Next Day CD

 

3) She was walking down an empty street in a dirty, godforsaken neighborhood. It was one of those neighborhoods where darkness reigned regardless of the time of day. Dumpsters lined the streets. A cat meowed in one, rats scavenged by others. She walked forward, not glancing at the plaster-peeled walls, paint gone. She ignored the rustling sounds to the sides or the occasional shout behind her. Suddenly, a bald man ran out from the perpendicular street. He stopped right in the middle of the street she was walking on and turned to her. His eyes widened in silent terror. The man opened his mouth and... began singing a song about a joyful train full of chocolate.

Carrida woke up terrified. A children's program was on TV, and she must have dozed off during a commercial break. She quickly glanced at her watch.

"Oh no!" She expressed her utter disapproval of the time displayed on the clock. "I never sleep during the day!" Why did this happen today?!

It was 8:50 p.m., and if she wanted to make it on time, she'd have to be halfway there by now. But she wasn't.

She simply put on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and headed out. A sudden chill greeted her outside. She felt it acutely, as she hadn't brought a jacket. Unfortunately, her car was in the garage and wouldn't be there for another week. She'd had a minor accident on the way back from a party with her friends—nothing major, but the car didn't look great. Her wallet wasn't looking so good either—she'd have to work overtime again instead of going to parties. She was walking toward a park a little way from the city center, where she'd lived since she'd decided to move out and live in another city. She wanted to be closer to her boyfriend, and at the same time, meet new people and become independent. However, her boyfriend turned out to be just an ordinary... guy, and living on his own was a grind. But she liked her life. She couldn't complain. She approached the intersection where Sin lived. She hoped he wouldn't think to look out the window just then—she didn't want to hide in doorways. She walked a few more streets and found herself at the park entrance. It was November, the time—she glanced at her watch—9:13 PM, and it wasn't very light. The park closed at 11 PM. Although she went there whenever she knew the time, the prospect of traversing it in the dark filled her with dread. Curiosity, however, got the better of her. She headed for the bench next to the lake in the middle of the park—her favorite spot, where she read books, pondered, and came when she was sad. After she left Sin—or rather, he left her no choice by cheating on her with the pizza delivery girl—she'd spent a lot of time there. The trees rustled in a different way than usual, and she could also hear strange rustling sounds along the road. On one of the benches they passed, a young couple sat huddled together. They were kissing. The sight of it made Carrida feel a knot in her stomach, and she remembered Sin's snide remark about a guy who wasn't there. It might seem strange, but it had been three months, and she hadn't met anyone yet. No fleeting affairs, failed dates, or party acquaintances... Except for Ive, of course. Exactly... Ive. She reached her favorite bench and noticed with pain that it was empty. No one was around. It was already 9:19 PM, and she knew she was late, but was it possible that she had already left? "Well, it's not Sin, who always waited 40 minutes for me to put on my makeup and take a shower," she thought, feeling sorry for herself for oversleeping. She sat down on the bench and decided to wait a moment longer. The artificial pond didn't reflect any lights; they were all drowning in its muddy depths. All of them, that is, one streetlight, which was hidden by trees and, what's more, glowed black and orange, like all the forgotten streetlights. Suddenly she heard a thick, clear male voice behind her:

"Ivenine didn't come. She was angry that you were late." The voice announced quickly and decisively.

Carrida, frightened, immediately turned around. About 20 meters away, a drunk was walking by, barely able to stand, a bottle in his hand.

"Wh-what did you say?" The man didn't even pay attention to her. "What do you mean, she didn't come because I was late? That's pointless!" She was so flustered that she didn't notice the man wasn't listening. "How could she know I was late if she didn't come!? Can you hear me?!?" she screamed.

"What are you talking about, woman?" the man stammered in a drunken voice. "You want to get drunk?" He pointed to a bottle of probably cheap wine.

"But I heard you!" Carrida howled pitifully. "You said...

" "Dopre jezd. And it wasn't cheap at all! So you want to?"

Carrida, confused, stared at him, saying nothing. She had no idea what to say.

"And mosze mas ochte na bara-bra, eh?" I didn't have a woman so darn well..." The drunkard started crying.

"And I didn't have a man," Carrida thought ironically. She looked around to make sure no one else was there. It was impossible that she had misheard. It was also impossible that this drunkard had said it. She suddenly saw movement in the bushes near her. She ran there, and something ran away. She ran after it, dodging trees, shaking leaves from her face and occasionally falling into muddy puddles. She had almost caught up with the fleeing object when it... jumped up a tree. In the light of the few streetlamps, she spotted the fugitive. It had a fluffy red tuft and pointed ears. "A squirrel," she thought, revealingly ironic to herself. She was standing on the damp forest floor, surrounded by many trees, and... that was it. It was easy to get lost in this park during the day, let alone at night. She headed toward the supposedly glowing streetlamp. Then another. And another. Until she found herself at the fence. She decided to walk right beside it until she reached the exit gate. It was quite a walk. She even got tired, though considering her experiences today, it wasn't surprising. When she finally reached the gate, she found it closed. Quickly, and with a little fear, she checked her watch.

"23.11? How is that possible?" she asked herself, not expecting an answer. "Have I really spent two hours here?" Carrida stared at the padlock for a long moment. She tried to open it, pry it free, move it, until she came up with a better idea. She moved a little away from the main street, onto which the park gate opened, and began climbing the fence. She had to admit, the last time she'd done this was at least ten years ago, and the fence was three times lower. But the prospect of spending the night in the park with a drunk and squirrels meant she had no choice. It was a good thing she hadn't worn high heels today, instead grabbing the first ones she found, which, incidentally, turned out to be the best. She put one foot between the rungs, then the other, braced herself with a nearby tree branch, pulled herself up a bit, and was already at the top. Which meant the worst was yet to come. She was just swinging one foot over the other when she heard shouts from below:

"What are you doing!?" Please come down immediately! "What if he doesn't say anything?!" she thought cynically. It was a policeman.

"That's exactly what I'm doing!" she shouted back at him. "I'll just put my other leg over and..."

Her leg slipped, her arms gave way, and Carrida fell towards the policeman. She accidentally hit her head on the pavement, so when she opened her eyes, they started to go dark, and she decided to close them again. She fainted.