She's Gone

  He just sat there.

And he waited.

One, two, three, four, and then five days went by, and he hardly moved. Every day I took a walk, every day I saw him, and every day he sat on an old crooked wooden bench, a bottle of booze in hand and a gloomy expression crossed his face.

The bench sat across my house, and most of the time when I peered out the blinds of my windows he was still there. Every once in a while he'd leave, which told me he was actually alive, but for the most part, he stayed planted on that unstable bench, and I'm pretty sure that the bottle of booze he held didn't actually have any booze in it.

Every time I looked at him, my mind was plagued with the question:

Who are you?

For some reason, I felt drawn to talk to him – he was interesting. Tan, tall, slim yet muscular with a moderate amount of freckles, he had light brown hair that was slightly messy and fell over his forehead. He even had facial hair, well – scruff, he obviously hadn't shaved in days, and he couldn't have been older than twenty-something. His eyes were electrifying blue, when I looked in them I felt I had been struck by lightning… his eyes were just so different. I don't know why I wanted to talk to him, but I wanted to and that's just what I did.

It was on the fifth day of his bench-sitting at about 9 in the morning, I was on a walk with my clumsy and idiotic dog, Teddy. For once, I didn't just continue walking past him like I usually did – I stood in front of him, blocking his view from the bright and brilliant sun which he seemed to be looking up at.

He wasn't affected by me, really. He just sat there and continued to stare, but this time it was at my face. "Hi," I finally said, tugging Teddy to my side.

Maybe I was being awkward, I dunno, but all he did was smile and reply, "Ah… that's what she sounds like. So I take it you have been the one that's been stalking me?"

His accent instantly drew me in. It was a British London accent… but perhaps even better. It sounded like it was an olden accent and it fascinated me. "What?" I muttered, shaking my head. "Stalker? Why would you say that?"

"Well, love, I would say that because I can feel you staring at me every day, I can hear you walk by me every day. Your walking pattern reminds me of the steps of a bad, drunk, dancer."

My face flushed, which I really hoped he couldn't see, because you know, that's kind of embarrassing. "W-why are you sitting here?" I stammered. "I've seen you sitting out in front of my house every day, and you're hardly moving. Why?"

He set down the bottle of booze, folding his hands together. "Well, I'm waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"My girlfriend, Mattie."

"You've been waiting for her for five days?"

"Yes," he sighed. "Five days."

"Oh… well if she said she was going to meet you here… she may have been lying, you know. Sometimes people lie."

"Not Mattie."

I shrugged, simply muttering, "Oh."

A few moments went by, and he finally just looked at the ground, swallowing hard. "Would you mind describing the sun for me? I miss it."

"Oops, sorry," I apologized, side-stepping. "I've been blocking your view, haven't I?"

"No," he mumbled. "It was already blocked without you standing in front of it. You're looking at a blind nineteen year old boy. Unless, of course, you're blind too. Then you're probably not looking at me either."

He rubbed his eyes slowly, which gave me the impression he was still getting used to his blindness or whatever. "I'm not blind… but that's weird," I stated, scratching my head. "Well the sun is big and fiery and well that's all I can tell without going blind like you."

He chuckled, nodding. "Well, love, I suppose that's a valid description."

"It is," I agreed. "But I have a question. Where is your dog that helps you see things? Where are the sunglasses for your eyes and what about the cane?"

"I don't use any of those things," he replied simply.

"Why?"

"All you do is ask questions."

"And all you do is answer them."

"Fair enough. The truth is, I don't use them because I'm not different than anybody else. I can do everything you can without all of that crap. Sunglasses are offensive… I like my eyes and I'm not going to hide them. As much as I love dogs, just like the one you have here, I don't need and can't afford one… as for a cane, well I'm almost twenty – I'm still pretty good on my feet."

I decided to sit next to him. He was nice to talk to, and I had a feeling he wanted to speak to someone. "Where's your family?" I murmured, tapping my feet as I eagerly awaited his answer.

He sighed heavily. "I don't know, love. Probably somewhere roasting little children to eat or something like that." I looked at him in alarm, mouth gaping. He smiled with a chuckle. "Just kidding."

I let out a nervous laugh, thinking, 'Hey. This guy is kinda funny!' "But really," I continued aloud. "Where are they?"

"Hm… well I suppose they're still by London on our little farm, but I'm unsure. My two younger twin brothers ran away when they were eleven and I was fourteen, so I don't know if they're alive. My sister… she may be still living with my father… and my father, I'm actually wondering if he's alive. If he's not, well I guess my sister is probably an orphan. Where's your family?"

"Why?" I questioned suspiciously.

"If you can ask questions invading my privacy, then I can ask you questions too."

I shrugged lightly. "Well I guess they're probably across the street doing random stuff."

"I remember when my family did random stuff. Those were the days."

I frowned with a sigh. "Why are you here, if your family is so far away?"

"Because I'm nineteen and I can do what I want."

But even after that harmless statement, when I looked into his eyes, I saw humor, kindness, and most of all, sadness. He was lying, and I didn't know why. He seemed so relaxed… but I had a feeling there was another reason he was here. "I have to go love," he told me as he stood up. "I guess this is a bit backwards, but I'm Jaxith."

I shrugged with a smile. "I'm Alisyn."

"Nice to meet you Alisyn. Your name is similar to my sister's name, Alessandra. Anyways, it was a pleasure talking to you."

I nodded and he began walking away. For some reason I was left uneasy…

He was waiting for someone. Whoever it was… she didn't come.

And I had a feeling she never would.