ok. We are just gonna act like that did not just actually happen?" her voice was filled with anger. "And was that flipping Carol?!'

"We will talk about this when we get home. I don't want you to do anything drastic while I drive." Her father kept whatever had happened locked away in his heart. He dare not tell her now. Things would get out of hand.

"What do you mean drastic?" She said with arrogance.

"Discussion over."

"Fine." She lay her head against the window and watched as the trees and landscape ran away behind her as if something more terrifying lie ahead.