Oranges: A Short Story

Part IV

That night was the night he left. Earlier in the day he'd sneaked to the telephone during his bathroom break to make a call to Anastasia (he'd managed to memorize her number). She agreed to meet him outside the Pharmacy. It was all planned.

Under the moonlight streaming in from the kitchen window he wrote a note to his grandmother. He wanted her to know why. He wasn't a nutcase who just ran away from his life without a word.

His hands shook as he wrote, making the handwriting worse than it actually was.

Hey, gran.

I'm going away for a while and I'll be back soon. I'm grateful for the life you've given me and all that you've done, and it's not that you haven't done your share; it's that I haven't done mine. Everything you've given me is enough, but I can't live without Anastasia. She may not be my soulmate and the right person for the rest of my life, but I would rather try than wonder "what if" forever.

I love you so much.

Alex

He wasn't feeling remorse. He wasn't sad at all, and he wondered why.

Maybe it was because he was feeling electric.

As he walked across the property to Apetvet, his heart was lighter than it had ever been, even more than a few days earlier. He watched as the rotting buildings used to treat animals ages ago passed him by. The lone moon was full in the sky, surrounded by loyal stars. It reminded Alex of the dream.

The town was spooky in the night. It was normally empty, but with the darkness came a deeper kind of empty. One that lacked life.

She was by the Pharmacy, like she said she would be.

The walk from the point where she came into view to her side seemed to take forever, but it wasn't long before he was there.

"What did you tell your grandmother?" Was all she asked. Her blue eyes shone in the sea of black that swirled around their souls. All he wanted was to hold her in his arms, but he wasn't going to let the chance with her he'd earned go to waste.

"I told her I might be back," said Alex. "Nothing like telling her to lock herself in the Shed. I would maybe have a hard time living with that."

Anastasia gazed up at him. "Just maybe."

They were quiet for a minute.

"I wasn't cold you know," she said.

"Pardon?"

"The other day when you took me for hot chocolate. I wasn't cold."

"That's quite undermining of you. Trying to get me to go out with you." Nervously, he bit his tongue. What if she hadn't thought of that as a date?

Once again, they were looking into each other's eyes, only this time, Alex knew they weren't going to kiss.There would be plenty of time for that later.

He grabbed her hand solemnly and they began walking down the street.

The End