Never Say Such Things (A Fall Into Darkness Story) by Purdy Alexia

Author:Purdy, Alexia [Purdy, Alexia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyrical Lit. Publishing
Published: 2013-02-05T07:00:00+00:00

~Of Love and Dust~

“WHAT DAY IS it?”

The nurse pushed the brakes on my wheelchair out in the Rotunda in the middle of the courtyard of St Augustine’s Home for the Beloved. The nurse straightened and tucked a blanket around my legs and made sure the one across my shoulders was secure.

“Why Alan, it’s September 12th. You know that. You have it circled on your calendar in bright red.” She smiled and pushed a strand of my scraggly white hair that needed a cut badly behind my ear. “Honestly I don’t know why you insist coming out here in this cold weather. I really could get in trouble if you get sick.” She sighed as she plopped down on the cement, ornate bench. She rubbed her neck, a migraine surely building under her soft brown eyes.

My fingers rubbed incessantly on the blanket, I hated this. I hated the endless wait. Usually at dusk the thing came. I’d had a soul each year. It’d been easier when I was free to move around. But here, here it was not such a simple task to wrangle a good soul to sit with me as the sun set and be taken instead of me. Here, institutionalized now for five years, it’d been a struggle.

Luckily, no one had put two and two together in these past five years. Each year, on the same date, a person would die or go missing. Luckily, there were some old folks here near the brink of death anyway that I was able to finagle into hanging out at dusk with me in the rotunda.She would come, give me a nasty look as she took these souls. She had to. It was part of the deal. They were old and stale she said, but she could not deny that they were good and untainted. She would suck their life force, their essence and give me a disgusted face. They will do, but get me a better soul next time or else… was all she’d say before leaping away into the sky. Her stone wings lifting her body in a scrape of rock and masonry.

Those had been my friends for at least a few months. I had spoken with them, spent endless hours playing chess and enjoyed the afternoon sun. Yet, I’d given them to her. I gave them all away, just like that.

I wasn’t a good soul.

I could see that now.

I wouldn’t be giving her another soul this day, or ever again. I was done with that. My wife was visiting today. I specifically asked her to come on this day of all days. She was still moving about, healthy as an ox. She was fifteen years younger than me so I could see why she had so much energy. But today, her blissful healing energy would be gone forever. I had to give her to the gargoyle and end it. I had to end it now.

“Miss Nancy, would you get me some water? I’m quite thirsty.” I saw my wife exiting the building and walking towards us, waving happily.

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