Shorts

Remembering Sunday

Song:

Remembering Sunday - All Time Low

He woke up from dreaming before the sun had even begun to rise. Darkness sheltered his room as he slipped on his shoes, passively dismissing the pounding headache. Nearly a week had passed and not a single day of that was spent sober. Desperately, he snatched the bottle of Jack Daniels' from his bedside table. That same buzz and feeling of relief washed through his body as the alcohol did it's magic. The pain in his chest dulled and the raggedness of his breath steadied.

He checked the clock. 2 AM. Outside the street lamps still shined, flickering and humming with power. The stars winked and shimmered while the moon wavered distantly above the sleeping outskirts of the city. In the emptiness of the street, he stood slumped slightly. The man leaned into the breeze before falling to his knees with his face covered by hands. Memories just a week old haunted his intoxicated mind. They had breakfast together. She was just across the table, her hand in his. They split two eggs between the both of them but it wasn't nearly enough. It never was but that's all he had in his refrigerator.

"Please, forgive me," he mumbled into his cell phone. "Please, have you seen this girl? I know it's late..." Angry words were thrown back through the phone. He cringed and sighed in defeat, crumpling once more to the pavement. "Please, sir, it's driving me crazy. I'm gonna ask her to marry me. Have you seen her?" He was too late. The man hung up without listening to his story.

This girl, she was everything to him. He loved her with every ounce of his being and every chance he had, he told her. In every way possible, he made sure she knew how he felt. I love you, Juliet, he would claim. She'd shoot him that small lip curl of a smile and shake her head. Oh Alex, you know I don't believe in love! With that sentence, he could feel a little piece of his heart breaking each and every time. Despite this, he persisted and said it again and again. He knew deep down she had that same little girl dream of finding her true love and have a grand wedding. She was bluffing and he was determined to make her feel those butterflies that were filling his gut. If she felt the fluttering, she wouldn't be able to deny the love between them. Of that, he was sure.

His fist found the front door unconsciously. A lady answered mid-knock with a robe on and her hair askew. "I apologize but I'm looking for someone. She's been running through my dreams, driving me crazy," he admitted. "Have you seen this girl?"

"Dear lord, have you any idea what time it is?" the lady asked with an astounded expression upon her face. "I haven't the slightest what you're talking about and frankly I don't care!" She moved to slam the door in his face but he stopped it with his shoe.

"Please, ma'am, I'm gonna ask her to marry me," he half-shouted. She hesitated a second then shut the door.

Defeated, he walked on. He walked and walked, mindlessly shuffling through neighborhood after neighborhood. Streaks of sunlight began to stream through the threatening storm clouds as the sun awoke from it's nightly slumber. He stopped before a large apartment complex, staring at the glass double doors. Sleepily, he pushed through them. More memories of the same girl played back in his head. She lead him upstairs, refusing to take the elevator for whatever reason. She grabbed his hand and tugged him, practically towing him up the stairs three at a time. Five flights later, she led him down the hall. At her door, she stopped and grabbed his face with both hands, smashing her lips on his. He smiled once he came back to his senses but by that time she was unlocking her door and waving goodbye.

Returning to reality, he found himself leaning against her apartment door. He sat wallowing in fear of losing this girl, feeling the dread haunting his life as the minutes ticked by. Neighbors walked by, all unfamiliar to him. He pleads, asking about the girl or if they have a key but he's only denied. He's desperate to get inside that door. He spent an hour knocking, banging, picking the lock but there's not signs of life hidden behind there. Confused, he knocked on a neighbor's door. "Excuse me, have you seen the girl that lives there?" He pointed to the door he was just sitting by desperately.

The old man nodded, "Yes but she moved away."

His eyes cast downward as he processes this news. "Thank you, sir," he sighs. Quickly, he dashes down the stairs causing loud thunderous sounds to echo through the stairwell. The first thing he noticed when he gets outside was the rain. It fell like teardrops from giants, splashing in gallons onto the city. All this searching, walking, wallowing was in vain. He knows that now. An envelope falls from a man's briefcase as he struts past. A letter addressed to him. Her short capitalized penmanship initials the upper left corner. Curiosity wins as he rips open the envelope.

Alex-

I'm not coming back, forgive me. I've done something so terrible I'm terrified to speak. But you'd expect that from me. I'm mixed up, I'll be blunt, and now the rain is just washing you out of my hair and out of my mind. You're driving me crazy. From so many thousands of feet off the ground, I'm keeping an eye on the world. I'm over you, at home in the clouds, towering over your head.

Juliet

P.S. I believe the butterflies now

Everything fell into place. All the nonsense of finding this girl made sense. He pocketed the last letter she would ever write, the last words she would ever speak and began the journey back home. Tears glistened in his eyes, unshed as the clouds cried more that he could imagine. "I guess I'll go home now," he mumbled, speaking to the only person that would ever hear, that person living in the clouds.