This music is piercing my skin. I lie half-awake in the corner of a dingy night club in a foreign country. The bass shakes my limbs. The rising tempo quickens my heart. I feel helpless and alive.
Jeremy said this place was good. I turn my head to the left, I see people like me, people not relaxed, but stewing. Stewing in this mass of noise and bodies. They appear less panicked than I feel. I want to stand, but everything's so heavy. I remember the phone call I made to my sister this morning. I came here to get away from the emotion, but in this place everything is bigger than life.
"Carmen. She said her name was Carmen. I'll never forgive her."
"Good. Does it help, to talk?"
"No. I want to leave."
"Leave."
Pete leaves. He doesn't go back. He takes the same road home he always does. There are sheep on the road, he pushes the horn and they scurry through the hedge. He almost forgets to continue driving, the solitude of country roads make time seem meaningless. He fights back tears, and accelerates.
He pulls into the driveway, hears the gravel crunch under the tyres. He parks, and exits the vehicle. He sees a pale figure at the end of the lawn. The figure isn't there. Nobody is. Nobody comes this far out of town, especially this late at night. Pete blinks. The figure remains.
"Hello?" he asks.
The figure doesn't respond. Doesn't move even. A strange glow surrounds the figure. The car's lights go out. Although there are no other sources of light, no lights on in the house, an empty sky, the figure is still visible.
"Hello?" Pete asks, again, "Can you hear me?"
The figure turns. The figure is Pete.
"Hello?" Pete asks, "Can you hear me?"
Pete doesn't know how to respond.
"What..?"
"What..?"
Pete rushes to the door, scared, and grasps his keys, fumbling with the lock. Pete watches. Pete is inside, now. He slams the door and reaches in the dark for the light switch. The room is illuminated. Pete is sitting at the table. He sees Pete enter in a hurry, and smiles.
"Hello Pete. Welcome home. Dinner's on."
Pete sees Pete sitting at the table. He notices the table is laid for four. Pete is standing over the oven. Pete flushes the toilet upstairs. Pete stands frozen.
"Pete?"
Pete stutters. He drops to his knees.
"Pete? Are you okay?"
He mumbles and shakes.
"Pete. Are you okay?"
He lays down. His breathing slowly returns to normal.
"Pete?"
"Yes Pete?"
"Am I.. dead?"
"No Pete. I'm not dead."
"No. I can see that. Am I dead though?"
"No Pete. I'm not dead."
Pete is upstairs. He gets into bed.
Pete stands up. "I'm tired. Can I have a glass of milk?"
Pete gets Pete a glass of milk from the fridge, hands it to him.
Pete takes a sip. "Thank you, Pete."
"No worries, Pete. Pete's just made your bed up in the guest room, if that's okay with you?"
"Cheers Pete. Goodnight."
Pete climbs the stairs. Pete watches on. Pete feels the soft carpet under his bare feet, brushes open the door in the dark, feels around for the bed, and climbs in.
"Night Pete."