The Unfortunate Tale of You by Shaun Garlick

The Unfortunate Tale of You

cross-genre literature by Shaun Garlick

Bright light shines through your cracked eyelids. The burning smell of antiseptic seeps into your nose as you breathe in. Your head is spinning, and when you finally force your eyes open, the blurry room is too. Where am I? What’s going on? The harsh white light makes you blink, and the room starts to come into focus. White walls, white bed sheets, a woman in a white coat standing next to you holding a clipboard. Is this a hospital? Ah you’re finally awake, welcome back. You took a nasty hit to the head earlier tonight, how do you feel? The doctor smiles at you kindly. W-what happened? Panic rises in your chest as you stare at the doctor. You’re in a hospital, do you remember anything? The doctor’s smile melts off her face, concern rising in its place. I-I-I don’t know wha-what. Everything goes red.

Rage fills you, heating you up to the point that you’re surprised the rain and tears don’t turn to steam on your face. You pick yourself off the wet ground where you fell, and run at him. Why are you like this?! Why do you always do these things to me?! I hate you! You shove him against the wall and punch him in the stomach as hard as you can. Why can’t I just be happy?! He shrugs off the punch and everything flashes white as he hits you back twice as hard. You fall back, ears ringing, something thicker and hotter than the rain and tears running down your face. He has always been stronger. Now he’s angry too, and advances on you, droplets of water thrown up with every stomp of his feet towards you. You crabwalk back, then feel a rock under your hand. You grip it and with all the strength you can muster, you throw it at him, turning and running before you even see if it hits him. Your heart races as sparks turn the world orange.

You can’t believe she actually said yes. Now here you are, sitting on opposite sides of a booth sharing a milkshake. The cold vanilla coats your tongue as you take a sip. Your

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hands shake, so excited to finally be with her, the girl you’ve been dreaming of for years. Your mind has never felt so clear and so crowded as when you look at her. A thousand dreams of a thousand dates and a thousand times as happy as you have ever been before. Her laughing, a dollop of chocolate ice cream on her freckled nose. Her skipping through a field of tall yellow grass, her wave of red hair whipping around as she looks back at you. You catching her as she trips on the rocky trail, her long arms wrapping around you. She shines through all of it. I can’t wait to see it all, feel it all. You laugh with her at the joke she just told. She’s so pretty when she laughs, her green eyes sparkle like the stars and pure joy shines from her face. Fuck it I’m going for it, you lean across the table and kiss her. Angels sing and golden light bursts all around you.

. . . . . . You and your girlfriend cuddle on the couch, watching some show you haven’t seen one minute of. You’re too busy looking at her. You bury your nose in her hair, smelling her shampoo. Mangos and honey. She’s so perfect, and she’s with you. I never thought I could be this happy. She laughs at something in the show, and you can’t do anything but smile and stare, enraptured. I could sit in this moment for a thousand years. Instead, an evergreen forest shoots up between you, taking over your sight.

You’re walking downtown, holding hands with the love of your life and feeling the warm glow of the sun on your face. You close your eyes and take a deep breath of the warm clean air. When you open them, she’s waving at someone across the street. You look to see who it is, and the smile leaves your face. It’s him. Why do they have to be friends? She is the most amazing person, and he is the lowest of the low. A bully, stealing your stuff, spreading rumors about your family, an endless barrage of slaps and punches. He is the meanest motherfucker you have ever met. He doesn’t look mean now though, a wide smile covering his face, rather than the sneer you’re used to. His eyes look bright and friendly as he waves. The dark, menacing disgust that is ever present in gaze when he looks at you is gone. She’s returning the smile, just as bright and happy as she always does to you. Tendrils of jealousy shoot through your soul. That’s my smile, why does he get to see it too? The sun goes behind a cloud, shadows spreading across the street. The air feels colder, and so do you. Your vision blurs as blue seeps into your eyes.

Tears stream down your face, an endless river of sadness. A deep pain grips your insides, like the hand of a demon squeezing your soul. Like a sponge it all spills out, unable to be contained under the pressure. How could she do this? She was perfect, they were perfect. Soulmates in every sense of the word. She was your sun, and now she warms another. Him. She couldn’t just leave you, she had to go to him. Why Him?! Why does he always ruin everything?! You can’t let this go, you have to do something. It’s his fault. Your breaths start coming faster and faster as the world shatters into purple shards.

You slip on the wet pavement, landing on your shoulder and sliding a few feet. You have to get up, you need to move, move, MOVE. You’ve never been so scared. The adrenaline keeps you moving, your soaked clothes weighing you down. You can hear him gaining on you, shouting your name, rage in his voice. I can’t let him catch me. Get your scrawny ass back here! The words echo down the alley. You keep running, only to slide to halt at a dead end. There’s nowhere else to go. Shit shit SHIT. You turn, and there he is, silhouetted against the mouth of the alley. Oh god he’s huge. There’s nothing you can do, nothing, nothing. You’re hyperventilating, the panic filling you to the brim. He takes a step into the alley, and you only see one way out. Without thinking you let out a primal shriek of terror and run right at him. But halfway there you slip again, falling forward. A hot, hard pain, and everything is white.

You are back in the bed, struggling, thrashing. I need to get out, I need to find her. I need to find him. This can’t be the end of my story. She’s mine, she can’t be his. You scream, a ragged, broken sound. I need to get to them. Orderlies are holding you to the bed, and as you try to escape, a nurse sticks a needle in your thigh. A sharp pain and your brain fills with syrup, thoughts barely moving--my arms...my legs...I...can’t--it feels like they’re being filled with cement. You let out a whimper, feeling crushed under the weight of it all. Slowly, it fades to black.

The End

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