The Story of How I Died One Day

Hi. My name is Arthur Sterlington, and this is my story.

I was in my office one night. A very late night at that. Bill, my hard-headed boss needed me to work a few hours later than when my original shift ended. I woke up Wednesday, June, 23, 1994 thinking that I was going to head on home at around 6:30. Instead, when I got to my desk, my loving boss strolled on around to my cubicle.

“Hey, Arthur!” he said. “I am thinking that…”

Since you’re a fucking asshole, you’re gonna make me stay for the rest of my life… I thought.

“Since we are short on workers today, I’m going to need you to stay a couple more hours later than usual. Thank you!”

Just like yesterday and the day before that and the day before that… “Alright Bill,” I replied. I put a cheesy, but convincing enough smile on my face.

“That’d be great! Thanks” his face lit up a bit. “Oh and one more thing! I am going to need you to come in on Sunday as well; I assume you have nothing important to do then, so I’ll see you then!” He left my cubicle after he jacked one of my cheese-its.

Bastard!

I started to pull up the email when my cell phone rang, and shook around in its holster. I unhooked it and placed it to my ear.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hi, Daddy!” A child’s voice responded on the other line.

“Hi, sweetie,” I replied. “Olivia, what have I told you about calling Daddy at work?”

“Yeah yeah! This is important!”

“Okay, Honey.” I gave in. “What is it?”

“Can you come and eat lunch with me at school?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I am completely swamped today. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Aww, okay,” she whined.

“Alright, so it’s a date,” I said. “Now you gotta let Daddy get to work, and you gotta get ready to go to school.”

“Okay! Bye Daddy!” she cheered.

“Bye, Honey!” I sighed and closed the phone. Back to its original position it flew after that. I turned toward my computer and tried again to pull up my email. I successfully opened it without any disturbances or hindrances. I began writing to my wife.

Dear Lora,

I will be staying a bit late tonight. I will be home at around 9:00 pm.

Love you lots,

Arthur

I clicked on the little red exclamation point to say that it was important, and then clicked send. The computer made a noise similar to the noise it would make if I were receiving an email.

The rest of my day was spent filling paper work out, taking phone calls and getting harassed by my asshole of a boss. At 5:00 that evening, he barged in.

“Artie-oops! I mean Arthur,” he laughed. “We need you in the conference room at 5:15 sharp.”

“Okay,” I rolled my eyes in disgust. Why do you like to fuck with me like that?!

“So, I’ll see you then?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.

“Yep.” I relaxed a bit, because I had nothing to do from 5:05 to 5:15. At about ten after, the phone rang. It was my friend, Jim Brotherland. That’s Officer Brotherland.

“Hey Jim.” I said. “What’s going on?”

“Hey Arthur; I’m pretty good, how about you?”

“I’m okay,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s my boss…” I explained. “I don’t know why I put up with him. He just kicks me around. The worst part is that he can get away with it.”

“I don’t know why you put up with it either,” he said.

“Anyway, I’ve got a meeting in a few minutes, so could you tell me what you needed real quick?”

“Yeah sure. Claire was wondering what Lora wanted us to bring to the bar-b-que on Saturday.”

“Oh…” I said. I thought for a second. “The bar-b-que, hmm…oh! I think she told me to tell you guys to bring a bowl of potato salad.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“No problem.” I said. “I’ll see ya later Jim.”

“Alright,” he replied. “Good bye.”

I hung up the phone and put it back on the receiver. The curly-q cord was tangled around my arm, so I untangled myself in the process. I stood up and straightened my suit to the way it was this morning when I put it on. There were several wrinkles that I tried to smooth out with the heel of my hand, but they did not flatten. I put up my hands as if to surrender to my shirt, and headed toward the Conference Room of Doom. I ended up sitting, bored in a chair for about an hour and then I went back to my desk and took more phone calls and filled out more paperwork. I didn’t even get out of the office until half after nine. My wife is gonna freak out. I thought.

