The Chronicle: Arrival

Prologue

Four Months Before Arrival

It was a crisp autumn morning. Orange, red, brown, and yellow leaves descend from their branches, casting lovely shadows on the ground as they fell and delightful scents of fall. The sky was great and blue without a cloud to disturb it. It was to be one of the last days of the years where families could go out and enjoy the sunshine without worry of the cold.

                A group of friends, comprising of two young ladies and three young men, walked along the sidewalk path. The tallest of the group lead the pack as he walked faster than the rest, outpacing them dramatically.

                “Dude, slow down! It’s only noon,” a lean young man with black hair, long nose, and Mediterranean skin said calmly, holding his girlfriend along her thick shoulders. “We don’t have to be there for about two hours.”

                The pack leader didn’t listen; he heard him but did not listen. If they wanted to walk slowly that was there business; he wanted to get there as soon as possible to avoid the congested waiting lines and the close proximity of others.

                He did however listen to the whispers of his friends who believed he couldn’t hear them.

                “What’s his problem?” the newest addition to the group asked conceitedly.

                “He’s just weird,” a soft, light-hearted voice replied earnestly.

                The young man at the front sighed, unsure if he shouldn’t walk home once he rounded the next corner. He knew he would have enough time to escape before his “friends” came around the corner themselves. At least when he was home, he had somewhere to escape to.

                “He’s not weird,” the second girl, shoulders being covered by her lover’s arms. “He’s just special.”

                “Really special,” the first man snickered. “I mean he’s got a freakin’ fedora on.”

                The leading man touch off his hat and held it at his side for several more steps until the second girl said, “He’s just an ass.”

                He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the ground blankly, letting the group of four to pass him. After a few steps, the Mediterranean colored young man look back at the tall one worriedly. He took a few steps towards him and put a hand on his shoulder.

                “Are you okay?”

                The young man pushed the hand off of him and snarled, “I’m fine.”

                Without another word, the group’s missing part rejoined and continued walking without the tall one. They walked without him for several blocks until one noticed out of the corner of their eye his missing form.

                “Where’d he go?”

                But the only clue left from where he was when they went back in search of him were footprints in the crushed leaves that led back the way they came.

+++

Elsewhere, a family played in a park. It was not far from their home and even the crisp air and smell of dying leaves had made the walk wonderful. The two parents sat arm-in-arm on a bench, watching their little boy and girl playing on the jungle gym happily. The sounds of children laughing and leaves crumbling filled the lush and vivid environment.

Beep! The man began to reach into his pocket for his doctor-pager.

                “Oh, honey, no!” the wife started sadly. “Don’t answer that.”

                “I have too,” the father stated, equally saddened at the abrupt interruption to his family time. He looked at the text written in the pager’s screen and up to his wife. He stood up quickly and kissed his wife on the lips briefly. “I’ll be right back. One of my patients just had an accident.”

                “How long will you be gone?” the wife asked, squeezing her eyebrows together with concern.

                The man shrugged and replied as such. “I’ll try to hurry.” The man then rushed through the leaves to his home where his car resided. He pulled himself into his car and turned it on. When he turned around to pull out of the driveway, he noticed a small plush toy hidden at the bottom of the car floor. He reached down to pick it up and examined it. It was a colorful horse toy, purple body and a strange haircut with a pink streak down the middle. It was surely his daughter’s toy.

                The man set the toy in his passenger seat and backed out of the driveway to drive to the hospital where his patient had been, waiting for his doctor.

+++

The man drove away from the hospital, tired and groggy. It was well past midnight, and he was ready to fall asleep. The man pulled into his driveway slowly as to not swerve off into the yard. When he came to a complete stop, he took the horse doll in his hand and exited the car.

                The sound of leaves brushing and crunching nearby alerted the man to a nearby presence. He turned around and saw a tall figure walking towards the front door. He called out the figure’s name and they responded quickly:

                “Hey, Dad.” It was apathetic and uncaring.

                “What are you doing out so late?” the man asked his son angrily, but wearily.

                The son didn’t answer; instead, he walked into the house and out of the father’s view. The man walked up to the front door and entered quickly. He saw his wife wide awake on the couch, reading a drafted story.

                “Did you say something to him?” the man snapped.

                “No,” she replied quickly and honestly. “What was I supposed to say? You’re eighteen now and you can’t be out past curfew?”

                “He lives in our house, doesn’t he?”

                “That doesn’t mean anything.”

                “To hell with that! He needs to start listening to our rules again. All he does anymore is play that damn game up there and stay out late.”

                “He writes too.” The wife set the text on the coffee table next to her and slid it towards her husband.

                “What?” Curiously, he reached down and picked up the manuscript of typed words. The title read: The Last Killer. “I didn’t know he wrote. How did you know?”

                “I didn’t. I went through his backpack because I thought he was doing drugs like his uncle.”

                “And?”

                “And I found this. I’ve been reading it for since me and the kids got home and I put them to bed. It’s actually really good.”

                The man rolled up the manuscript and said, “This doesn’t change anything. He never listens.”

                “He’s just trying to achieve some independence, or maybe something’s just bothering him.”

                “There’s nothing bothering him. Every time I ask he says he’s fine.”

                “Maybe he’s lying to us about it.”

                “Don’t you think we’d know it when he lied?”

                The woman on the couch nodded with agreement. The man sat next to his wife and sighed. She leaned forward and ran her hand through her husband’s hair lovingly.

                “I just don’t know anymore. He’s just…different.” The man spoke fluidly as though the thought had been on his mind for a great deal of time. “I mean, what happens when he goes out there on his own? The world is going to tear him up because he’s stuck in his little fantasy world up there. Is he even going to college?”

                The woman shrugged. “He hasn’t said anything about it.”

                The man sighed irritantly and put his face into his free hand. “He’s supposed to be the smart one but…I can’t see it anymore.”

                There was a silence between the couple until the woman noticed the purple horse plushie in her lover’s hand.

                “What is that?” she asked, pointing to the toy.

                “Oh, it’s Sissy’s toy. I’ll go take it to her room real fast.” The man stood up quickly and took one tired step after the next towards his daughter’s room. He opened the door and looked at his little darling as she slept soundly with her Barbie blanket covering her. She shuffled a bit in place and exhaled loudly.

                The man crept over to her bed and gently placed a kiss on the temple of her head, setting the toy next to her many stuffed animals she had with her, none of which looked like the horse toy.

                He smiled as he started for the door quietly.

                “Daddy?” he heard his little girl sit up slowly and yawn the words. “Why did you give me this?”

                He looked back at his daughter and saw the purple horse toy in her tiny hands. “Isn’t it yours?” She shook her head curiously. “Then who’s is it?”

                She pointed upwards and said, “Big bubby’s.”