A Perfect Day

By: Irongalley

Once upon a time on Earth...

Dearest Cousin:

It is with loathing resentment that I must now inform you of the current situation, and I am saddened deeply to be the one to relay the message to you.

As you know, things have not been going well back home, and your sudden departure left us with a hole in our hearts and a deep longing to see you again. It's been months and then some, but it still stings like it was yesterday when you stormed out never to return. Your sister and my own are still counting the days until you return, and our mothers and fathers still can't struggle day to day with the pain of your departure.

I know you left for a good cause, but I can't bring myself to believe that all the pain you've caused by leaving is for a greater good. Whether you find work up north or not, it doesn't matter for much if everyone back home can't enjoy the fruits of your labor, and believe me when I say that no one will, since you aren't here.

But going back to the matter at hand, something bad has happened, and we need you now more than ever.

The bank has sent an ultimatum. We will lose the houses and all our holdings unless we have enough to pay them by the end of the year. We cannot pay them, and everyone has agreed that you should return home now, as we'd all prefer to spend these hard times with the whole family.

Your cousin, Armando.

I sighed and stuck the letter back into its envelope. I couldn't believe it. Just when I thought things were looking up, the world comes back at me with another blow. Probably the last one as well, unless I could get the coin to pay the bank, which was easier said than done, since the damn total rose up into the heavens. I was damn well stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I began to fold the envelope again, when something struck me as odd about its weight.

'Huh? What is...'

My fingers slid across the paper's surface and hit a small mound by the left corner. Nothing too large, but still noticeable. My hand reopened the envelope and spilled its contents on top of the small table in front of me. I was sitting inside a small cafe on a road stop just north of the last city I'd passed. Small place, good food, few people.

'What's this?'

My hand lifted a small ring up to my face. An emerald looking proud and beautiful was the eye catch in the jewelry piece, and a couple of words were engraved on the outside of the ring. My family's name were the words, and a single extra word.

'Believe.'

A small frown crossed my features as I beheld the ring. It was an odd thing for my cousin to send me his ring. I had them made over two years before the whole bank ordeal. There were six of them, each one with its own gemstone to mark it. Mine had a ruby in it, or it used to, right before I sold it to be able to make the trip to the north.

'Why...?'

The answer hit home like a bullet. Armando had been the only one to keep his ring after everyone sold theirs. He had kept it as the other ones lost hope, including myself. He was giving me a message! The engraving seemed to glow brighter and brighter as the words seemed to gain a new meaning. The world around me faded as the only thought that persisted within my head was the one that my cousin was trying to convey.

'Believe.'

Believe... Believe!

Believe, have hope. It was clear now, clearer than anything else in my mind. I would continue and soldier on for the well-being of my family.

"North it is."

I slipped the ring into my finger and walked out, stopping only to pay the owner and leave a few coins to the waitress. It was time, after many days of uncertainty I was finally sure of what to do. I walked to the parking lot and got into my car. The engine came to life and I drove up the road and deeper into whatever it was that life held in store for me. I was ready for anything.

Except, I wasn't.

It's not that I wasn't prepared to search for employment, nor that I wasn't ready to work. I had studied and graduated as an average person is ought to, so I was as prepared as anyone to do my thing. It's just that I wasn't expecting a storm. The sky was roaring and screaming as the windshield wipers uselessly moved back and forth, trying to clear the cascading water that swept over my pickup truck like a hurricane.

It had been three hours of clear skies and uneventful driving, only to have a storm appear by the end? It made no sense... But then again, what does? I used to be on top of the world, everyone I knew as well, but then everything went downhill. So, senseless things stopped bothering after they became common occurrences.

I squinted my eyes trying to see anything through the windshield, but it was mostly in vain. Raindrops and a few twigs, but nothing more passed through my eyesight. It was one hell of a storm, and I wasn't keen on the idea of dying, so I pulled over and stopped the car. It just seemed like going into the afterlife via car crash was a bit cliche, and I'd rather die with originality.