I reached around to the back of my computer and flipped the switch, Killing it. That’s what Olivia always though happened when you turned it off. I grabbed my briefcase and stuffed some loose papers into its belly, closing its mouth after that. I turned out the lamp on my desk and headed to the front of the building to exit. I checked my person to make sure that I had everything with me. I did.

I opened the door and was greeted by a blast of abnormally hot air for a June night. Several streetlights were evenly spaced down the street; they shined their own circle of light down on the pavement below. The sound of hundreds of cicadas filled the night air. I was walking briskly, taking long strides. I was about two or three blocks away from the parking garage where my car was parked. Ahead a block was a wall of faint light. It was an alley. There was a dilapidated light fixture hanging from the side of the building hanging over the alley, showing a weak yellow glow over the inhabitants of the space. I kept moving. I hated walking alone at night. There could always be someone hiding, waiting to jump out at any unsuspected second and slit his throat or, worse! The yellow stream of light was coming closer and closer, and soon he passed it.

There was a dog wandering in the alley looking for something good to eat when he saw me cross his alley. The dog was infuriated and violated. He started chasing me and for about a block and a half, he was out of reach of the dog. Unfortunately, I was growing tired. I slowed a little. The dog retained his speed, and got closer and closer to my ankle. I was almost to the parking garage when the dog clamped onto my ankle. I screamed in pain. The dog ripped through the hem of my slacks and ripped a portion off. In the process he had to release my leg for a while.

Right as we entered the garage, the dog clamped back down. He dug his canines into my lower calf. Blood stained his big white teeth, and he was foaming at the mouth. More blood was dripping down my leg. I finally made it to my car. I opened the door, and climbed in. The dog was still on my leg, so I took my briefcase and bonked the dog on the head. It knocked him long enough for me to close the door. I locked the doors and buckled myself in. I turned to look at the dog clawing at the window. He slobbered foam and blood all over the window. I fumbled in my pocket for my keys and found them. There were probably about ten keys on my key ring for several different things. I fumbled for the right one. I found it after a few seconds and stuck it into the ignition and started the car. The Doberman was still clawing at the window. He wanted another taste of calf, but I accelerated, and the dog fell off of the window. He barked a few times and ran way, back to his alley.

The bite marks on my calf were still bleeding quite a bit. I pulled over after a few minutes of driving and began to tend to my wound. I reached under my seat and grabbed the first aid kit. “You never know when you will need one,” I would always say. I opened it up and pulled out a roll of gauze. I started by pulling my pant leg up. I took several tissues out of the small green bag, placed them on my leg and pressure on it. I tried to be speedy about it, seeing as it was getting later and later by the minute. It was already 10:00, an hour later than I promised Lora. I took another tissue and put it on the wound. Then I took some gauze and wrapped around the tissue a few times. I cut the gauze at a certain point, and then tucked it under itself. It stayed. My pants were already ruined, so I put the pant leg down. If my blood got on the pants, it wouldn’t have mattered. I put the rest of the gauze back and zipped the bag up and placed it back under my seat from whence it came. I put the car into drive and drove home.

The house came into sight. The porch light was on, so I figured Lora was still awake. I pulled into the driveway, put the car into park and turned the car off. I grabbed my briefcase and climbed out of the car. I made my way to the front door. I opened it and stepped inside. Lora was sitting on the couch watching a TV show. She turned to look at me.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Lora,” I said. “Bill had me stay late again!”

“It’s okay, she replied. “I’m just glad you’re f-“

“What’s the matter, Lora?”

“Arthur! What happened to your leg?”

“Oh, I was walking back to my car, and a dog chased me. Got me pretty good, but don’t worry. I’m fine.” I set my briefcase down and walked over to her and sat down.

“Put your leg up! Let me see it!”

I did so and pulled up my left pant leg. The gauze was soaked with blood.

“Oh my god!” she cried. She carefully pulled off the gauze and then the tissue. There a set of bite marks on my ankle, and a set of gashes on my lower calf muscle. It was still bleeding a little. “What did you do to the dog?”

