Antoine's Curious Collection of Arbitrary Short Stories

The Naked Truth

I swear I don't have time for this. Think again, self. You still have a lot to do better than this... bullcrap. I inhaled and recollected my thoughts. Think straight! You're Sophia, president of your class, the events are getting near, you're classmates are rooting for you. Your unfinished tasks are waiting at you at home so snap out of it! Move! Move your damn feet. Go, go now. Look away.

Fuck it!

"Here's my five dollars" I said through gritted teeth. The old stranger who looks at me with a blank face earlier now has a smug in his face. I look again in the sign board and tried hard not to mock myself.

The sign board read, "Five dollars and you will know the truth."

It's not even a good marketing tag line, who's gullible enough that would pay 5 dollars for the "truth" from a bearded, homeless looking man sitting beside the gutter of the street with a placard that says "true wisdom"?

Me! Only I would do that and I don't even know why.

The cat moved his head like he's teasing me. Right, I forgot there was a cat. The furry animal is covered with dirt, just like his master. Suddenly, the cat meowed, a terrible one unlike to most cat who sounds adorable when they meowed. The cat then hisses, what's wrong with this old man acquaintance?

"Do you still want to continue our business, young lady," the old man asked.

Leaving my mouth gap open. Wait, you know what's more weirder than me, the great Sophia going along with this crap? His voice. It's weird, really. He's old, but why? Why? Do his voice sounds like it come from a...boy. I look at his face. The wrinkles are there, in his forehead and besides his eyes.

His eyes, Right, his eyes, it's different in an enchanting way. It's like his eyes' is calling you to dive in and once you looks at it you can't go away, like a whirpool which will drown you and drag you once you're in its pool. When you look at it him long, you will see that there was a mischievous one once that hides in there, and just masked with this age.

"Young lady," He asks me again.

A blow of a breezy air, tingles my skin. I forgot that there's coming a rain this afternoon.

"Yes! Yes, let's start and get this over with," I said hurriedly.

"Okay then, may you sit beside me?" He proposed me to sit on the floor.

I sat, anticipating for the pavement to be cold, but it's not. It's even warm. Weird.

"I wanted to know the truth," I said.

His forehead creased.

"About myself" I added.

"I wanted to know more of my potentials," the words untangled on their own.

"You're afraid, I see," he scratches his chin.

"What? What did you say? I'm what?" I said, confused.

"Now tell me the truth Sophia, what would you do if you weren't afraid?" He questioned me.

What would I do? I thought without taking out my vision in his eyes. The sky grumbles, and for a moment i think I saw myself inside his eyes, same person but different. I blink and there I was again. I watch as the person ran away, the place shifted and there was I in our school? She- i mean I walk towards Veronica.

"Why would I even get myself close with that person?" I thought.

"Just watch," someone murmurs.

I talk to Veronica, I'm not sure what I said but Veronica and I walk together outside the class. We go to the rooftop of the school. They—we— are now facing each other. I can only see Veronica's face and not mine. Veronica seems upset now, and saying something I have no idea what is. It seems like they —we're­— having a fight now. Suddenly the vision shifted to my direction, I look calm and steady, like Veronica's words were nothing to me.

I smiled, not the usual warm smile. It was cold like the knife I was holding there. I move my hand in act like I'm going to stab the person in front me, when a drop of cold water started to pour waking me from reality. It's raining. It's raining but I didn't move. How long did I sit there and watched the stranger's eyes in front of me?

I was there, but it's me, that couldn't be. The rain poured cruelly like it's trying to clean the messes of the world. They just stare at me. The stranger and his acquaintance just stared at me, under the cold rain. The water drips badly at us, cleaning the uncleaned, washing away the covered dirt of the fur of the cat, and the wrinkles of the strange man, leaving a new person that stares at me. A boy and a white cat, naked with the truth.

A/N Antoine here. If you like my random stories please vote and comment. i would like to hear from you guys.