The Next Big Thing by James Colley
Author:James Colley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pantera Press
Published: 2024-03-15T00:00:00+00:00
5.
The coward dies, the coward dies, the coward dies again.
Ella was leaving. Ella was gone. She had walked out of Normâs life and he had done nothing. He had given her no reason to stay. She couldnât stay, of course. Not for him. That was the way of life. No one stayed forever.
Awful things happen suddenly.
She had asked him why he stayed in Norman. Was it an invitation that he had missed? Had she offered her hand? Not possible. Of course she hadnât. How to explain that moment, though? Her hand around his waist. Her brown eyes willing him forward. A delusion probably. A dying brain conjuring up one last fantasy as a gift to its owner. That was more believable.
He had asked. At least he had asked. But he couldnât think about it anymore. He also couldnât stop. His brain retraced his steps like a tongue returns to a cut on the roof of the mouth.
She had asked him why he stayed. He couldnât answer. Or, more correctly, he could answer but didnât. The truth was too pathetic.
It had taken years to stop himself from believing that one day his father would come rolling down the highway. Heâd stood and watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground and yet still he believed one night he would hear the rumble and the nightmare would at last be over. It wouldnât happen. He was gone.
But his mother really was out there. At least, he hadnât received any notice of her death. Though, Norm couldnât be sure what he would receive. He pictured someone arriving at his door with a scroll held together by a black ribbon or a folded flag. Even then, what good would he be? He couldnât pick her out of a line-up. Growing up, he used to watch the background of news reports and wonder if she would ever wander past the camera and he would know. It was the same logic by which he held on that she was still alive somewhere. If it wasnât true, he would know. Since he had no way of finding her, he had held hope that maybe one day she would return here. She would arrive back in Norman having missed him too greatly, having been in a coma for twenty years or swept up on some incredible adventure that simply could not be abandoned, for the very fate of the known universe hung in the balance. It was better than having to admit that she knew he was here and every day she made the choice to leave him here.
Years ago, when theyâd first met at the fete, Ella had assumed that his mother had died. He hadnât corrected her. He had felt ashamed of that choice, made in a split second, confirmed by silence. The fear, however, prevailed. If Ella had found out the truth, then she would know that the person who brought Norm into the world had looked into his soul and found him wanting. Why, then, would she waste her time on such an unloveable creature? Norm huffed.
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Dark Humor | Humorous |
Satire |
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