Loneliness and Reconciliation (Short Story; Complete)

Chapter 2

The sun had already baked the ground by the time Seth returned to his neighborhood. He could see the heat waves distorting the distance in all directions he looked, giving the impression that the world was contained within a small bubble centered upon him. Since there was no river in this part of town, and the rains had been gone for several months, most of the vegetation had browned into tinder under the sun's relentless glare.

Although Seth found solace in the cynicism he felt reflecting on the indifference of nature, to his own plight and that of the dying plants around him, Seth tried to avoid thinking in general. Any thoughts that arose were pessimistic and Seth was too exhausted to debate himself over the pros and cons of living. Instead, he allowed his body's impulse for sleep to take over as he mindlessly shuffled back to the ramshackle single-story home that he rented from the local slumlord. The rent was exorbitant for a house whose white paint was chipping off, with missing shingles and which was riddled with rot and decay. Seth hadn't done well in college physics, but he was becoming increasingly certain that the house would collapse on top of him soon.

At least it would save me the trouble, he thought to himself as he pulled the keys from his pocket and fumbled them into the door.

The door opened up to the living room with the kitchen and single bedroom behind it. The small house was only slightly cooler than outside, and the heat amplified the dry stench of the shag carpeting that hadn't been cleaned in months. Somehow, the floor was decorated with even more trash and food crumbs than Seth had left before wandering off to inflict his own death. The TV was on and Damon sat on the worn green couch in front of it, lifting a bag of chips to deposit the last of its contents into his open mouth.

"Are you fucking serious?" Seth asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Eat shit, loser," Damon replied. "I told you, I can't leave you alone. I'm bound to your sorry ass until you finally decide to off yourself again. In the meantime, I'm going to pass the time with some quality brain-liquidizing entertainment."

"How did you even get in here?" Seth demanded as he tossed his keys onto the coffee table in front of the TV.

"I can walk through walls," Damon answered with a mysterious wave of his crumb-covered fingers.

"Wait, really?"

"No, dumbass, you left your back door unlocked," Damon snickered as he rubbed the crumbs on his fingers into his mouth and the remainder into the grimy couch. "Not that anyone would even want to steal anything here. The most expensive thing you have is your computer, and that isn't even mid-rate."

"Hard to afford anything nice without a job," Seth said as he slammed the door behind him and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge but forgot that he hadn't been to the store in weeks. All that was left was a yogurt that had expired a few days ago. Seth smelled it just in case, but his empty stomach retched at the scent.

"Bet you wish you had some pizza, dontchya?" Damon asked.

"Choke on it," Seth said as he tossed the yogurt into the trash. He then pulled out the last cereal bar he had in the cupboard and began munching on it. "You probably don't even need to eat."

"Meh, even if that were the case, I still would for the enjoyment of it."

"I'm going to bed. Turn down the volume."

"Whatever," Damon replied. He reached around the couch, grumbling to himself until he fished the remote out from between the cushions and barely adjusted the volume.

Once Seth was in his room, he dropped onto his bed and curled up into a ball. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't manage to let sleep take him. Every time he felt himself drifting off, recollections of what had happened and his anxieties would creep out of the shadows of his mind and pull him from blissful reprieve. He tried relaxing his muscles. He tried focusing on his breath. He tried pushing the thoughts from his head. But all his efforts only built up his stress and resentment towards living and after several hours he gave up on the effort and went to shower off the grime that chafed him all over. When he finished, he returned to the living room where Damon was still watching TV.