Zachary

Mike looked longingly out the glossy window onto the sunlit street. ‘You can’t stare like that forever.’ His mom said, concerned. ‘You’re going to have to accept that we’re here. You might as well try and make the best of it. Hey look, there are a few kids about your age over there. Go outside and try to talk to them.’ Mike sighed and turned to face his mother. It had been three days since he moved to New Mexico from California. He was completely against moving from the day that the idea had been proposed, he thought he had so much in California. He wasn’t the most popular in school, but he had good friends and good grades and a good future he saw ahead. Then, his dad decided that he would be happier without him and his mom and he left without a drop of guilt.

The last time Mike had seen his dad was still a crystal clear picture in his mind. He could see his mom, crying hot tears in a doorway, slumping to the ground and covering her face with her hands. His dad had a pristine look on his face, as he walked away to their only car. He looked back once, as he shot a scowl at his mom and his eyes sliding to an eight year old Mike. Mike still remembered the flicker of pity and regret he saw when his dad’s eyes glazed over him. Then it returned to the prideful, unforgiving smirk as he opened the driver door, slammed it, and sped off, leaving a trail of black exhaust in the air.

Mike replied to his mom with a bitterness in his words, ‘And why should I? Why should I accept this? And why should I go talk to them?’ He knew deep inside that his mom was only trying to help. But his mind was currently a battleground, where only lashing out could protect. His mom had a look of holding back tears as she said her next words. ‘You know I don’t like this any more than I do. I just want you to enjoy this the best you can. Now please, just have some fun and try to forget for a little bit, ok?’ Mike saw the vulnerable part of his mom and that’s what broke his defiance. ‘Ok mom. I’m sorry.’ He replied solemnly as he got up and started to the door.

His mom brightened a bit and called after him, ‘And don’t break too many girls’ hearts!’ He rolled his eyes and said ‘Bye, mom.’ as he pushed open the front door and walked outside.

He saw two boys and a girl skating down the cement road. The two boys were clumsily skating along, stumbling and falling often. The girl, though, was twirling about and moving quickly, almost carelessly as she taunted the boys ruthlessly. They were obviously friends, but the teasing seemed like something only people that were really close would do. Mike had always prided himself in the fact that he could skate quite well, every time there was a race, Mike seemed to be destined to win. He could jump, do tricks, and go blindingly fast. He luckily left his skates in a box that was still right outside of the door.

He hastily opened the box and dug through the items inside. He searched and searched, until he finally felt the familiar boot on wheels. He yanked them out easily and strapped them on as he sat on his porch. He stood up quickly and began to skate at a reasonable pace towards the neighborhood trio. He could now hear the girl challenging the boys. ’Come, catch me!’ She hollered as one of them took a fateful swipe at her, and in doing so lost his balance and fell roughly on the pavement. The other boy looked calm, as if he was used to this and was almost entertained by her taunts. He merely stood about, waiting to see what would happen next.

The girl was circling the boy that had fallen unforgivingly. ‘Oops! I guess grandma fell over. Life Alert! Come quick!’ She shouted and burst into laughter. ‘You both are awful at this! I bet no one in the town could beat me at skating!’ At that particular moment was when Mike appeared next to her. ‘How much are you betting?’ He said in an inquiring tone. The girl jumped back and looked startled at the newcomer, but only for a second. Her steely gaze measured this boy that made the challenge. Thin built, not scrawny but not weak either. From her previous experiences, all boys were clumsy and uncoordinated.

She answered in an authoritative and non-caring tone. ‘Eh, how about five dollars, that way you don’t lose too much?’ Mike grinned inwardly as he said ‘deal’. They skated over to the bend of the road on one side of the street. The idea was, to skate on the sidewalk, switch to the road when they reached a driveway, and go to the other side of the road. At the other side, they would both turn the block and skate as fast as they could to the middle of the road where the two less skilled boys were standing.

One of the two boys shouted ‘Ready?’, ‘Ready!’ Both racers shouted in a competitive unison. ‘Go!’ The boy shouted. Mike and the girl shot off like speeding bullets. The rhythmic “dun dun, dun dun” as they flew over the cracks in the sidewalk sounded like a sped up soundtrack at the speed they were going. Mike had a determined look on his face, and a grin as he passed the girl. He wreaked the driveway they were to switch to the road at and took a fateful glance behind him. He saw the girl looking panicked and frustrated as she saw herself getting beaten by someone she thought of as unskilled. Mike turned his head forward again in a widespread grin that soon turned into a yell of surprise.

He saw a rock in front of him that he wasn’t expecting and tripped over it, flying head over heels for a few seconds before crashing down. He took the blow mostly on his elbows and arms as he skidded painfully across the street. Rocks and small pebbles cut into his vulnerable skin, leaving red, steaming hot marks. He cried out in pain and turned to his back, so as not to have pressure on the wounds. He saw the girl smiling brightly as she looked upon her fallen opponent and flew by, a rolling blur. She was still bathing in her presumed victory when Mike saw it.

There was a red truck barreling much over the speed limit, swerving from side to side of the road. Much more importantly, it was in the flight path of the girl. Mike painfully got to his feet as soon as he humanly could. He didn’t have time to think about it or to feel pain, he needed to get to her. He kicked hard on his skates, gaining more and more momentum with each stride. Seconds before the truck would decimate the girl, Mike jumped and pushed her out of the way.

Time stopped.

He saw her motionlessly reaching her arms out to catch herself. In his suspended state, he saw that the pebbles that made up the road were starting to come loose of their compact state, probably because of the continuous speeding that happened on his street. He saw pebbles flying up and towards his face, although it didn’t really matter. For some reason he felt as though none of these things mattered, the winning of a race, how many friends he had, or even how his dad left. All that mattered now was what he had achieved. Had he been a good person? He remembered giving his jacket to a homeless man one day. He also remembered stealing a decoration from a charity organization that his mom was volunteering for.

He didn’t make much of an impact on the world, he realized. His thoughts turned to the afterlife. Was there one? Was it a good one? Was there a god that would judge his actions in his life? What would they judge by? Questions raced through his mind at an impossible rate.

He heard a crunch. There was an unfathomable pain in his ribs and head.

Then there was nothing.

He awoke in darkness, although he felt like he had never been asleep. He felt even more real, deeper, in some way. A voice meandered through his mind, reverberating and getting louder. When he could tell what the voice was saying, he was mortified. It was saying rites of pain, suffering, and ultimate separation from good. A singular, true good, Zach realized. God was this good, and this voice was cursing Him in the worst way possible. That is when Zach realized where he was.

He dropped to his knees and started sobbing uncontrollably, begging forgiveness, pleading ignorance, and feeling the most total despair imaginable. The voice seemed to turn his attention to Zach. Zach felt as though something horrid was grimacing in deplorable pleasure at him. “Yes Zach,” The voice of the Deceiver came. “Welcome to your eternal home.” The voice cackled louder and louder, drowning out all thought and replacing it with fear. Zach cried.