The man slammed his thumb down on the power button. The room went quiet as the graphic depiction blood and violence on the television turned to nothing but sheer darkness. He threw the remote down to the ground. A loud crackle. The batteries went flying with an ear-startling pop, the cover following shortly behind.
The woman heard the noise and ran into the living room, where the man laid on the couch with his eyes shriveled shut, his fingers curled into two loose and wiry fists as he continued his deep contemplation of life and all he had seen. “Don’t get too down about it,” she said.
The man opened his eyes. “Could’ve been us.”
The woman put her hands on her hips and laughed. “No, it couldn’t have. You always get like this when something like that happens.”
“What about my uncle?” the man rebutted. “He lives around those parts. What if it was him in the wrong spot at the wrong time? Would you care then?”
The woman sighed, moving over towards the couch. “You’re overreacting—”
“You’re not reacting at all, and it scares the shit out of me!” the man beamed, jumping up off the couch with his eyes wide, and his muscles shaking. “Have we become numb to this? Living in fear? Living and just knowing that one person. One guy. One guy can do something like that! Are you kidding me? Is that what life is worth? Are we nothing more than a statistic, a blink of an eye except for maybe a couple few of us?”
“So what do you suggest we do?” the woman scoffed, rising to her feet as well. “Leave the country? Run away?”
“As opposed to staying here and hoping it isn’t us one of these times?” the man said.
“You selfish bastard!” the woman said. “You don’t feel bad about the people who were there. You only feel sorry about yourself. You can throw your pity party all you want, but it doesn’t change what happened. It doesn’t change what’s going to happen again, again and again. But I don’t live my life running from monsters. Monsters don't outnumber humanity. When the planes crashed into the towers, think about all the people who risked everything to save people like you and I. Jumping into burning buildings. They knew they were going to fall down. They knew they were probably going to die but they went in there anyway. And there were a lot more of them than there were people driving the planes.”
“Just stop,” the man scoffed, sinking back down onto the couch. “I don’t need to hear that crap anymore.”
The woman shook her head, returning to the kitchen. The room went quiet once again.
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139,841 Literary Works • 672,776 Reviews
I support her on not running from monsters, even if you go somewhere there is probably a different type of crisis there too. God bless those who risk their lives to save others. Most people like this man just want to run away and shut it up so I applaud you for speaking up and saying something.
We can never be too early to help but we can certainly be too late. Great work.
Ah, how I've missed you, Tigeraye.
There are very few writers on this site who I genuinely enjoy reading from, and you're in that list. It's not that your prose is beautiful, or that your characters pull at my heartstrings, or anything like that--I like your work because it actually says something. I've been fed too much YA about dystopias that don't seem to understand what a dystopia is, or heartbreak stories that are about a dime a dozen, or works with topics like these, regarding massacres or disasters, that repeat the same drabble we're used to. I'm fine with that, if I'm honest. All works have their strengths and their weaknesses, including yours. But I just enjoy how your work puts humanity under a magnifying glass, and not only deconstructs tragedy, but the very nature of life. I won't say "I like you because you're not like other works" because, in fact, you sort of are, but I will say that I wouldn't mind if there were more authors like you on this site.
But anyway, I'm gushing. Let's start with this review.
I love how you developed the man and the woman in these scenes solely through dialogue. You don't even have to say anything about their characters and we already know who these characters are--the man, understandably paranoid, and the woman, equally understandably indifferent. I also love how despite everything you don't tell us who is right. Personally, I feel the man is guilty of something, but now that I think about it it could easily go both ways. This is a slice of life story, and for a slice of life story it really fits the gray morality perspective.
I have one complaint, however. The beginning, while ver beautifully written and a dramatic way to show and not tell, was a little confusing for me to read at first. I couldn't understand what the man was doing and had to read through it again, but I think that's the point--it's a very beautiful way to draw it, so it's up to you whether or not you want to change that.
Anyway, nice work, once again. Loved it.
Signing out,
--EM.
This is Yams here for a review on Review Day! Wasn't going to let this sit around in the Green Room for so long, so here we go.
This piece both makes no sense to me and makes a lot of sense to me. I understand the guy that's afraid of something like that happening and being paranoid about it. It's scary to think that someone can take another's life so easily. How fragile we are. But I also understand the wife's perspective on this situation as well.
I kind of wish this story went on for longer going into more detail about the thoughts that the man had about this. They were easily the most interesting part of the piece. It's weird how something so simple can make someone think that way.
I like this the way it is and it's shortness. If there was anything I'd to that could be improved is the flow as it felt a bit choppy.
Have a great day!
I'm really glad I read this story, because in light of recent events, I think it captures what's going on in a lot of people's minds.
wow. just wow.