It Ends In Absurdity

Chapter 11

In the morning as I opened my eyes I saw Marcus lay in bed and read.

'What time is it?' I asked. The words uttered with difficulty for my throat was dry as if I drank sand that night. I raised upright and stared at him. Marcus just laughed.

'Here, take a sip it will help.' He threw the bottle of water to my side.

'Oh and to answer your question it's 11:40 AM' he smiled and returned his gaze to the book he was reading.

'Have you been up for a long time?' I asked.

'30 minutes or so. There is no rush to wake up. You hungry?' he replied.

'I am thirsty as hell, but that too.'

'Okay. Do you know that you are snoring?'

'What? Really? Was it loud?'

'Nah. It wasn't all the time, but I heard you a couple of times.'

'Wow, I must have been really tired then.'

'Yeah, guess so. So I'll go see what there is to eat, you good to get up?'

'Yeah, yeah. I'll be right there.'

I took more gulps from the bottle and put a pair of pants and a shirt on. I stumbled to the kitchen and sat at the table. Waffles and a cup of tea invited me to join the feast.

'You are a great host you know that?'

'You bet I am.' Marcus laughed.

'On another note, I wanted to let you know that tomorrow I'll be leaving.' I said.

'Okay, you sure? I mean you can spend some more days if you want, there's no trouble with that.'

'Yeah, I am sure. Thanks though, it's been great spending these past days together. I missed that.'

'Me too buddy. So you'll be going home?'

'Yeah, home it is. I can already tell that one week in and I'll want to leave the place and go somewhere else. But that's just me, it's hard for me to settle in one place. I always need to change the surroundings. The more time I spend in one place, then the more I want to go and be somewhere else.'

'It seems that it's always better in places where we aren't.'

'I guess it is.'

'Look on the bright side of things though..'

'Which is?'

'Home. Family. Food that is not refrigerated and micro waved.'

'True that. Do you miss home?'

'I think I miss the old times more.'

Now in retrospect the truth was that I went back home with the intent to end my life. Nobody knew about it. I only knew about it vaguely. I mean I have had an idea I wanted to die for a long time, I just never acted on it. I was always passive and dwelled on it. The last resort of sorts. I thought that going abroad, being independent, by myself it would make me change. I would be able to start anew, reinvent myself. That I could perhaps do it. I couldn't. The distractions of work and the nagging feeling of not belonging just kept intensifying. My journey back home was a journey with a clear final destination. The rest of the remaining days spent with Marcus were fun, actually enjoyable for what it was worth. But through that seemingly joyful time, seeped the realization that even those closest to you move away. Even those people change and have a life of their own. Marcus had his life and his story to write. I was deeply proud of what he had accomplished and where he was heading in his life. It was just sad to see us part ways. At least I got to spend some time with him, at least I got to experience what being a roommate with your best friend felt like. And for that matter my only friend.