The Midnight Recluse
Griffin Smith
He sat on a bench by a street corner, just a few blocks from Albany Ct. The streets were submerged, yet the sidewalk escaped its clutches by mere centimeters. The piano, with wood soaked and rotten, served as company, for he wasn’t fond of being pestered by annoyances. He rotated his right hand in the air and settled it upon a note. A beautiful, yet bleak, sound rung among the streets. He pressed his index upon another, then one more. He was always told to follow his passion, yet he felt unconcerned about his future. There was nothing left for him. He missed her. With a swift inconsistency, a sedan’s violent movement caved the skull of the one he once believed to be his first and last love.
He couldn’t tell if he was weeping, or if the rain was targeting his right cheek specifically. Nonetheless, he pressed another key. His soul was fulfilled again, but temporarily. He missed him, his only son. With an extended period of suffering, the motion became motionless, and the malignancy in the brain was depleted into black. He no longer suffered. Another tear trickled down his cheek, this time his left. He remained seated in his bench, without a motive to press another key. He glanced down to his opened briefcase and noticed 3 coins, organized similarly to the family he once cherished so. He was without purpose and decided to make his way to the ocean-like street, while the rains fell upon him like an onslaught of liquid arrows, piercing his skin from the icy consistency.
He sat in the water, then proceeded to lay down. If he didn’t drown, surely a roaming vehicle would assist in his endeavors. Minutes passed, and the water didn’t submerge his face. The sound of a moving vehicle never approached. Instead, the sound of footsteps gradually emerged from the darkness. He attempted to make out the figure but could not do so. Closer and closer, the figure approached. He began to realize it was another man. Walking on the sidewalk, the man glared down at him insolently as he passed. There is no “good” in the world, he thought. He desired a simple kind gesture. The man was not aware of the deed I am about to do. He continued to rest on the flooded ground until he heard the slight hum of an oncoming vehicle, growing closer and closer until he saw black, then light