My mind is a mess, isn’t it?
Chad awoke in a strange area.
Multiple small islands surrounded him, floating in mid air. On each island, there’s a marble statue. Each statue is of something… significant? Chad doesn’t remember.
A football, a clarinet, running shoes, a bottle of… whiskey?
Chad doesn’t drink.
He’s just… uncertain. In a haze of utter madness and chaos.
He stands up, brushes himself off, and moves toward the statue of the football.
In a flash, he sees himself, scoring a touchdown! He almost forgot how passionate he was about football.
His teammates dunk him in sports drink and he gets a kiss from a hot cheerleader.
I don’t really feel much of anything.
He clears his head and runs to the running shoes.
He touches them, and they become solid rubber. He puts them on and suddenly feels like running.
He’s subtly transitioned into another memory. A race for a state title. He pushed so hard, but he came in 4th place.
Slightly disappointed. I think I stopped track after that day.
Still unsure of where he was, he runs into the clarinet.
A younger Chad, just a little boy, playing the clarinet in school band.
I used to love music. Didn’t think I’d like playing clarinet as much as I did here.
He’s playing the clarinet, badly, but has a beaming smile on his face.
His instructor smiles back and says, “Just keep at it, you’ll get so much better in time. I believe in you, Chadwell!”
Ugh. Who thought Chadwell was a good name?
He pauses.
The alcohol.
He smells it.
It makes him want to vomit.
I fucking hate alcohol.
Slowly and carefully, he touches the statue.
He remembers.
A “friend” dared him to drink.
He downed beer, wine, tequilla, shots, and…
Whiskey.
He remembers jumping into a car, and then… nothing.
What is this? Why don’t I remember anything after that!
He starts to yell. He screams for someone, anyone to hear him.
Chadwell is 17. He was a good kid, a long time ago.
All his parents and his younger sister can do, is hope he finally wakes up.
************
My mind has been all over the place lately. I’m not sure how this came to me, but it did.
Maybe I just miss writing and venting through story like I used to all those years ago.
I hope you all are having a good day/night.
Your friend,
Trey, the mindless gamer
1 comment
Great story, I mean that. I was wondering how it would turn out but never expected that gut punch in the last line. Great twist on the theme of ‘your whole life flashing before your eyes’ because in this case he doesn’t realize why he’s seeing these things. So it’s not a sentimental ‘shoulda woulda coulda’ thing so much as it’s an emotionless, objective review of what his life was worth in the end. Keep writing man, this is good stuff.