October 31, 2008
The sun was setting just beyond the horizon, painting the sky in an array of vivid hues ranging from the boldest of oranges to the deepest of reds; streams of soft pink and honey yellow accenting the edges of the fluffy clouds turning a soothing shade of lavender. A small breeze ran over the earth, rustling through trees and moving fallen autumn leaves across the ground; sometimes blowing them up into the air then letting them gently float back down. The winds carried the laughter and excitement of children dressed in their extravagant costumes emerging from their houses, bags and buckets in their hands as they go door to door, chanting the ever familiar phrase 'Trick-or-Treat' and getting rewarded in sugary delights.
Gerard walked along the vacant dirt road, hands crammed tightly in the pockets of his black jeans, the tails of his scarf dancing on the chilly breeze behind him. The long black strands of his shoulder length hair flew across his pale face and sometimes slipped between his slim cracked lips when his mouth opened too much as it pulled in right oxygen in exchange for the carbon dioxide waste. In Gerard's eyes, Halloween was the best and the worst day of the year; something he looked forward to yet dreaded at the same time.
The thin dirt road beneath his worn black converse shoes led Gerard on a winding and familiar journey out of town, away from the boring houses all perfectly aligned with their porch lights on to welcome the evening's trick-or-treaters. A smile dared to pull at the corner of Gerard's mouth as he drew closer to the black iron gates of the local cemetery, his heart starting to beat a little faster with adrenaline. Gerard removed his left hand and raised it to the level of his chest where the zipper of his black leather jacket was left half done, looking at the little silver hands of his watch. 6:57 pm. Right on time.
Dead leaves of bright orange, yellow, red, and sometimes green crunched below Gerard's feet as he veered off the dirt path. He removed his right hand from his pocket now and gently pushed aside the cemetery gate, a loud and rusty squeaking noise rippling through the almost silent air as he cracked it just enough to slip his thin frame inside, leaving the gate slightly ajar. Gerard slowly made his way through the dying grass, weaving his way through the various tombstones and statues, heading towards a single leaf-less tree in the far right corner of the fenced in cemetery to wait. The bench beside the tree, chained around its thick trunk, provided a resting spot for Gerard as he slid the cigarettes from his pocket for a quick smoke.
Gerard opened the pack, sliding a little white stick out then set the pack on the wooden bench beneath him, digging around in his pocket for the lighter that always seemed to hide from him. Once located, Gerard placed the end of the cigarette between his lips, letting it point slightly towards the ground as he held the purple lighter up to the opposite end, cupping his hand around the lighter and the cigarette so the breeze wouldn't extinguish the flame as soon as it came to life. With a quick push of the little wheel with his pointer finger, the lighter fluid produced a small flickering flame which Gerard moved to consume the tip of the cigarette, waiting a moment for the white paper to start to burn before letting the lighter die and sliding it back into the dark leather pocket once again.
Bringing his right hand back up, Gerard put the middle of the cancerous stick between his middle and pointer fingers, taking a deep drag and closing his eyes before pulling the cigarette from his mouth and slowly exhaling wispy gray streams of smoke into the chilly air. Gerard knew smoking was a nasty habit but it was his only vice for calming his nerves and relaxing so he makes no attempt to quit. After using his thumb to gently tap the cigarette, the ashes falling to the ground, Gerard brought the stick back to his lips, repeating the routine process over again.
"You know, smoking is going to be the death of you." A gentle voice ran into Gerard's ears, causing cracked, dry lips to tug up tightly at the corners.
