Forget

Things hadn’t always been this way. There had been a time when Jamie lived an ordinary life. School, annoying siblings, unremarkable pets, all that sort of thing. Just your everyday life in mainstream suburbia. Sometimes, on days like today, that old life almost seemed attractive. Yeah, compared to the way things were now, it was attractive. Not to mention that the worst part of it was that he knew that he would never be able to turn back to that life ever again.

It was raining. Then again it was always raining; so he shouldn’t really be surprised. The grey sky shone a blinding white in some places, and it reflected a metallic light on the roads that stretched along the busy main street in an endless labyrinth of colourless charcoal that was slick with the rain. The buildings along the streets towered over the people below, two stories at the very least, six stories at a maximum.

People were everywhere. They hurried along the streets, struggling to open umbrellas that were already drenched. A young couple were holding a similar umbrella as they walked casually down the pavement; arm in arm, seemingly oblivious to everything around them, while a nearby hotdog stand was being forced to move under the shelter of a nearby shop. Car headlights made the road sparkle in the sudden light, while the fumes were so thick you were almost choking when you came within walking distance. The roar of the engines, the rattle of rain on loose roof tiles and the dogs that were barking from nearby, all contributed to making a lone person standing on a street corner almost unnoticeable.

Jamie found it more than a little depressing considering his current situation. Current situation? No, that was wrong. More like everlasting situation. That’s what it felt like really, an everlasting chain of circumstances that couldn’t be broken. He hated his life.

He grabbed the phone out of his jacket pocket and for a moment simply stared at it. Then he swallowed his discomfort and dialled the number. The man sounded familiar; Jamie had probably met him before. Not that it mattered. None of it mattered. The man spoke for a time and Jamie listened. When the man hung up, the phone went back in the pocket. Routine. Automatic. An almost unthinking movement borne of practise. Jamie hardly even recognised his own hand as it rested on the gun that was tucked in the hidden holster inside his jacket. The cool metal made him shiver, but not from its cold texture. His mind recoiled from the memory of the red coloured paint and the girl in the black dress. Then he shook himself. Better to forget. To do what he was told. While remembering a time when he had gone to school, fought with his annoying older brothers, and let the cats sleep on his bed when it got too cold. Yes. It was better to forget.

Briana Davis, Year 9 (Female), Shepparton High School