“I didn’t do anything.” I replied. “I was just walking by the alley, you know. On Olive Street. He was apparently violated, and didn’t like me walking by his alley. It was a Doberman Pinscher.”

“I’ll be right back!” Lora said. She rushed off to the linen closet and came back with an old ratty towel. The blood had already started flowing again, but Lora clamped down on it with the towel. After a bit, the blood slowed and then stopped.

“Thanks Hon,” I said.

“I’m, just glad you’re alright.” She was a bit teary-eyed.

“Well, I’m pretty tired; I think I’m going to turn in for the night Lora.”

“Alright,” she replied. “I’ll meet you up there.”

I stood up and limped off to the bedroom. I changed into my pajamas then brushed my teeth. Then I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to my chin and stared up at the ceiling. I left the bed lamp on so Lora could see to get into bed. I just lay there and thought about my crazy experience. The image of that crazed dog’s expression was burned into my mind. It was branded, like you would brand a cow, confirming your ownership over it. The dog had big bulging eyes. They were a pale brown color, so pale that they were more gray than brown. Its lips were twisted in the ugliest snarl I had ever seen. The dog was foaming at the mouth, excessively and its triangular ears were down flat against its head.

That dog was mad.I thought.

Lora walked in and headed toward the bathroom to brush her teeth. After a few minutes, she came back out and jumped into bed.

“Good night.” She gave me a kiss and I kissed her back.

“Night.”

She turned the light off and the room was smothered in darkness. The only light that existed was the moonlight. It streamed in through partially closed blinds and landed in a puddle on the silky sheets of the bed.

I could not get to sleep for at least an hour. Well before I fell asleep, I'd acquired the worst migraine of my life. Probably the worst in the history of Mankind. I got up out of bed carefully and quietly, so as to not disturb my sleeping wife. I headed toward the bathroom and its medicine cabinet. I opened the mirrored door, and fumbled for the Excedrin. It was sitting behind a mini package of Kleenex. I grabbed it and removed the cap. I extracted three cherry-red caplets and popped them in one at a time, each folowed by a mouthfull of water. The cherries slid down my throat and into my steel-trap of a stomach. They began to dissolve and work their magic.

The next morning when I woke up, I was very groggy. My head was throbbing; the headache that I had the night before, was topped by the one that I had the next morning. I was experiencing the morning blindness. You know, when your vision is severely distorted by all of that eye crap that forms in your tear ducts over night. I rubbed my eyes and that didn't seem to help. I rubbed some more but my effort was still futile. I could see well enough to see that the skin on my face was very flushed. I looked at my arm and it was the same hue, basically, a lack of saturation for the most part. That was usually a symptom of the flu, or possibly a cold, but I felt fine. Like I could go out and take a great big bite out of the day.

My stomach gurgled just then. It was so loud people downtown could hear it. I left the bathroom and got ready for work and then went to the kitchen for something to satisfy my stomach down to the deepest darkest depths. I found some ham and put a fairly hearty amount on a plastic plate and put it in the microwave. It whirred and then the glass plate inside began spinning, evenly distributing the microwaves over the meat. Several seconds later, it beeped and I pulled it out and set it on the kitchen table. I looked at the clock. I was gonna be late so I rolled up the ham and grabbed all of the stuff I needed. Lora and Olivia were already gone for school and work, so there was no need to go looking for them. I left the house. and climbed into my car. My eyes were still being nuisances and hindering me from driving properly. I swerved a bit because of it and I almost hit a woman and her dog. They were crossing the street. They looked very closely alike. They both had pig-tails, except the dog had her red ribbons on her ears. The dog was dressed in a dog shirt the same color as the woman's. They jumped out of the way just in time.

"Watch it asshole!" she screamed.

