The Nothing Trilogy – I tried my best
By: Joseph Thompson
Copyright 2012 J. Thompson
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Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page
License Notes
Edge of the Earth
Nose-Blind
Colors
Author Biography
Edge of the Earth
The city feels lonely. No friends, no family, it's just me and a bunch of people with no faces in a community. I used to be able to look up at the stars and see a sky so beautiful it would make anyone cry, but right now it's just cloudy. I'd rather feel lonely then confined though, I used to be locked up but now I'm free, free from the clutches of my past. I bought this car after I got out of the joint, I try to take care of it but a person with no money can't keep the car looking like a beauty all the time so I do what I can.
I stop to take a rest, I've been driving for what feels like an eternity trying to find who knows what. Above me is a cloudy sky and flickering streetlights.
"It's cloudy out tonight. I wish I could see the stars." I say to myself
"You can." A voice rings out from the darkness. I'm a little terrified, because I was alone before, and I sure as hell know that my car isn't talking to me. I hear it's footsteps, each step provides a loud crunch in the grass behind me, I see a silhouette of what seems to be a man.
"Who's there?!" I yelled out in fear.
"Oh, just your friendly neighborhood... Ah that jokes to bad for even me to say."
The man shows himself. He is an older man, and seems to be in his fifties, ragged old clothes that seem to have never been washed. A washed out gray beard with black in random places, long greasy hair. If I were to label him, it would be a hobo.
"What does a Hobo want with me?"
"Well sonny, you want to see the stars right? I can show you a place, for a price of course." He states. I am very skeptical of these things, they usually don't go very well, I fear of being robbed of something, although I don't have much.
"What is this price?" I ask him.
"Well... how about a drive in that fancy car there?"
He wants to ride in my car? My sanctuary? This is my last place that belongs to me, its my safe haven. I'm a little disgruntled about it.
"Why would you want to do that? Why my car?
"Well sonny, it's because it reminds me something from my childhood."
I don't want to accept to hastily but this old man seems to not be that suspicious as I made him out to be, he smells terrible but If he can show me the stars, I take him up on his offer.
"Ok" I said to him. "I'll let you drive, but you better show me some damn good stars."
He smiled and laughed a little "They'll be the best you've ever seen" he said to me. "Alright well, let’s go."
The old man gave me direction to this magical place he spoke of, It seemed like he wasn't lying. We finally made it to this place where he told me we could see stars. It's in the middle of nowhere. "Finally" I exclaimed. The old man looks at me and gives me a crooked smile and opens his mouth to speak.
"You know, I was once... very rich. I lived in a mansion, had everything I wanted. Cars, maids, butlers, T.V. sets, you name it, I had it. I was neglectful though, to my wife and most importantly, to my kids. I worked every day to keep the house running, but one day, it all came crashing down. My wife left me, note on the table telling me that material possessions isn't what they wanted. They wanted a husband and a father, not a bank that handed them money. I fell into depression."
You could see his eyes welling up; this story must be hard for him to tell. One tear glistened and fell down his wrinkled filled cheek and he continued his story.
"I lost everything, tried drugs, alcohol and even crime. Just needed something to keep my mind off things to make me feel better."
The old man is right you know, as humans we all do these type of things, selfishly searching for happiness and comfort when we should know that it's always in front of us.
"Everything changed in my life" he said "but there was one thing that never changed."
"What's that?" I asked.
"The stars."
I smile, this old man he is just like me. Searching for a place of belonging in this cold world that threw both of us away. We are human, prone to make mistakes but it seems that neither I nor he can ever be forgiven.
"You know I almost married once" I told him.
"Really?" He said.
"Yea she was a beauty, we had a kid to but we were poor. Paying for things like diapers were really hard on our family. The only way out of it was to steal, so I stole. A car caught my eye, I wanted it. Not to drive but to sell. I was caught and eventually sent to jail."
"When I got out, I was alone. Everyone left me. My wife, kid, family, and friends they were all gone. This car I own now looks exactly the same as the one I stole, this time I wanted it so I could escape."
"Escape to where?" He asked
"Anywhere."
Clouds were starting to form over what once was an expansive sky full of stars. The sky was clogged now.
"Hey old man."
"Yes sonny?"
"Want to go for a ride?"
"To where?"
"Nowhere."
"Alright, count me in."
We hop into the car and drive out, searching for a place where we can find some belonging. Maybe we will find that at the edge of the earth.