Fanity

He opens his eyes. The light hits his eyes hard, making him squint. He’s a bit groggy, like he shouldn’t be awake yet. He looks straight ahead and focuses on a figure with its back to him. She turns around and smiles instantly.

“Good morning, honey. Did you sleep well?” A voice, old and familiar. Warmth envelopes him as she comes closer and gives him a hug.

“Morning, mommy. I had a dream but I can’t remember it anymore.” He says, recognition and memory hitting him in an instant. The lady was his Mom. He looks around the room and notices the walls painted in yellow with blue strips going down. The painted airplanes giving it a playful feel. Miniature planes hang on the ceiling.

“I’m sure it was nice with lots of candies and toys, dear.” She says in her calm, loving voice. “Now you have to dress up now because we have to go to a party today.” He looks at her with a confused look. “What party, mommy?” She gives him the same confused look. “Don’t you remember? It’s your friend Brad’s birthday today. He’s got a birthday party out in the park. They’ve got balloons, games and a clown!” His eyes gleam with excitement. “Oh right! Yeaaaayyy!!!” He jumps out of bed and dives straight to his closet, looking for clothes. “C’mon mommy! Hurry up we’ll be late!” He showers, changes and runs down toward the car, eyes even wider now and heart racing.

“Ok! Ok! Hang on a second.”

They jump to the car and drive the short distance to the park. He quickly sees the balloons from a distance and can’t help but feel excited. They come closer and from outside his window he recognizes all his friends. “They’re all here!” He shouts to his Mom. She gives a big smile while looking back at him. “Just have to park the car, honey.” As soon as she stops the car, he takes off his seatbelt, opens the door and makes a mad dash to where the balloons were.

“Honey! Be careful you might trip and fall!”

He jumps to a stop in front of his friends who are playing. “You just made it! We were going to start whacking the piñata.” Brad says matter-of-factly. “Happy birthday, Brad. And I wouldn’t miss that for the world!” huffing and puffing as the words leave his mouth. “Thanks. Hey I’ve got first crack at the donkey!” Brad takes the stick and starts walking toward the piñata. Pretty soon all the kids follow toward the hanging donkey. “Be careful Brad! Kids, stay a safe distance away you might get hit!” An elderly woman shouts, her voice getting louder, like she’s walking closer. It’s Brad’s Mother. “Ok, I’ve got the blindfold. Remember be careful how you swing that thing. Don’t want you hitting the other kids.” She puts the blindfold and covers Brad’s eyes. She gives him a few spins then stops.

“Ok Go!” Brad’s mother shouts. Brad starts walking, awkwardly at first, stumbling a bit until getting his bearings straight. Hand sticking out like he’s feeling around the air. Brad walks for a few steps until getting to a tree. A quick right and feels around some more. The other kids are screaming instructions. All the parents are laughing and shouting encouragement. “Stop! Stop! You got it!” He screams to Brad. Brad smiles, lifting the stick and swinging it down with all his might.

The piñata explodes, raining candy down all around. He reacts, running as fast as he can and jumping down toward the candy on the floor. His hearts racing, trying to get as much candy as he can. Suddenly, he feels a weight crash on his back and he feels a sharp pain on his head. Everything is black but the pain. He immediately loses consciousness.

He opens his eyes. He looks around a beautiful room. Large and spacious, with white painted walls, Victorian paintings that he somehow recognizes and to his immediate left, a woman. Her eyes are closed, her blonde hair falling to cover her face. He pushes it aside to reveal a beautiful woman. Hazelnut complexion and luscious lips. He suddenly feels aroused. He stares down to her revealed shoulders, covered only by the silk bed sheet. “Do I…?” He thinks to himself. His heart races as he moves his hands slowly to the sheet and pushes it down. His eyes haven’t blinked as he stares at the naked venus sleeping before him. Breast pressed against each other, her chest slowly moving up and down as she breathes. He stops and realizes something. He looks down to see his bare-chested body. “Oh my God”, he thinks to himself. Realization suddenly comes to him as he remembers. Remembers her mouth open and eyes closed as she rolls her head back. He comes to as he sees her moving just little. “Hmmm. It’s cold…” She murmurs the words and it creeps slowly to his head. His excitement builds. “Sorry.” He inches closer and takes the sheet and covers her with it. He leaves his hand underneath and rubs her arm. “It’s ok.” She presses against his chest and kisses it. “You were amazing.” She says to him. “Was I? I don’t remember.” He looks down to her and he gives her a wry smile. By now he’s hugging her with both hands, slowly rubbing her arm and back. “Again? You can’t possibly want more after that.” She gives him a smile back and feels her own excitement build. “Try me.” He suddenly rolls to his back and pulls her on top of him. She giggles and starts kissing him.

