Death In A Mile

Chapter 5: Parasitical Observations

I left Mr. Wiu's with a swift closing door, thinking about why he prompted me to "Escape." Thoughts rushed through my head as another voice interfered.

"Hey Lloyd!" Spark yelled from the top of the blacksmith tower. "Wanna hang out today?" I was tempted to say no but I figured that would just point more red flags at my strange behavior.

"Yeah why not," I responded. "What time?"

"Early evening, I have things to do today."

"Okay that's fine," I finally said. I felt as if I was leaving something out. "Need any help?" He was surprised and looked for a second he was going to fall out of the window he was leaning over.

"Ha! Wasn't expecting that from you Lloyd. Come over in an hour," he said.

"Wasn't excpecting what?" I asked back. "Was I not helpful or something?" I kept this thought to myself.

"Nevermind." He said his goodbyes and closed the window.

"Not helpful aye? I don't think so." I hated being underestimated for anything I thought I was good at. It bothered me too much to the point I would do stupid things to prove the accuser wrong.

An hour passed and I walked across the village for the second time today. I finally arrived and I knocked on the massive wood door in front. Spark opened the door after what seemed like an hour long wait.

"What's up, I'll show you what I need you to do in a second. Just come in and sit down," Spark explained. So I sat down on the couches to the left.

The Robert's tower was made of cobblestone and was 3 stories high. The stairs were directly to the left and lead up into each of their rooms which I couldn't see. The area on the left wall from the door is where I sat. On the other side of the first story had a workshop with a garage like opening on the right wall leading outside. The workshop was filled with tables, anviles, and anything else blacksmith related.

Spark's dad was working outside and didn't seem to notice me walk in. He had a mask and was heavily covered in his work station with clothes. Sparks were flying and he was using some sort of saw.

"Alright come here," Spark said coming back inside from the garage like opening. "See all these handles in this bucket? Sand them down. You don't need to worry about shaping them or anything, just smoothing. Sandpaper is right here on this shelf." He pointed to the shelf above the table where I was sanding. "Tell me if you need anything."

"Alright," I said in monotone. I was anxious to sand to prove myself. I grabbed 100 grit sandpaper and started sanding the first handle out of dozens.

Sanding sanding sanding. It is an amateur task that anybody could do. After about a few handles completed Spark's dad walked in and greeted me.

He was over 6 foot tall and in his 40's. His head was bald unlike his face which always had at least a stubble of hair on it. After working he wore a leather trench jacket that reached his calves.

He stood right next to me and polished his newly sharpened sword. "What are you doing here Lloyd?" He asked.

"Just helping, Spark invited me over," I responded.

"Oh that's cool." He said.

A pause arouse between us and we worked in silence. "How have you been feeling lately?" He finally said.

"What do you mean?" I responded.

"You have been skipping classes and acting anti social." He was right, I was but sometimes you can't help yourself.

"I skipped one class," I said almost defiantly.

"Okay, but what about your social behavior?" He responded.

I thought for what felt like forever, and I could feel his sweaty gaze peering in my line of view.

"I don't know." Pressure makes you say stupid things sometimes.

"Hmph," he mumbled. He was thinking of a way to respond.

"You see this blade?" He finally asked.

"Yeah of course," I responded.

"What do you see in it?" He said.

"It's just a blade, for cutting and other things."

"Beyond that, test your mind and seek a more meaningful answer."

I thought for a while, and I couldn't come up with anything. Again, "I don't know."

"This blade represents your hopes, life, and mind. You can sharpen this blade all you want, you can polish it, or hang it for display. If you do these things your sword will thrive. These are the good things you can do; however, if you choose you can treat your sword like rubbish, never cleaning it or stopping to think about it's needs. Early on your sword will break." He held the blade in his hands like he was going to snap it, but couldn't bring himself to do it. "But in the end, only you are responsible for your swords cleanliness or sharpness. I encourage you to sharpen this sword and make it the best it can be."

I looked down and didn't think about anything. That was deep, and I didn't know what to say. Luckily he filled in for me.

"Lloyd, your sword is dulling, sharpen it. It is also getting a little dirty, polish it. Don't forget to hang it up and glorify it for a while. Thank it for it's greatness and what you have done for it."

I had no words, I nodded and silently agreed. He understood and acknowledged back.

The day was over, and the evening had came. This is what I waited for after sanding handles all day in the workshop. Spark and I walked over to my house. There wasn't much to do so we played cards and talked. Night time was coming and neither of us batted an eye.

Eventually the curfew bell rang at 11:00 and you could see the lights from inside the houses turn off one by one. We left the light on and continued with the night.

We talked, and talked some more. Then he brought it up.

"What was my Dad saying to you at the workshop today?" Spark asked.

"When?" I was trying to hold him off from making further discussion towards what his Dad said. I don't know why I wanted to keep it secret, it just felt right.

"You know when," he said eagerly. I didn't stump him and I didn't feel like stalling anymore. With I sigh I started to explain.

I finished explaining what he was talking about and he had a concerned but at the same time an 'I-was-expecting-that' kind of face. He knew his dad too well.

We ran out of things to talk about again, and I was trying to find things to talk about in my head. "You should bring up the eye, come clean and tell what was bothering you." My good conscience was the one I should have listened too, but I listened to the devil instead.

At this moment is when I saw Jason, standing inside of his house, just watching us from his kitchen window.

"You see that?" I said to Spark.

"See what?"

"Jason, look through his window. He is just standing there, completly still."

"You sure that isn't just some furniture?"

"No it isn't, I see Jason all the time and that is an exact silhouette of what he looks like."

"Well then what is up with him?"

"I don't know..."

At this point we were both quite obviously looking out the window, looking at him as he was staring back at us. We both agreed to duck under the windows view and sat on the ground. 5 minutes had passed, and we were still paranoid if Jason was still standing. Slowly, I got up to look and he was still there, in the darkness of his own home, observing us.

At that moment the lights went off immediately and I quickly pulled out my pillows and blankets from under my bed. Spark slept on those while I slept on my bed. I didn't look out the window again for the rest of the night in fear. "Morning is sure going to be fun to deal with tommorow," I thought, just as I closed my eyes.