His universe was small, about the size of a regular bedroom. He sat
on one corner of it, playing with a small orb of light that floated at the corner on the other end. By opening his hand he split the orb into numerous
particles that scattered across the universe. When he made a fist the
orb reformed. He’s been doing this for quite some time.
Brother…
On
the corner of his eye he saw a tall humanoid shape, darker than
his surroundings. It was approaching him. He replied “Brother,” to it
casually.
The figure stopped. Green, glowing diamonds began to
emerge from slits that were all over its body. A diamond far larger than
the others formed on the center of its head. They all had red pupils
that slowly shifted towards him, and for some reason, that made him feel
something beat faster in his chest. He blinked and the figure was gone,
so he continued to manipulate the orb.
What are you doing, Brother?
The
voice came from behind. He jumped, suddenly feeling something on his
shoulder. He turned and saw that it was his brother. “I don’t know,” he
answered.
“Why are you here?” he then asked.
To welcome you, of course. So welcome.
There was a pause.
“I’m bored.”
Another pause.
His
brother hovered towards the orb and closed its hand around it. Without a
second thought he illuminated the universe once more, obliterating his
brother’s hand in the process. An ethereal laugh then echoed throughout his universe. The sound made his body vibrate as if he were trembling in fear. In a flash his brother appeared in front of him. The
large diamond almost touched his face. So do you want to do something?
“What do you have in mind?”
---
The
red glow of the burning cigarillo tip was the only source of light he
had as he traversed through the darkness. Here and there he would put
his hand out to touch a tree, but he did that just for the hell of it.
He
crunched onward until he stopped on a mound of dirt and gravel. He
looked up, and then took one last drag – a long one – letting everything
out in a powerful puff afterward. He ground up the cigarillo with the
heel of his shoe while he stared at the smoke cloud he created. He grit
his teeth. “Shit,” he grunted. He swiped away the smoke and began to
move again. After a few steps forward, he seemed to be sliding down a
slope.
---
He made sure that one stool beside him stayed
empty. Keeping watch of the entrance, Rich Barnes was like the bar’s
guard dog, alert to the security doorbell quickly turning his head to
see whoever came inside. Not him… He looked back at his bottle
and took a swig of beer. He then slammed it onto the counter and put it along with the other empties, forming a neat line that was close to the edge. “Yo,” he
called out, and the bartender slid over to him his eighth.
The bartender then made a sweep through the counter, dropping all of the bottles into a large
trash bag. When he reached Rich he asked, “Where’s Perry?”
“Dunno.”
Rich wiped his face with his sleeve. It tickled as the flannel rubbed against the bristly hairs of his moustache. He wiped a little
harder to ease that itch. “You know I invited him. I always invite him for a
drink whenever I come here.”
“And he always comes.”
“Except for this time, and all those other times I asked him starting about, a couple months ago?"
The
doorbell rang. It wasn’t Perry. Rich finished another bottle, and the
bartender replaced it before attending to the new guest. “What’ll you
have, Pat?” said the bartender.
“I’ll have what Rich’s having.”
Pat knew not to sit next to Rich unless both sides were free. He sat on
the stool just one over from the saved seat and met eyes with Rich. Rich
didn’t smile, at least Pat couldn’t tell - he could never tell - but
his eyes looked friendly. They nodded hello, and after that, as they
were friends, Pat talked to Rich. “Say, Rich, Perry running late?”
“Dunno,” Rich repeated. He let out a small burp. “He’s been saying yes to the invites, but he’s never been showing.”
“I’ve
noticed.” Pat took a sip from the bottle and couldn’t handle the drink.
After a sharp exhale he leaned over to Rich and said, “Maybe he’s found
someone else, huh?” while he nudged the air with his elbow. He had a
silly grin on his face, which made Rich sigh.
“Very funny. He’s
had a girl long before this started-” He was too late; Rich couldn’t take those words
back. In his head he cursed at himself, angry that he too was drunk, but
not as drunk as Pat, who was cackling like a hyena before Rich blurted
out Perry’s secret.
Now everyone who was near had their heads - or bodies - turned towards him.
“Really?” said the bartender, whose brow furrowed. “How come he’s never talked about it?”
“Why would he?” said Rich, who decided to not even try to lie.
“True.” It was as if the whole bar said that.
“Hell, even as his best friend I’m lucky to have heard this from him.”
The bartender lowered his head and made a creepy grin. “So: how’s she look?” he said, while popping his eyebrows up and down.
Rich
chuckled. “Well, the fact that Perry’s got a girlfriend is surprising
enough, at least for me. But what I’m about to tell you is gonna be the
most impossible thing you guys’ll ever hear: She is hot!”
Rich’s
audience roared in disbelief. Amidst the chaos he heard the bartender
yell “But what does she look like!” Before Rich could describe her a
person walked into the bar.“Sorry I couldn’t make it those other times
Barney, shouldn’t’ve said ‘yes’ to any of those invites.”
Rich had
his hands up, each having two fingers sticking out, and was about to draw a shape in
the air. He hastily brought them back down onto the counter and tapped
his fingers on the wood. The people who were listening to him tried to
get back to normal as quickly as they could. Pat, confused, looked from
side to side. At the sight of Perry his eyes widened.
“There you
are!” slurred Pat. He wrapped his arm around Perry’s shoulder, and
continued: “We were just talking about you, you two-timin’ sonuvabitch!”
Rich shook his head. “Sal? Why’d you let him drink that?”
The bartender shrugged. “He’s a customer.”
I also, really appreciate how you did the thought process of the 
I usually always make a point of telling them so as well. xD But anyways, back to the review.
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