He closes his eyes and soaks in the sensation. It’s black but he feels hot and electric. He can feel her on top of him, warm and tight. She goes up and down, hands on his chest and moaning at every thrust. He opens his eyes for a second to see her face. Her eyes are closed and her heads cocked back. “Faster” he whispers as loud as he possibly can. She leans closer to him and starts rocking her hips faster. She moans louder but it’s drowned out by his. He hugs her tight, moaning and breather louder until he violently tilts his head back and gives one final breath. “Shit…” he whipers again and opens his eyes to look at her. She’s stopped moving, save for the heavy breathing. She looks at him and gives a wide smile. She kisses him on the lips and moves to lie next to him. He relaxes his body and stares to the roof. He gives a big smile and starts to feel his eyes close. He fights it for a few seconds. But he fails and finds himself in the dark again.

He opens his eyes. He’s looking out at a crowd of about 100. They are all clapping. The ones in the front are staring right at him with beaming smiles. They’re all hooting and hollering. He has a microphone in front of him, by his mouth. To his left, the guitarist practices a few chords for the next song. To his right, the bassist smiles at the crowd and points to someone, maybe a friend. He turns around to find the drummer sipping on a beer. He spots the bottle of water and heads straight for it. He suddenly feels thirsty and hot. Putting his hand to his forehead, he feels sweat. He looks around at the dark bar and can’t quite focus on the faces. He takes a swig and suddenly the drummer yells, “You ready?” He nods, hesitantly and walks slowly back to the microphone. A bright spotlight right in his face jolts him. He comes up on the mic and gives the guitarist a nod. As soon as the first chords are played, the lyrics push to the front of his head and he starts singing. He’s belting out a cover of his favorite song. A classic. Everyone roars in approval. They all start singing along. He closes his eyes and sings the tune as best he can, hitting all the high notes. He feels Goosebumps rising from his neck to his legs. The song always touches a nerve for him. Especially tonight, since he’s got the crowd wanting more. He finishes two more songs. “Good Night!” He screams and all the bright lights turn off.

The road ahead of him clears up as a car zooms past him from the other side. He’s driving with a girl. Black hair falling to her shoulders. She’s wearing a dress he bought her. “You look beautiful tonight.” He says, looking at her for a few seconds before looking back to the road. “Thanks.” She leans over gives him a light kiss on the cheek “So where are we going tonight?” She says after sinking back to her seat. She opens the light and starts putting on lipstick. “I was thinking just the usual Valentine day stuff. You know, dinner and a movie”. He gets nervous, thinking she might hate the idea. She momentarily stops touching up. “Ok, sounds good.” He looks at her and she’s back to putting on makeup. “Bad liar.” He thinks to himself. Thinking of other options, he loses focus on the road. Never noticing the cat until it was right in front of him. He swerves to the right and instantly hits the guardrail. They blow the guardrail of its hinges, sending the car flying through the air, of the edge of the cliff. They both scream at the top of their lungs as the cars hood points downward.

He’s falling. At least, that’s what it feels like. It’s dark. He can’t see anything. His head feels like it’s pointing downwards. It feels like wind is rushing past his head. He’s falling, but he can’t see anything. He’s getting scared. His hearts beating faster and faster with each passing moment. And then, it’s over.

He opens his eyes, startled. Mouth open, gasping hard for air. He suddenly feels cold. Clasping his hands around him, he tries to stay warm. He ducks his head, and notices his hands. Dirty, with torn gloves around them. He looks at his clothing. Three layers of dirty, worn down jackets cover his shivering body. He looks around his surroundings and notices all the people walking past him. One of them stops, juggling for stuff in his pocket and drops some quarters on a can right in front of him. He must’ve stared at the guy for 30 seconds, as the kind man goes on with his life. “I’m a bum.” He mumbles to himself. “Been that way for a long time my friend.” A voice to his left says to him. He looks at that direction to find a woman. Old and poor just like him, just now getting up. “So, how much that kind sir give you?” She crawls to the can and inspects the contents. “That’s it? 2 lousy quarters and a nickel! Don’t they know they raised prices on a 40??” She throws the coins back, takes a step back, stops and then dives back for the coins in the can. After this display, she sits down next to him and puts the coins in her pocket. He gives her a very dirty look. “What? You don’t seem to want it.” He wants to get mad at her but he can’t. He’s still in shock at what he’s going through right now. He looks again at his hands. Dirty, and worn down. He grabs a couple of blankets that are, apparently, his only possessions. “How did this happen?” He thinks to himself. He stares out. Alone in his thoughts. She’s talking about something but he’s not listening. He’s got more important things to think about. He stares out to the other side of the street. There’s a guitar shop next to the liquor store. There’s a park two blocks down. “Hey, where did you get this?” The crazy old bat is still talking.

“Get what?” He mumbles.

“This.” And she shows him a copy of a magazine. A beautiful blonde woman is in the cover. “Can I have it?” She asks, inquisitively. “Sure. I don’t even know why I have that.” He’s getting annoyed at this person. “Why can’t she leave me alone?” He thinks to himself. Finally, he realizes the only way to shut her up. He grabs all his blankets, covers himself with it, closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.