I don’t need a disclaimer for my own story do I? This was a little English project. We made a character, gave him problems, and had to make up a story around him. I was depressed, so I decided to make him depressed.

A SAD STORY THAT GETS WORSE

I got up from the diner table and left my usual tip. The same waitress in the same apron gave me her same flirtatious smile and poor attempt at Italian as I paid for the same meal as I had, ever since the real joy in my life had been taken away. Stuffing my hands in my jacket pockets, I wandered down the road; forever reluctant to go back to that place I called home. Reaching a long stretch of empty sidewalk, I again felt the urge to run. Run until my heart burst, or until I could only think of breathing, and forget my past. But now I wasn’t even able to do that anymore. Not since that night. The night when my life was torn away.

Closing my eyes it came back to me all too readily, the screeching tires, the smell of leaking fuel, burned rubber, and of blood. The night my beloved wife, Gwen, died on the way from the surprise party she and Bill arranged for my 30th birthday. The night when I lost the only way for me to get away from the pain when doctors inserted plates into my knee when they ought to have laid me out on the death table instead of her, who was the last person who deserved to die.

Eventually I arrived home, or really the place I called home. It would never be a home now, just a place where the shadow of her smiles and laughter would be. The haunted place where she loved to create new flower arrangements for her lifelong passion of a flower shop. Without turning the light on I walked though the living room to the bedroom. Throwing my jacket onto the bed, I headed to the bathroom. A spider stared balefully at me from the shoulder of my hanging towel when I turned the light on. With a yell I grabbed the nearest thing at swung at it. Impaled on the bristles of my hairbrush, the spider writhed grotesquely as it died. Thoroughly disgusted, I threw the brush in the wastebasket. My skin crawled at the sight of spiders. Gwen used to say the reason why I was so neat was so that they could never find a place to hide. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed the shabbiness of the bedroom. My old habits were breaking down.

Washing my face, I stared once again at the scar across my temple, visible despite the five stitches used to close it. I looked haggard with shadows under my eyes and a lack of life in my eyes. Startled, I looked harder at my self. The gray eyes that met mine were barely recognizable with desolation, hardly a trace of the silver Gwen used to love. Hardly any trace of hope. Dejected, I turned away.

After routinely preparing for bed, I dragged the blankets out of the closet and set up my bed. I lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling. It was close to midnight when I finally fell asleep.

I awoke with a start. There was a crash and something was pressing down on my throat, threatening to cut off my air. I struggled and managed to twist away. There was a muffled curse as I sat up. A dark figure lay on the floor, clutching its leg. Glass from the clear coffee table had shattered all over the carpet. Another figure darted from the bedroom stuffing something into a bag. There was a sparkle. I leapt to my feet, and immediately stepped on a piece of glass. I yelled.

The dark form on the floor struggled to his feet, limping towards the door. Anger swept over me as I saw the treasure chest of Gwen’s jewelry tucked under his arm. Without regard to the pain in my foot I leapt over the couch and tackled the limping thief. We went down and there was a muffled shout. I couldn’t see anything, concentrating on holding on to the man who dared to take my wife’s things. The man twisted in my grasp and I found a pair of blue eyes inches away from mine full of panic. There was a sudden loud report of a handgun and a dagger of pain lanced though my shoulder. I lost my grip and was shoved away. Something heavy fell across my legs and pinned me to the floor. The man stood up, unsteadily and whispered,

“Hey let’s get out of here.â€