Notebook (Short Story – Part 3)

Hardly crawling out of the bathroom, he had to recline on his elbows for his hands turned powerless. It was blood all over the ground. He was swimming in his own blood when he realized that his crawling is peeling his skin off. He looked back to see some skin of his arms and legs floating on the pool that was feeding on his blood.

He cried. He cried so hard that he fainted after a few moments and a few tears…

It was dark when he woke up again. Pain was roaming all over his body, a pain that was more like fire burning him from the inside. He wanted to scream, to call for help, but his voice abandoned him long time ago. He choked on the word “help” and despair overwhelmed him directly.

He pulled the strings of his strength from every inch of his body to crawl out of the bathroom. It hurt him so much but the desire to get out and seek help made him endure the severe pain. He kept on crawling, he didn’t even stop to check the hair that was falling off his head now. Hair didn’t matter now, breathing mattered more.

He crawled harder and harder to reach his small desk in his room. He tried to stand up but failed at the first attempt. He cried. He started to hit the bottom of his desk until a notebook fell down on his head, pulling his ear off. At the sight of his ear right next to him, he went on a frenzy and started to scream and hitting his desk harder and harder. His pack of cigarettes and lighter fell off to the ground in front of him. What the heck should he do with a pack of cigarettes?

Thunder stroke again and a harder squeak came along to meet a sever pain in his legs. It felt like they were burning. “Burning”, the word came to him like a crystal drop of water after a long time thirst. And he knew what to do for help.

He grabbed his lighter from the ground with what’s left of his right hand and grabbed his notebook with the remaining strength and bones of his left hand. He took a deep breath and within his pain, he found strength to light up his lighter. He moved his lighter enough to reach the notebook to burn it. The smoke must trigger the fire alarm and someone, anyone would come to his help.

The damned notebook burned slowly as his pain was growing rapidly. Desperation crawled to his body and mind and he started to faint. Then, suddenly, the fire alarm went on and started to scream for his aid. His consciousness was fully back now as water  sprayed all over the room while he enjoyed the voices yelling at his door. But his pain was severe that he couldn’t but check his legs. His pain was not even as severe as the terror he felt at what he saw. The spraying water was melting his body.

He started to scream as people outside were trying to break the door to get in. His legs are gone now, his screams are getting lower now, and it is his waist now that was melting. He cried again, screamed, and cried again and again. Why can’t they just break the door and get in before he is completely gone?

He was losing hope when he turned to look at his door for the last time.

The door was finally broken, and then it was moving open when darkness conquered his eyes and he was all gone…

*****

Somewhere, in a place where no one walks at night, a dark ally, at the first right turn in the street, had a lamp that barely works with a very low light . It has always been hanging on the wall of the facing building.

That dark ally had a moderate sewer opening, with a barred top on it. The opening was making weird sounds, creepy sounds mixed with some pain and a lot of agony.

It was exactly the middd of the night when some pink water started to spurt out of the opening until the whole ally floor was soaked with this pink water accompanied with the usual creepy sound and a huge amount of tiny bits of burnt papers. When the water flow stopped, sudden silence conquered the place, and then nothing happened.

At dawn, sun-rays started to occupy the place, blowing darkness away. Sun-rays hit the wall, and with the sun slowly moving toward the middle of the sky, the rays went down to hit the floor. At this moment, the odd pink water turned into clear colorless water while the pink color was crawling to the center of the ally. Clear water went dry and pink turned to bloody red as the burnt pieces of the notebook were gathering next to the blood pool.

No one was there to witness the blood that started to become thicker and taking the shape of a human body. It kept on acting this way until it completely transformed into a human body with flesh and bones.

The naked man on the floor opened his eyes slowly. Light hit his eyes hard as no eyelashes existed yet. He felt cold and lonely, but happy and relieved. He doesn’t remember anything, he doesn’t know anything, he only knows that this old notebook with the burnt edges next to him actually belongs to him and will always be with him as long as he is alive.

And there, right there, at the end of the ally, a new pair of boots rested peacefully, awaiting the new comer to walk a new path in a new life.

The End