Par Avion/Issue 8

This is Issue 8 of Par Avion.

204; Two
It is cool outside. You don’t need a jacket, but it’s still cool. In a nice way. I walk alongside Julio, headed for Dr. Jerome’s. After Rachel’s death, we all got worried. What if it happened to us? We need a doctor, and Dr. Jerome is the only doctor in the town. It’s mostly silent as we walk, with out footsteps being the only thing eradicating the noiselessness. After having my eyes glued to the sidewalk for most of the journey, I look up. There, in front of us, are two of those... things. I don’t know what to call them. I heard Seth calling them ‘stillborns’, though I prefer just calling them things. Simple. “Do we...” I ask Julio, keeping my eyes at the things. “do we kill them?” “What other choice do we have?” He responds, also looking at them. I shrug, and Julio runs towards them, with a raised kitchen knife, we got from the coffee shop. I follow right behind him. They see us and groan, and I intinctively bring the blade down into it’s head. There’s a disgusting sound as the knife penetrates the skull. Next to me, Julio does relatively the same thing; destroying it’s face and brain with stabs. We’re breathing hard by the time we’re done, although there were only two. We glance at each other, not saying a word. We then continue to Dr. Jerome’s. After a few more minutes of silence, he finally brings it up. “You want to talk about it?” Julio asks, not looking at me. There is a moment of hesitation before I respond. “I just never thought... it was Rachel, y’know?” I take a deep breath. “Rachel... dead. It’s hard to wrap my head around. It won’t be us three anymore... just the two of us. We won’t...” The words catch in my throat, forcing me to stop. “I know.” Julio says. I look at him, and see his eyes filling with tears. I continue. “I feel like I should’ve been able to protect her, y’know. If... if I was, it would still be us three, still laughing along together. God, I can’t believe this shit.” “In no way was this your fault, and in no way did Rachel blame you...” Julio says, voice shaking. “blame us...” I nod, and Julio continues. “No one does. This... this was fate. And there’s nothing we can do to change it. We’ve gotta live with it, and we’ll get past it.” I’m silent for a little while, taking in his words. Maybe he is right. I guess this was fate, destiny, whatever. God has a plan for everyone, and now it was Rachel that had to go. I guess we just have to respect God’s plans. It’s not easy, though. I’ve known Rachel for so long. It’s weird that she is suddenly gone. “Yeah?” Julio says, looking at me as he wipes away tears. I nod. “Yeah.” We pass a corner, and can now see Dr. Jerome’s house. “Y’know,” Julio says. “I used to have a crush on her.” I manage a dry laugh, saying “You don’t say.” As I look at Julio, I see him smiling now. “Was it that obvius?” He says with the smile growing. “Yeah, really. It was.” I say, now sincerly laughing. We get silent again, realizing what we are laughing about. The rest of our journey continues without Rachel being mentioned. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, but what couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, we reach Dr. Jerome’s.

Credits

 * Greg Demoor
 * Julio Valentin

Deaths

 * None