The Starved

Chapter 2: Just a Walk in the Park

Conner awoke to the sound of an alarm clock he had set for the full week. Groggily, he moved his hand and began sliding his arm around looking for his phone. Upon finding it he slapped at it until the sound stopped with a halt. No teaching today, so happy for murder in this world. Conner chagrined from the thought, but it quickly faded, forgotten in the mist of tiredness.

Conner wormed into the couch, hoping for a more comfortable spot. Five minutes later Conner tossed and turned, unhappy with the absence of comfort. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and grabbed his phone. Conner rubbed at his eyes and then checked the time. Five thirty in the morning? Too early... Even with this thought's arrival, Conner shifted into a sitting position. He felt heavy.

He stood up and stumbled slightly over to the kitchen. The glow that came from the lamp he had turned on the night previous emanated. He opened the fridge and grabbed a yogurt, a peach yogurt specifically. Conner set the yogurt on the counter in front of the sink and grabbed a spoon from a drawer. He then walked around the kitchen and sat on a tall chair with his yogurt and spoon. Conner opened the yogurt and began to eat the yogurt, quite boringly. His eyes were heavy, and he shoved the spoon in his mouth and licked the yogurt off it.

After eating the yogurt in a most melancholy fashion, Conner walked over to the table and gathered the files he had been looking through. He set them on the side of the table in a neat little pile. Conner wiped his face and shook his head slightly. Man, I'm tired... this obvious realization baffled him. He was a teacher so late nights occurred nearly every night. He had been used to the lack of sleep, or so he thought. I should not be this tired. He thought, almost angry with how he was.

Conner tried to move purposefully for the shower but ended up still moving sluggishly.

After roughly thirty minutes, Conner was ready. He wore a very casual attire, black jeans, long sleeve black shirt and a gray raincoat. He pushed the sleeves up his arm to just above his elbow on the black long sleeve and his raincoat, a habit he had kept from his teenage years.

Conner, more vigilant now, glanced at the oven's clock. He found it to only be ten minutes past six o' clock in the morning, a fine time to be awake and ready. He made himself a bagel with cream and cheese which then became just another thing in his stomach to be digested. Conner poured himself a large glass of orange juice and drank it at a slow pace. A nice, calm breakfast.

Conner set the glass of juice down and stared at it, waiting for some new thought to fabricate into existence. The liquid sat still, opposite to Connor's mind. His thoughts jumped to Lewis once more although this time around, he felt more prepared for it. He quickly shifted his focus to drinking the rest of the orange juice. Once the contents of the glass had traveled swiftly down Conner's esophagus, he stood up and grabbed his keys. He then headed out his apartment door. He locked up and took the maze like turns to get to the elevator. He then pushed the down button for the elevator and shoved his hands in his gray raincoat's pockets.

After waiting for a moment, the elevator doors opened with a slight metallic click sound. It seemed... no it was, an ordinary day. Nothing about it was remotely different besides the new thoughts of Lewis and Mark. Conner's daily routine had not change.

Conner felt a pang of regret. Shouldn't I feel more connected and affected by this whole thing? Conner thought. He stood in the elevator leaning against a corner and staring at the white tiled floor. Mark died... so why does it feel so normal? This thought appeared and troubled Conner. His thoughts often caused this feeling to emerge.

The elevator doors opened to the bottom floor of the apartment building. Conner made his way outside and pulled on his gray raincoat's hood as he walked outside into the rain. He turned left towards the parking lot where his car was parked but he walked past his car to a road at the back of the apartment complex. He passed an opening to the parking lot garage before he made it to the back road. He turned left onto the road and followed it until he reached a grassy plain that connected to a large lake, Echo Lake. There was a wooden pathway that led around the lake and the grassy area was an area popular for dog owners. The wooden path broke off at points and led out above the lake, those areas were popular to people who enjoyed fishing. Conner particularly enjoyed the benches that were scattered around the grassy area. He enjoyed the peace of sitting down and getting a relaxing break from the chaos that was the classroom.