Time to pick up David’s story again. This story follows on from “Craving”.
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It was a clear, crisp autumn night. A quarter moon light the otherwise dark sky and a gentle breeze sent leaves rustling through the almost deserted park.
Set against this tranquil backdrop was the siluette of a human embracing the dark shape of what could have been a cat or a small dog.
Had there been any witnesses to this scene present and had they ventured closer would have seen that the creature was actually a fluffy.
Had they ventured closer still, they would have seen that the embrace was not the gentle hug of a loving owner but the final throes of a random act of violence, as sudden as it was malicious.
David gazed impassively down at the face of the runty, yellow pegasus, his fingers locked in a vicelike grip around its throat.
He watched the light slowly fade from its eyes, it’s final, weak death rattle scarcely audible. Its tiny wings flapped pathetically, as though this would be enough to break free and escape its tormentor.
David gazed into its buldging, blood shot eyes for a moment more, before dropping the lifeless corpse to the floor.
David stood in the darkness, a feeling of ennui washing over him. He had felt the faintest of thrills as he watched the tiny creature cross the boundry between life and death. But the taste wasn’t there.
The fluffy was scared enough. It must have been. One moment, it had been sleeping peacefully under the wooden park bench and before it had even had a chance to fully open its eyes, it had been swept into the air, feeling David’s hands encircle its throat and squeeze, the spontaneous burst of aggression surprising David as much as his victim.
And yet, there was something missing.
It was the first act of violence against a fluffy that he had committed in the one and a half months since he’d drowned the purple mare in his bathtub.
The feeling of satiation had been enough to sustain David until now. But the calm sense of satisfaction that had stayed with him had finally faded and David was hungry once more.
He had stumbled across the sleeping fluffy on his way home, the alcohol in his bloodstream making him sufficiently impulsive. And yet, this third act abuse had left him wanting.
David was still hungry.
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David sat at the table in his small but tidy kitchen. A pot of tea sat on the table in front of him, along with a half finished plate of beans on toast.
David’s head hurt. He was suprised. He didn’t think he’d had that much to drink last night.
David was reflecting on the events of the night just gone. Clearly he’d been drunker than he’d realised. That would explain his impulsivity.
Worse than the niggling headache though, was the gnawing feeling of hunger in his stomach. The one which either hadn’t been there before the incident in the park. Or was it that he just hadn’t noticed?
Why hadn’t the taste come?
David mulled it over. Certainly, his attack had lacked the planning of the drowned earthie. But then, so had the pegasus he had unwittingly scared to death the first time. And last night’s attack had been far more violent.
So what was it?
David was jerked out of his reverie by the sound of his mobile ringing. He glanced at his screen. Helen. Presumably checking to make sure he hadn’t gotten up to too much trouble at the pub. That thought was enough to at least elicit a wry smile. Oh, if only she knew.
“Hi sweetheart”, David said, flicking open his phone.
“Hey”, came Helen’s chirpy voice, alleviating at least a little bit of David’s disgruntled mood. “How’s your liver?”
David smiled again. She made that joke every time there had been any sort of social event involving alcohol the night before.
“It’ll live to fight another day. I left before it got too crazy. Joe was well on his way to being pissed when I left though”.
“Well of course he was, babe. It was a day of the week and he was awake!”
They both laughed affectionately at the expense of their mutual friend. They’d met through Joe, who had briefly worked as a porter at the hospital where Helen was a nurse.
“I’ve got to go and finish my shift, babe”, said Helen. “You coming round tonight?”
“Sure you won’t be too tired?”
“It’s fine, babe, I’m off tomorrow. And I haven’t seen you all week”.
“Alright. I’ll be round at 7. Love you”.
“Love you back”.
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Helen lay on her bed as she waited for David. It had been a manic shift. She closed her eyes to enjoy the brief period of silence, the first she had really experienced all day.
She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to clear her mind, leaving work where it belonged, so she could enjoy her first real time with her boyfriend all week.
They had been dating for just over a year, having met at a house party, hosted by their mutual friend, Joe. They had hit off straight away.
David was a nice guy. Perhaps that wasn’t the most imaginative of adjectives but there it was.
He was funny in a quiet sort of way. Smart, without being stuck up about it. And he worked for a charity that advocated for the homeless.
It hadn’t taken her long to fall in love with him. They hadn’t talked about moving in together yet but thay was fine by Helen. No need to rock the boat at this stage.
Helen’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the doorbell ringing. She ran to the door and greeted her boyfriend with a smile and a kiss and they settled down to a quiet evening of oven ready pizza and companionable silence in front of the TV.
It might not have been exciting but it suited the two of them just fine.
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“You awake, Hel?”, asked David.
Several hours had passed and the two of them were laying in each other’s arms in a happy post coital slump.
“Mmmmmm” came the dozy reply.
“Mind if I ask you something? It’s about work”.
“Hmmmpppfff.”
David knew that Helen preferred not to talk about work. She liked her job well enough. She just didn’t like taking it home with her. Still, it was unlike David to ask and she was intrigued.
“'S’up babe?”, she asked, not wanting to wake up too much.
“You must deal with people who die, right?”
“Wow, you make the best pillow talk”, Helen replied sarcastically, though not unkindly. “But yes, babe, I deal with people who die. It comes with the territory. Why do you ask?”
David paused. He still wasn’t ready to talk to Helen about his new found interest in fluffy suffering. He wasn’t ready to talk to anyone about it.
“I was just listening to a conversation at work”. David paused for a moment, while he thought about where he was going with this. “They were talking about being scared of death. Why some people were, some people weren’t. Just made me think, that’s all”.
Helen thought for a moment, not particularly wanting to potentially spoil the evening by carrying on down this morbid path, but not wanting to shut her boyfriend down either. It seemed important him, even if it had seemingly come out of nowhere.
“I don’t know what to tell you. There’s no one size fits all. I’ve seen people who you’d say were too young to die face their death with more bravery than you’d think possible. I’ve seen older people knew they were terminal for years break down and cry at the last minute, when the realisation finally hits them. I guess…the ones who really get scared are the ones who haven’t thought about it before. They’ve had their world view, whatever that might be and then death has come and…made them have to confront it. Sometimes they can reconcile it with their worldview and sometimes they can’t. Does that make any kind of sense?”
Silence hung in the air while the two of them reflected on Helen’s words.
“I guess so”, David said eventually.
“Great. Then can we talk about something else?”
“I’ll do you one better”, David replied, smiling gently. He turned over to Helen and kissed her. Following suit, she kissed him back and the two of them made love for the second time that evening.
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Helen was asleep.
David lay awake, finally allowing his mind to settle. He looked down at Helen and a wave of love washed over him.
The events of the past 24 hours were still running through his head and the faint hunger he had been ignoring all evening still lingered. But David felt a sense of calm. Because Helen, little did she know it, had planted the seed of an idea.
. And thanks for the positive feedback 