With the rain falling down uncontrollably and my drive interrupted, I could do nothing but turn on the radio and try to catch some sleep. Sucks, the radio wasn't working. I could do nothing but stare at the car ceiling and do nothing then. The seven or eight doses of caffeine via coke weren't doing much to help me sleep either, so there I was. Stuck and without anything to do, unable to sleep and without the radio working.

I lifted my hand to my eyes and examined the ring. My thoughts came flying as the storm outside, and I began to wander through my memories of times past and better days. It was strange, feeling like I did at the moment wasn't something I had experienced before, but it was so similar at the same time. It felt like I had control over my life, even though I didn't. I can't rightly explain it, but it was a sensation of peace. Looking at the ring gave the feeling that it would all be alright, even if it didn't work out in the end. Who knows? Perhaps it would.

I sighed and turned to get comfortable in the car seat. It would be a long night, and I'd have to see it through without much sleep.

The nightmares didn't help either. As soon as I finally managed to close my eyes, I could see images flashing through my vision. These were anything but pleasant, and they always held the same messages. Despair, hopelessness, sadness, confusion, anger... These were the things that plagued my thoughts lately, and they were not deterred in the slightest during my sleep. But there seemed to be a new one this time. More vivid, more real, more vicious, and more bizarre.

I stood alone inside my home. The walls had no paint, but the furniture remained. Old and decayed, with the wood rotting and splintered. I walked down the hallways and corridors, all the while being chased by shadows and an unnerving coldness in the air. The temperature chilled my bones and froze my thoughts as my steps led me to the central yard.

It was almost as I remembered it. A large fountain standing in the middle, with four stone paths leading away to different sections of the house. In between the paths there should have been many different plants and flowers and even a small tree with peaches hanging from its branches, but there was nothing in this dream. Barren patches of land filled the gaps between the paths of stone, and the fountain was dry.

Out on the yard stood a horse black as night. It was trying to drink from the fountain, but there was nothing other than dust and dirt. The horse neighed and stomped a hoof in anger, but there was no water. I watched from afar as it continued like this for what seemed like minutes. The black horse would neigh and stomp, but nothing would happen.

In the end, the horse left, and the dream ended. I woke up.

It was early in the morning, but I was no longer going to get any more sleep. I started the engine and drove out once more, trying hard as I might to avoid the large puddles that had formed in the holes that littered the road. It was a cloudy day in its majority, though a few creaks in the clouds allowed for rays of sunlight to fall down to earth. I could do nothing but stare as I passed by a cliff with a clear view of the ocean, and the sun rays shining down upon it.

I continued to drive until night hit once more, and I stopped in a small motel by the roadside.

I payed the man behind the counter and went to my room. Sleep took its time, but it eventually came.

I stood inside my home's kitchen. The utensils were scattered across the floor and covered in dust. Plates and glasses were shattered and liquid stained the walls, paintless as before, and the wood decayed and rotten. I moved through the wreckage and deeper into the house. I followed an instinct more than anything. An instinct to go to the yard.

I passed through a door covered in cobwebs, and entered a storage room. Empty coffers filled the place, and worthless coins littered the floor. I glanced around and noticed the scent of burnt candles coming from a nearby door. I walked over and opened it, finding a cemetery on the other side. Men were lowering a coffin into the ground.

I closed the door and walked away. My steps led me to the center yard once more and to the fountain standing in the middle.

The black horse was there once more, but this time it was trying to eat grass. It kicked at the floor and tried to coax the grass from under the dry earth, but it was all to no avail. The black horse neighed and stomped, but the grass never came.

I woke up.

I thanked the owner of the motel and left once more.

My dreams continued, and they were always similar. I'd appear inside the house and walk to the yard. The black horse would always be there doing something different and never succeeding. It was bizarre.

My trip took several more days, but I finally found myself at the entrance to my destination. It was late at night, so I decided to stop one final time before entering the city.

