Voodoo swept his hands through his silky orange hair. He was walking back to his lonely one roomed apartment. He had just gotten through the most uncomfortable twelve minutes of his life, again. So many boyfriends, but this one was different. It had lasted three months. That was something, wasn't it? He was so nice. But it seemed like he didn't understand. Voodoo was the dominate one.

But it didn't matter. He came up to the brown door of his apartment, and pulled out his keys. He opened the door and looked around. He gave a sigh and walked around tearing off his shirt closing the door behind him. He always took advantage of the gyms around his city. His chest was tough and his muscles were strong. He hated wearing his shirt. It always felt like someone was suffocating him. Which was ironic; for a living he designed t-shirts then sold them to small stores all over the place.

Voodoo wasn't his real name. He had always hated his real name, James Naticul. It sounded so lame and ugly. Ever since he had left the orphanage, he changed it to Voodoo. He was 23 and now single.

He went into the bathroom and turned on the sink. The rusty knob gave a loud shriek and the walls rumbled. They always did when he used the water. He splashed the cold water on his face. He looked up at his reflection. His green eye glowed and the blue one looked teary. Voodoo hated his eyes. Everyone either thought it was cool, or he was blind in one eye. But he had perfect vision. He shut off the water, and walked into his room. He looked at the clock. 5:30.

Perfect, just enough time to go to the rave. He knew the techies that worked all of the raves in his town.

Voodoo walked to his closet and found his favorite pants. He quickly striped and pulled on his black and neon green pants. The straps were everywhere and swayed as he walked. He went lazily back into the bathroom and looked at himself. The back of his tattoos shined and his eyes looked devilish.

He gave a sigh and walked into in the cramped living room. (Which was more like a space containing an old couch that smelled like potatoes.) He walked over to the couch and picked up his keys and wallet.

"See Jason?" and crackly voice sounded from behind him.

Voodoo swung around and came face to face with Mercutio. Mercutio was his parrot that he had found in a pet shop for ten bucks. He was a red Macaw and was very intelligent. Sometimes he was so intelligent, that Voodoo felt like he was talking with a person.

"No…" Voodoo mumbled. "We broke up."

"Jason sucks….." he gave a 'CRAWW' and then, "Rave?"

"Yes, Joes working. I'll get in for free"

"Me come, come?" the bird was smart, but often repeated himself.

"Um I don't know." Voodoo, was in the mood to get his mind of people he loved. He just wanted to let himself drift away in the defining sounds and blinding lights.

"Maybe next time. I kind of just want to be alone."

The large bird shuffled closer to him on the perch and came eye to eye with him "Alone not good, not good" His blank black eyes scared Voodoo.

Then he flapped back to his cage, which seemed to take up most of the living room and kitchen.

"Sorry", Voodoo mumbled, then walked outside.

The rush of the summer hit him. No more collage for a while, thank god. No more boyfriend for a while…damn it. He was alone again. Just because he was so…controlling. He knew what he wanted; it had to be out there some where. His bare chest was exposed to the moon, which was just rising over the hill.

The rave was on hillcrest street, which was only a mile away. He'd walk. There was no use in bringing out the piece of junk. His VW bug. It was rusted and old, and when he got there, there wouldn't be any parking anyway.

He walked down street after street till finally the loud BOOM BOOM hit him. Voodoo walked a little faster and finally reached the park. The lasers and sounds were intoxicating and he reached the gate to go in. But instead of fallowing the rest of cattle, he walked around the side. There people in black shirts that were unloading more wires and lights.

Then there was an older bigger man with a large purple mohawk.

"Hey, Joe!" Voodoo ran over to him.

"Hey long time no see…I suppose that guy…what was his name? Jason? Was keeping ya busy." His voice was loud and boomed over the speakers.

"We broke up…" Voodoos voice got lost in the music.

"Sorry to hear that. But hey, at least we got ya back!" he gave Voodoo a large pat on the back, and led him though the tech door.

But before he let him out of his sight he shouted, "Where's Mercutio?"

Voodoo didn't stop walking pretending not to hear and smiled to himself. He was always famous at these raves. The guy with the orange hair and the bird. But tonight all he wanted was freedom. He just wanted to loose himself.

