Stations of the Soul by Chris Lewando

Author:Chris Lewando [Lewando, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-04T22:00:00+00:00

The cleaning that began with the living room gravitated to the rest of the house, and as he was cleaning, Robin wondered if his previous impression of a home filled with Sarah’s perceived bohemian influence, was something lurking at the back of his own mind. He needed colour. It was time he redecorated, flushed his mother’s greyness from the place. That would use up some time while he pondered over what to do with the rest of his life. Maybe he should even sell the house, move on, even go abroad.

He turned the radio on to the classical music channel he used to enjoy. There, fate conspired, once again, to rob him of his equilibrium. The haunting, harmonic strains of the Brahms Requiem filtered through his consciousness to the layers below. At the moment of recognition, his heartbeat increased, his breath shortened, and his sight moved inward as the music triggered a switch in his mind. Once again, he lay there, trapped in the crumpled wreckage of his car, staring out at the glorious heat of the day, thinking that this was the end, that here and now was where he died, flicked out of existence like a light-bulb. This was the point at which the vessel which was Robin Vanger would be drained of life, cease to move and function. The point at which he would die.

Shocked, he slammed the radio into silence. That music held his memories forever interwoven within its folds. He never wanted to hear it again. But the images it had triggered weren’t erased so easily. Strangely, it had been the youth’s callous words that had saved him in the end. Being told he wasn’t dying quickly enough had given him the strength to keep struggling, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, don’t give in…

A chill walked up his spine.

Maybe Freman didn’t believe him. Who would? That the carnage had been caused deliberately wasn’t in doubt, but the reason for it remained a gaping hole. What had been the point? To enjoy the death of others? To somehow get high on it, like a sadist with his victim?

Then, Sarah called, breaking him from his reverie. ‘Robin, I’ve got two tickets for the opera. My way of apologising.’

‘You didn’t have to do that.’

‘I wanted to.’

Robin had tried to convince himself he was over her, but he wasn’t. He liked that her hesitation held more hope than expectation, but it took no more than the sound of her voice to give it another chance. ‘Which one?’

‘Die Fledermaus.’

Fairly light stuff, but it was melodic and humorous. ‘I’d love to. Shall I pick you up?’

‘That would be great.’

At last, he felt as though normality was seeping back into his life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.