I found a decent hotel and got a room for the night. My car parked and my bags ready, I went to sleep.

I stood in front of the fountain. The black horse was looking straight at me, and the vegetation had returned along with the running sound of the fountain's water.

Everything was as I remembered. The house had a fresh layer of paint; the garden flourished beautifully, and the scent of burning candles was gone. Never to haunt me again.

The horse looked at me and I looked back at it. Its eyes were deep black, and they seemed to claw holes into my own. We stood like that for a long time...

Until it charged.

I do not know what happened. There was dust and loud screeches. Inhuman screams that seemed to surround me and everything nearby. The floor bled and the sky thundered with horrid howls that sought to destroy my eardrums. The rain hits like a death wish, and the last thing I hear is the sound of weeping.

I woke up.

I stood up and looked around me.

There was only fire.

"Son of a-!"

The entire hotel room was ablaze, and the heat was unbearable. I stood up as fast as I possibly could, and rushed out of the room. I had no time to get dressed, but I did manage to grab my pants and shirt on my way out. I was not going to let my only means of transport to be lost in a fire.

"Shit! How the hell does this happen to me?!"

I rushed down the stairs and into the lobby. It was a small building with only two stories of height, so I managed to leave fast enough that the smoke didn't bother me much, but I was still panting from exhaustion by the time I left the building. The owner was nowhere to be seen though, and there seemed to be a lot more green around me than before.

"What the..."

The land surrounding the hotel was still arid and devoid of life, but everything else was a bright lush green.

My mouth fell open and my eyes widened. I dropped my clothes and blinked hard, but when I opened my eyes, it was still there! Everything was a bright green with flowers and other plants growing in it. My pick up truck was still there, and-

"Are those diamonds?"

All around my truck and extending far back into the horizon were a massive arrangement of varied gemstones and other metals. The sight was almost blinding, but beautiful as could be. I walked toward my car and looked it over.

'It's fine, but... How? What's going on?'

There were no scratches, no dents, nothing. The car was perfectly fine, and all the things I had brought along with me were there. Four packs of sodas and other drinks, a couple of boxes full of canned foods for the trip, and some other things. I also checked under the driver's seat and found my handgun and a couple spares.

Everything was in order.

With a dumbfounded look, I glanced around me again, and my eyes fell back on the diamonds and gemstones littering the ground.

'Might as well..."

I grabbed a shovel from the back of my truck and began satisfying any greedy man's dream. By the time I finally drove away from the hotel, the back of my truck shone as bright as the sun. I turned on the radio, and lo and behold. A song came up.

'Damn thing finally works.' I thought with a smile. 'Now, where's that road?'

Indeed, the road had disappeared! Only a small dirt path was left in its wake, and grass all around it. It was beautiful, and incredibly creepy. I tried not to think about it much though. Wouldn't do any good if I just spooked myself, so I just narrowed it down to climate changes due to nuclear testing or something. Very sudden changes...

I continued to drive for the better part of the day with no sign of a road and no people to ask directions from. It was eerie, considering there should have been a desert right about everywhere, but I just kept going. I had drunk a couple Gatorades and eaten a few granola bars, but they did little to satiate the hunger. It had been over seven hours since I had last eaten anything by the time I finally saw some sign of civilization.

I stepped on the break and the car drew to a halt just in front of a large sign. I lowered the window and stuck my head out to see better.

Welcome To Ponyville!

Population: 2,678

Please lower your speed if on carriage, thanks!

"Carriage?" I frowned and sat back on the car. 'Odd, the sign's in English... The signs shouldn't switch language until a couple miles further... Ah, fuck it. I'm hungry.'

I grabbed another granola bar and kept moving. With some luck there'd be a steak house somewhere in this 'Ponyville'.

Author's Note

Character is Hispanic, his dialogue and thoughts have been translated for your ease of reading.

Leave a comment with your thoughts, please. It helps me and keeps me entertained for a while.

Thanks!