The crowd and so large he thought he would loose himself too easily. But finally he found a place were everything felt right. The music shook his whole body and the lights made you feel insane. He danced until he couldn't dance anymore. He lost track of time, and lost track of how many people had fainted. Voodoo didn't care what was going on around him. He just let his hands and feet do there thing.

Finally after regaining some sense of everything, he looked around. The crowd had shrunk and the moon had risen and was now full in the sky. His feet were tired and his chest gleamed with sweat. He then made his way through the crowd. He felt like he was ready for the army. Voodoo shoved and crawled, and jumped over. Finally after breaking free from the mob, he made it through the tech door. Joe and his companions were gone, and Voodoo was too tired to walk home just yet. He walked past the teenagers making out and past the teenagers doing drugs. And made it to the back of the park. He found a bench and sat down, very much relived.

He felt so odd. He felt better, but he did miss Jason. But he would get over it. Wouldn't he? Voodoo's eyes gleamed against the shine of the moon, and he watched the crowd of the night get smaller and smaller.

People were leaving, and Voodoo let his mind drift away and his eyes close. Then for what seemed only a minute he opened his eyes and the moon was already setting. Voodoo couldn't believe it, had he really fallen asleep? He looked around. The gleam of the sun spread like butter through the trees. He looked around and saw people leaving.

Another rave another day. He got up, now chilled by the night air, and walked home.

He had only made it to the door when a noise sounded from inside. He pulled out his keys from his pocket and opened the door. Inside on the couch was Jason. Mercutio was in his cage and glaring at him with his black deep eyes.

"Jason what the…?"

But Jason got up and dropped a key onto the coffee table. Voodoo had almost forgotten that they had traded house keys. Jason looked depressed and pissed.

"Here. I brought this back." He said between tight lips.

"Jason…I'm…" Voodoo wanted to tell him again that he was sorry but it wouldn't matter.

"I don't want to hear it. You never deserved me." He was wearing a back tank under a fish net long sleeve. He slid his hand in his pocket and walked toward the door, where Voodoo unknowing blocked his way.

Jason waked up to Voodoo and bent close to him. Voodoo could feel his hot breathe on his ear. "You were never that good." He said, with a cruel smile.

He backed away, ready to walk proudly out of that place once and for all when a voice sounded from behind them.

"U-G-L-Y … You an't got no alibi. SQUAWK! You ugly ya ya you ugly…!"

Out raged Jason jammed Voodoo in the shoulder and stormed out. Voodoo swung the door closed on him. He was relieved, which was a good sign. He was glad he had left Jason. He turned to Mercutio who was now on top of his cage looking proud.

"You always know the right things to say…" Voodoo walked over to him and patted him gently on the head. Mercutio then climbed on the Voodoos shoulder and hitched a ride. Voodoo walked into the kitchen which was right behind them, and put up a pot of boiling water.

"Food?" squawked Mercutio.

"Yep…breakfast…spaghetti, my favorite."

Mercutio stayed aloft Voodoos shoulder the whole time, and tested the pasta for readiness.

Finally sitting down, Voodoo scooped a large portion of spaghetti onto his plate. Then he got out a small pate and put a few pieces of the slimy noodles onto it. And put it across from him. Mercutio hoped off his shoulder and lazy ate some of it, the whole time whistling the tune from Gilligan's island. This kept Voodoos mind of the past events.

That night he felt the great heap of loneness. Of course he had Mercutio but it didn't feel like enough. He tossed and turned, but nothing felt comfortable. He wished he'd find somebody already. Damn his pride. He threw the covers aside and went into the front room. He sat down on the lumpy couch and looked around. Maybe he could put himself to work. That might get him tried. He dragged out his lap top and a plain white t-shirt. He then started drawing sketches and building art. But nothing looked right. Finally he shut off the computer and threw the t-shirt aside. He had papers everywhere. Sure to some people they were great and they would buy any of his shirts, but to him…nothing felt right. He slid deep into the couch and let sleep take him under.

---

-Naticul (sounds like- nautical) (and if your smart and rearrange the letters it spells lunatic thanks to amy)