I was feeling my headache getting worse, and I was still very hungry. I needed something to eat very soon. I was close to my work. The alley that the Pinscher was prowling around in was in sight, though very blurry. A minute later I swerved into a parking space on the curb. I parked on the fire lane, absent-mindedly. I staggered out of my vehicle. To the naked eye, I would have appeared drunk that day, but really, inside, there was something much worse going on. My stomach was crying for food, and my head was still throbbing; it felt about ready to explode! I slowly made my way into the office building. and to my cubicle. No one was there, except for my idiotic boss, Bill Ark. He was waiting at my desk with an expression that you look at once and you would never forget. He was furious.

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" he snapped. "Where have you been!?"

I set down my briefcase, without a word. I looked at him for a long time with a blank stare; I felt so wasted; yet I've never touched a drop in my life.

"Well, are you going to explain yourself Arthur, before I fire you!?"

I was starving, my head was throbbing, and Billy Boy was making it worse, so I slowly approached him. I put both hands on his shoulders. I looked into his confused eyes. and smiled a very demonic grin. I pulled him down a bit and just sunk my teeth into his sweaty flesh. I barely missed his jugular; nonetheless blood began spewing out. At the same time he screamed. I chewed on the bloody flesh and swallowed.

"What the hell!?" Bill screamed. "Oh my God!" He put his hand on his open wound and broke away from my grasp for a second and ran for the phone. He called 911, as I trotted to him. I still had that creepy smile on my face, and I wanted more!

"He...llo, hi, this is Bill Ark at TrenTech, 3567, N. Corn...erstone Ave. I have an emer...gency! One of my em...ployees...he bit me, and I'm blee...ding real bad!"

"Alright, we'll send someone real quick!" the woman on the other line said. "Just try to slow the bleeding as much as possible!"

"Okay! Thank you!"

I grabbed his arm and took a bite. He screamed with pain. I shook ferociously until finally his arm popped off! Blood spilled all over! It got all over the front of my suit and pants. He fell to the ground and tried with his only arm to stop the blood in his neck to stop flowing. I was able to get to his stomach and I tore through it like tissue paper! I pulled out his large intestine and shoved it in my bloody mouth. My jaw was moving up and down, chomping on my boss's entrails. He finally went limp and I gorged on his lifeless body. Pieces of his heart and his lungs lay on the ground. I had just gotten to his liver when the door burst open. It was the police and the paramedics. The one who had busted in was a good friend of mine, Jim Brotherland, Officer Brotherland.

"Arthur!?" he cried.

I turned toward him with my glassy eyes, and my blood-stained face. I sat there for a second, and just stared. Something in the back of my corrupt mind told me to leave Jim alone. He was my friend, and I shouldn't touch him, so I just sat there for another moment.

"It's a zo-" one of the other officers cried.

"Don't say that!" Jim said. "This is just a really bad dream!"

"No!" the third officer yelled. "We need to do something!"

"Arthur, what happened?!" Jim cried.

Then something in me snapped. My brain just died and I had no control over any bodily functions except to eat, and eat anyone! I stood up and hovered over Bill's mutilated corpse for a few seconds. Then I slowly walked toward Jim.

"Arthur...what are you doing...?" Jim asked.

"Jim!" the first officer cried. "He's not your friend anymore! Shoot him, or I will!"

Jim hesitantly raised his gun as I made my way to him. He slowly moved his index finger to the trigger and jiggled it reluctantly. "Stay back!"

I was about five feet away from him and he still hadn't made any other movements.

Finally, Jim pulled the trigger on his pistol and the bullet quickly lodged into my rotting brain. I collapsed, dead.

Jim put the gun back in its holster, and stared at my lifeless, bloody corpse.

"I'm sorry," the first officer said.

Jim sighed, sadly. Why did I want to be a police officer? he thought to himself. Was it because I wanted to protect the rights of citizens, or was it because It seemed like a "cool" job at the time?

That night, Jim Brotherland sat on the couch in his living room watching TV. It wasn't enough that he had to experience what he did, live, but he saw it on the news and went through it again. That was all he could think about for the next few weeks. The image of his friend's glassy dead eyes staring back up at Jim was burnt to his memory. Jim went to sleep that night with a million thoughts rushing through his mind at once.

When he finally did get to sleep, it was 12:03, Thursday, June 24th.