Monday, April 25, 2016

The Unwelcome Nightlight



The next morning, Sophia called all of her appointments from the day before and apologized. She said there had been a death in the family, which was close enough to the truth, and she promised this would never happen again. A few elderly ladies needed to be placated with extra free samples, but most were willing to forgive and forget.

On her way home from work that night, Sophia bought a dog. She wasn’t picky. She just wanted a big dog. She never had a dog, and didn’t know very much about them, but she now knew she needed a canine presence in her life. Her only other qualification was the loyalty required to mercilessly mangle and maul any marauder or threat.

Sophia named the dog ‘Glenn Danzig,’ because it wasn’t very big, but could probably put any human invader in their proper place. Also, the dog was jet black, so the comparison was inevitable. A few hours at best was all that was needed for the dog to bond with Sophia and by ten that night, the two laid down beside each other. Sophia put out of her mind all her fears and worries for what she thought would be a restful evening.

Sophia had by now convinced herself there was a measure of hope that it might not be Swayze’s ghost returned from his early grave to torment her for Eternity. Sophia had known him long enough to know the raw spite in his blood. He certainly blamed her with his dying breath. Sophia didn’t want this to bother her, but it did.

It wasn’t like Sophia hadn’t given Swayze plenty of chances. She’d let him back in her home again and again because she did know he was brilliant and legitimately tortured, and that he never meant to be a villain. More important to him was the warm bed and twenty bucks in the morning when she pretended she didn’t see him take it from her purse. After two or three days he’d be buying six packs and then twelves, and his friends would drop by to hang out for the evening. Most were her friends too, so it took Sophia a while to mind. She liked having the pad where everyone crashed.

She never let anyone shoot up, but she knew Swayze did it when she wasn’t home. She rarely kicked him out. He’d either get mad and leave, or someone else would have a couch he could crash on when she asked hm to pay rent. Every so often, Swayze would hold down an apartment for a few months, usually with student loan money, and Sophia tried not to get back together with him if he wasn’t in a productive mode. Swayze always backslid. He always let Sophia down.
She had come here to get away from him. Swayze had not followed her, and he had not come to haunt her, and it was ridiculous to even suggest he may have faked his own death and caught a bus across the country to find her, though it wouldn’t be the first time he’d slept 3 days on a Greyhound. Sophia talked herself into believing that whatever was in her backyard was entirely explainable, and certainly not Swayze.

Explainable, but no less terrible. It could have been a bear, or a bigger kind of bear escaped from the local zoo. It was probably a pervert making a habit of peering through windows, desperate to see Sophia in a state of undress. The threat of alien was ever-present, and whether the supposedly friendly or fearsome variety, Sophia did not want to meet them.

A loud crashing woke Sophia around 2am, but the dog did not pick up his head, so maybe it was a dream. She went to the bathroom, and when she returned, the dog had its front feet on a chair looking out the window. Sophia asked what the dog saw, and it responded looking nervously over its shoulder and whining. It took Sophia a few minutes to work up the courage, but she looked out as well. There was no moon and she could see nothing moving in her back yard. The dog had lost interest and returned to the bed, which assured Sophia whatever Sasquatch, werewolf, or Loch Ness Monster had returned to the woods. Sophia went to bed as well and fought her spot back from the dog, who had spread out. Despite this little fright, Sophia got a good night’s sleep.

The next day wasn’t too bad. She met some great clients, sold plenty of Eel Slime, and had a great conversation with her boss. Swayze was put in the ground thousands of miles away, though he once told her he wanted to be burned. Sophia had regained enough control to think about the good times. 

Continued Thursday

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