“What did I tell you about that stuff!”
“To.. tototo.”
“To use it sparingly, you idiot!”
With the final shriek the door slapped shut.
The shadow left outside the enclosure stumbled back at the final crescendo.
Another space of time passed, the tension rising and falling before the shadow slumped away. Its humped shoulders followed the rock wall around the bend and into the alley on its far side. All the while he grumbled. His deep muttering drifted and swirled in the calm air.
The leaves ruffled in a rogue breeze as the bearer of stale words drew near. The branches within shuttered and shook as if begging the wind to respond with a swift left hook.
A chilled breeze answered the shivering plea. It blew in around the bend in the street he was slugging over. The stream flew in to steal the stale breath and run it away to the ends of the earth.
Breath offerings like those, were tasteless, wasteful, too much of it being poisonous… Any wise Elm could sense the difference from a mile away. Such pollution showed up like a gooey black cloud above it’s exhibitor… Like a cloud of stink above a skunk.
The nasty conversation coming with each exhale might have been palatable if not for the rotten scent no one but the birds and the bees, or the trees seemed to notice… But, any variety who lived near an orchard knows bad apples don’t always come marked to the naked eye.
A grove of Oaks stood witness to his stewing thoughts. Each lifted their branches to the starless sky with a sigh as he approached their little alcove. The stench of his smoldering thoughts smelt like burnt garbage. He left a little trail of sewage to hover like fog in his wake as he flung his feet from the walking path and cast himself into the vacant main street.
The shadow man with a formulating plan bunted a sizable chunk of loose rock down the cobbled street ahead of him, secretly hoping it might hit anything it might hurt.
His grumbling persisted as he darkened the already dim midnight streets with his tainted breath.
The air that came with each exhale grew more pointed and pungent until it was all but bitter and unbreathable to the branches shaking the offering away.
Not a moment too soon the wind caught his voice in its grips and tugged. slapping and spinning the assailants scarf right into his face. Leaving him to sputter and spit even more word vomit.
The shadow fell silent as the wind persisted. He shut his mouth and sealed it against the assault. After a moment of unadulterated silence. The breeze died into a series of gusts. And then returned to quiet.
Another block passed without utterance.
Over the next two blocks, the figure lurked quietly just out of the streetlights reach. His steps echoed between buildings. Each footfall grew heavier and more pointed until it sounded as if something was repeatedly beating into the surface of the street.
The shadow rushed over the final lengths of cobbled road and strayed off the main road into a parking lot, effectively cutting the corner while still taking the long way to where he was headed…
He wasn’t ready to go home… He didn’t know how to yet.
The silhouette stuffed bear-mits deep into the pockets that matched the ink-scape above.
He had a lot to think about, a lot to process, a lot to figure out before taking the news to his sanctuary.
The hounds were still howling for blood. She would smell the afterglow on him… He had to walk this one off until the scent was gone completely… even if that meant… no.
but… wasn’t this the exact reason he kept an extra set of clothes in his garage?
There was a war roaring through his insides while he slid under the streetlights unseen by his surroundings. He took advantage of the upcoming wave of light, his watch glistened to life from beneath his sleeve. Ten minutes.
Ten excruciating little minutes had passed, each second waterboarding him in useless information accomplishing nothing but increasing his blood pressure.
Deep breath.
“You don’t have time to do this stupid.” The command rumbled from him like a growl as he released his sleeve to swallow the glimmering time piece.
On the one hand, he’d been right. His theories had run their course and turned out exactly as he’d foreseen.
On the other, someone sane, especially someone of his rank, would be forced to take into account all sides of the story.
Had he predicted the most likely outcome and achieved the goal single-handedly? Or had both parties been playing the same cards in secret… without knowing the other was in on the game.
Each playing toward the same perceivable failure while falling into a broken cycle and, ultimately achieving nothing. Another empire fallen and left in ruins.
His hand ran over the cellphone in his pocket, His fingers circled it’s outline, tempted to take the bait and break the silence.
Don’t fall for it…
It’s understandable to be angry. Be angry on your own time… The shadow nodded into the darkness stretching ahead of him. His time was running slim.
In the end, he drew away on instinct.
No… Dial first, you die… Right now your silence says everything.
His fingers bounced over an invisible surface while he looked both ways into a silent street. His mind went from reeling, to centered on a single mission.
He wasn’t going home yet, there was only one other option. Finish the job. He only had one left. What was… he pulled his watch out of hiding once again.
What was another hour.
The shadow walked into the light absentmindedly, pulling out his cellphone as he went. He stepped off the curb as his screen lit up to show two missed calls. It was her… He would call once he’d finished, ask forgiveness for whatever dinner he’d missed. This was the last time he would have to leave her waiting…
WHAAAAAAAAAA!
The wailing of a horn was short lived. ending in an expected thud as everyone aboard the bus clenched their eyes closed and braced for impact.
THUD!
The transit lurched to a halt. A scream emanated from the rear of the bus as others rushed to comfort its source and distract from the activity upfront. Some tried to get a better view from the window and the entire front of the bus flooded out of the double doors behind the bus driver.
“I didn’t think he was going to run into the street like that! Oh my God, is he dead?” The pleasant, normally quiet and friendly woman now rang out her hands. She took a few rapid shallow breathes before continuing. “All right ya’ll back it up! Someone call 911!” She barked through her collecting bearings.”
A circle formed around the woman as she knelt to check the body’s pulse.
They’d all seen the man rushing into the street with his nose glued to the screen. Poor bastard… probably calling an Uber after a night of drinking or something. At any rate, his movements had seemed strangely purposeful as if the action had been planned.
The bystanders murmured amongst each other, confirming quickly fading details. As a group deciding quietly they’d just witnessed death by bus. Each subconsciously fabricating their own big fish stories to tell in the morning.
According to the laminated nametag attached to the ringleaders’ electric blue lanyard. Bob was some type of group lead. True to his implied nature he was busy at work, collecting murmured theories and dissenting against some while leaning on others to form the picture that fit best based on the details HE had seen…
The group hungrily leaned in to feed on his idol opinions flung with such conviction they were almost convincing. While they listened their eyes never left the brave few who rushed forward to do more than graze in a harmless, helpless daze watching the others and commenting on what might have been done better. what might have saved him.
In the end, it was done. None of the compressions would have done a thing. By the time the bus had come to a full halt the only movement made by the man smooshed like a butterfly against the grill of a semi was purely reflexive. By the time they’d exited the bus, long dead.
His final choice sealed the deal. After he was given every opportunity to turn down the street, the silly chicken decided to cross it to the tune of a 20-ton bullet on wheels. The trees had made their decision the second love hadn’t been able to sway him…
The wind had fallen silent moments before the crash. Now just a warm breeze was left to lull the leaves to sleep peacefully through the dead of night. Lulled back to serenity by the sounds of sirens…
The End… (or is?)