A Man Wakes Up In Jail To Find A Visitor In His Cell..."How are you feeling?" |
THE VISITOR Well, well, well. What have we here? Couldnât hide for long, could ya? Look at him. Sleeping like a baby. And why not? Iâd probably be lost in the land of Nod myself if I drank that much vodka. Heâs even smiling. I wonder what heâs dreaming about. Maybe heâs dreaming about what he did last night. I think Iâll wake him up and find out. Iâll bet he wonât even remember. Perry B. feels something touch his shoulder and call his name. Twice. Heâs lying on his stomach, his head smothered in a cloud of fog, his mouth feeling like itâs stuffed with dirty socks. Asleep? Awake? Somewhere in between? âHello, my friend,â a deep voice asks. âHow are you feeling?â Perry tries to sit up, starts to fall over, then catches himself with one arm against the cold brick wall. He uses his free hand to wipe his eyes. âWho the fuck are you?â he asks. âWho am I, or what am I? Does it really matter? Do you know where you are, Perry?â Perry looks around and realizes heâs in a holding tank at the county jail. Not the first time. He gives the man the finger, lies back down, this time face up, and closes his eyes. âDo you know why youâre here, Perry?â the voice asks. âNo, and I donât care. Just leave me alone, asshole.â âTsk, tsk,â says Perryâs visitor. âYouâd think a man who just killed his wife and children would want to know at least some of the details.â This brings Perry to full attention. He manages to sit up on the bunk with little difficulty this time. âWhat the hell are you talkinâ about?â Perry asks. This is the part I love! He doesnât remember! I knew he wouldnât. Right before his eyes I change into a bloody butcher knife, then a chainsaw, then back to myself. âWhat theâŚâ Perry asks? Says? Heâs lost, but some of that fog is starting to lift. He thinks heâs still drunk, or asleep, or⌠âNo. No!â âFraid so, Perry. But donât be so down on yourself. I kind of helped,â the voice says. âYou ran, but they caught you. That was beyond my control. Thank God I found you.â Perryâs rubbing his eyes. He still doesnât believe it. He might be too easy, but I still think my Lord will be happy. Perry lays back down on his side. His eyes are still open, and the prisoner still doesnât know whether he believes or doesnât believe what the deep voice is telling him. He has no memory of the last twelve hours, yet his mind canât deny what heâs seen. He did own a chainsaw, but why would he killâ" âDo you really want to know, Perry?â Perry sits up again. His head down, fingers laced with his elbows resting on his knees, he slowly raises his face to meet his tormentor. His eyes beg for the answer. Any answer. âBecause youâve never really loved anyone. Simple as that. Youâve never known what love is. Youâve never even loved yourself. But, as I said before, itâs not really your fault. Some people are just born that way, Perry. Their heart and soul is dark before they ever see the light of day. They go through their miserable lives trying to hide it, and granted, most of them do. But not everyone can. Sometimes it just gets so darkââ Perry jumps to his feet and grabs the visitorâs throat⌠Oh, the drama. Look at his eyes. So filled with rage and anger and hate. I change into his wife, Pam, his daughter, Tammy, his son, Nick... âŚand his grip slowly relaxes. He collapses to the floor, sobbing pathetically. His visitor bends over and puts a hand on Perryâs shoulder. âWhy are you here?â Perry asks. âAre youâŚhim?â The one with the voice chuckles. âNo, no. Of course not. He doesnât show his face. Iâm merely one of his, how do you ones say it? Minions?â Perry sits back against the wall. He doesnât believe it. I canât blame him. I wouldnât believe it myself. At least back then when I was in his spot...But times have changed, my friend. And so I continue. âI donât have a fiddle, Mr. B. And Iâm not a betting man. But I do have a way out of this for you." More fun. This poor man doesnât know what Iâm about to ask. But first he must ask his own question. Which is, of course, âHow?â And so I answer his question with that question of my own. âYou donât have to go to hell, my friend. But unfortunately, you made a mistake. And mistakes have repercussions. Youâre not ready, anyway. So would you like to trade your soul for one of your own?â âWhat do you mean, âone of my ownâ? His eyes grow wide. Bam! He just figured it out! But will he give his own, or one of his own? --- --- --- Pam wakes up to her husband's screams. âPerry? Perry! Wake up!â He rolls over and looks at his wife with one eye open, wondering why the Hell sheâs asking him to wake up. âWhatâs wrong?â he mumbles. âYou were having a nightmare, Perry.â âSorry.â Their bedroom door opens and little Tammy walks in. âHello, Daddy,â Tammy says in a deep voice. âHow are you feeling?â |