My Corner: I decided to post one of my one-shots. I tend to write one-shots and this one is fairly recent I suppose. Anyway, I liked this one of mine and I can't wait to hear what people on here think.
Carnival
A woman ran around her house in a panic. She searched each room with fearful red eyes. Her once smooth cheeks were blotchy and her hair was a muss. She was wearing the same clothes as she had been two days ago, a contradiction to what she had been earlier this week, a germ-o-phobic woman. The poor woman had cried so many tears she’d lost track. All of her dreams, desires, and aspirations had flown out the window. Newly weds weren’t supposed to be like this! Especially after they, she and her husband, moved into their first house and had finished unpacking.
It was a cute house, good for making a family. That was what she had dreamed of doing, anyway. At night she had dreamed of their future children playing in the back yard, of their first birthdays, even the fights and angst to come during their teenage years. The last one used to make her laugh; but, not anymore, nothing did.
She had made her way into the kitchen. It had been quaint a few days ago; but it was a mess now. The young wife stopped in the middle of the kitchen and stared toward the floor. Before her lay her ceiling fan along with a sizeable portion of her ceiling that had been around the fan. Slowly, dreading what she knew she’d see, the woman raised her gaze to the ceiling.
He loved carnivals; they were always so much fun. He took a bite of his cotton candy and smiled; there was nothing quite like carnival cotton candy. He was a handsome man, his main attribute was the kind look he had to him;, it seemed to attract most women to him. As the Ferris wheel rotated so he would be getting off he was surprised when a woman stood in his way. She was a pretty little thing, even though she looked like a wreck right now. It looked like she’d been crying for days. She gave him the sweetest sad smile he’d ever seen and he knew he’d give her whatever she wanted because of that smile. It worked the same as puppy eyes, her smile left him defenseless and spineless against whatever she said.
“I gave the man tickets for you to go around again, if you’d be willing to sit with me.” Her voice was hoarse and broken, probably because of all the crying she’d been doing.
Numbly, he nodded and sat back down again. She joined him in the seat and the ride proctor made sure it was secure. At first she just looked at her lap remorsefully, as if she had something she wanted to say but wasn’t sure how. As the Ferris wheel began to move she finally spoke.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to go around with you,” she said, voicing his mental question.
He nodded when he saw her glance at him. Her eyes looked so sad he wanted to wrap his arms around her and never let her go until all the bad in the world was gone.
She gave a wry chuckle, “You,” she began awkwardly, “had a kind look to you, a look that say you wouldn’t laugh at the pathetic woman I am.”
He was about to protest but stopped before he opened his mouth, his gaze was transfixed on her own. She fixed him with a soul shattering stare, it broke his heart as her eyes searched his for answers. But he didn’t know what answers she wanted.
“You’re just like he was, before,” she trailed off.
He was suddenly alert and he grabbed her arm and asked in a serious voice, “Are you being abused?”
They had reached the top of the wheel now; the whole carnival seemed to only be there for them. She stared at him for a little, and seemed a bit surprised by his sudden question.Then she gave him a small smile, “no,” the woman said softly.
She turned her head to look at the carnival below, and he couldn’t help thinking about how beautiful she was even while she looked like hell had run her over. He scolded himself, now was not the time to think about how you want to hide her from the world and keep her only for herself.
“I got married recently,” the woman began and he began to cough violently. She didn’t seem to notice.
When he stopped her told himself he should’ve expected her to be taken, who on earth would want a woman like her to be alone?
She continued, “Everything had been great until two days ago.” Her voice was soft, and her gaze was unfocused as she stared into her memories. The woman didn’t even notice their descent as the ride continued.
He remained quiet, knowing she just wanted someone to listen, to be there for her even though they were complete strangers. Apparently her marriage wasn’t working out for some reason; maybe she’d tell him more.
“He’s…he’s lost his mind. He loves carnivals so much that he’s made himself believe he’s at one. He doesn’t even remember me.” Her voice cracked as her body began to shake with the renewal of her tears.
He couldn’t stop himself; he wrapped her in an embrace and made soothing noises to calm her. He didn’t know what to say, what could he say? Slowly, as they reached the top on their second time around, she calmed a little and she raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him through watery eyes. He smoothed some of her hair and tried to give her a reassuring smile that everything would be okay. Abruptly he turned away from her and coughed violently for a minute.
She cupped his face when he stopped, so gently as if she feared he’d break. And the woman leaned towards him, as if to kiss.
He leaned back with wide eyes, “Listen your husband may not be well in the head but this isn’t alright.”
The look she gave him was a pleading one that tore at his heart. She whispered, “Please,” as if she would die, “just one kiss.”
He tried to reason with himself. On one hand she was beautiful and he wanted to kiss her too. On the other hand she was practically grieving and was married. As he thought she took the opportunity to cup his face again and kiss his softly, sweetly. He was surprised; he did not expect her to do that while he was thinking.
It was a lingering kiss; she did not try to deepen it, merely keeping her lips upon his. It seemed as though she was trying to find a reason to live with this one touch, like she lost the will to live on.
As the kiss continued he fiddled around with the idea of pushing her away again. But as she began to shake and as he watched the tears flow from beneath her eye lids he wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to him instead. His eyes slid shut and hers cracked open, and she continued to cry.
She pulled away a fraction of a bit and whispered against his lips, “Forgive me.” And then, a loud gun shot was heard disrupting the fun of the carnival.
She pulled her lips completely away from her husband as he slumped against her. The bullet hole in his temple pronouncing he was dead. His blood was on her lips, from when he had coughed it up. She had found her husband in the attic, in his imaginary carnival world. He had thought they were strangers and that they were on a Ferris wheel. They had actually met on a Ferris wheel, they were busy and neither of them minded being paired up with someone since they were alone.
The young woman didn’t know what caused him to lose his mind two days ago, all she knew was that she couldn’t have continued to live with him causing himself pain. So, she ended it. They were above the kitchen, near the hole he had made after eating all the pink insulation. Her dear beloved husband had thought it was cotton candy, the poor man. The roof was low, and she had had to crawl to reach him. And now, the ceiling couldn’t hold them anymore and it collapsed. Sending her, her deceased husband, and the gun she had set down next to them after shooting him to the ground. They fell in a jumbled heap to the ground; she knew that she had sprained her wrist when she hit the floor. Despite the pain, the widow stood up and made her way to something. She felt numb as she picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.
“Hello this is 9-1-1 how may I help you?” The operator’s voice came through the receiver.
“I would like to report a murder.” She said calmly, numbly, as she stared at her dead husband’s face.
Very orginal. I only have a few tips.
