Enjoy the Sunlight

The man peered at her with a blend of curiosity and annoyance. She side-glanced back. A second later, he was caught staring at her. She shrugged her shoulders before the man irritably pleaded, “Could you please use another bench?”

She sighed, “Excuse me please, here the sun shines just the way I want it to. You can use another bench if you have any problem.”

Seeing red, the man muttered, “What makes you think you can sit with me here or anywhere?”

She quietly watched the still surface of the pond before them and waited for the silence to fall after the barn owl's screech. She said, “Axir, I am sure you're upset about-”

“Huh? Upset? You think I am upset after what you did? Can you hear yourself? You sound insane! What the heck are you talking about?!” he exclaimed.

A wide silent space formed between their words.

Axir sighed heavily and asked, “How can you enjoy the sunlight now? How can you enjoy the sunlight at this time of the night, Mary?”

She laughed while a thin stream of teardrop ran down her face, settling on her chin, then falling to soak on her autumn dress. She laughed as another teardrop followed the same route. All the tears escaped her eyes, racing aimlessly down her face as she laughed on. Axir stood up and held out a hand towards her. Looking at the course fingertips, she held on and stood up too.

“Do you want to go to Iceland?” he asked without vexation.

“Why do you want to go to Iceland?” she asked.

“I want to visit the Blue Lagoon with you.”

“Again?”

“Wasn’t it beautiful?”

“Do you have some work there?”

Gesturing to walk, Axir strolled and waited for her to say something before telling her what he had in mind.

“Axir… I think you should go alone,” she murmured as she drew back her hand from his firm grip.

Confused, he stared and waited. As she began to turn back and leave, he stooped on her way and exclaimed, “What's wrong?”

“We can’t live together.”

“Why? What did you do?” he exclaimed, “Even after you disobeying me, I gave you a second chance to be with me. You should look at yourself and consider the fact of being with me again, even after what you did.”

“You are a petty narcissistic sadist. What is the pleasure in showing others how great you pretend to be?” Mary cried, “I need my own space back and the only way I can get it is by leaving you alone. This is the end.”

****

Axir knew this won’t be long. He entered the restaurant and searched for that one familiar face. Passing the short walk across the room, he sighed and sat.

“Hey. Hope you didn’t have to wait too long,” he grinningly greeted.

She gave a thin fake smile and said, “Thought you’re not gonna make it. What took you so long, may I ask?”

Ignoring the remake, he raised his arm for the waiter’s attention and said, “I have another place to be. Quick, get to the point.”

“If you were busy, then why agree to come?” she irritably said.

“Please mum, I am here to just hear from you. Now what was that trouble Max was talking about?”

Just as the waiter arrived, Axir’s mother left the table. Immediately, he stood and followed her out.

“What?” his aggressive cry dismissing the ignored street performer on the moderately crowded sidewalk. No one stopped and stared just as Zara thought it to be. She looked around and thought, “The way ordinary people just walk away from all the troubles and head start to destiny is amazing. No distractions. Nothing to snatch their attention... wish my son wasn't this overly self'-confident.”

“What are you rolling you eyes at? What's the matter now?” Axir asked softly.

“What are you doing, Axir? I don’t have any problem. You’re here for what? Max told what? You're here to tell me something or am I taking up all your time? Well if that's the case, I don’t need your time-”

“What the hell! What is it that you want from me? I came to visit you, right? What do you want now?” he bellowed.

“Hey!” she scowled, “Don’t raise your voice at me. Go be where you want to be,” with that said, she walked away towards the moderately crowded bus stop to stand amongst the throng, in hope of being chased by her son.

Axir thought she didn’t want to be followed anymore. Although he had made up his mind, he rushed up to her anyway and asked, “Mum, you remember a crazy large park you showed me where no one goes? With a pond? In the North?”

She nodded and replied, “Axir. It's restricted to be there.”

“Do you think it might be frozen right now?”

“The pond? Yeah maybe,” she guessed.

After a concise moment of silence, he whole-heartedly asked, “Do you want me to visit that pond with you, right now?”

“Isn’t there some place you have to be?”

Axir sighed and confessed, “I lied. I want to see the pond and enjoy the sunlight right now. I want to tell you about something too.”

Looking at her wrist-watch, she chuckled and told, “Son, it’s quatre-to-twenty-one. You’re sure there’s gonna be any sunlight to enjoy?”

Axir chuckled too and advanced towards a minicab.

“Let’s go,” he smiled.

They were stopped at an entrance of a park which he clearly remember being empty and carpeted with damp orange-red leaves, glinting from the moonlight as he left that day alone. Walking a not so short while, they sat on the same bench he sat a season ago right in front of the now frozen pond.

Axir sighed and said, “Stone and I parted at autumn.”

“Oh,” Axir’s mom began to sympathize, “I am sorry to hear that.”

“She called me a sadist.”

She looked at her son and said “Yeah? I haven’t seen Mary since what seems like last autumn actually.”

Axir kept his cold blue eyes on the surface of the frozen pond settled before them. He blinked heavily and turned to his mother and whispered, “Do you want to know what happened to her?”

She shook her head and cried, “Axir! Please don't do this to me all the time. What happened now?”

“I cut her up into pieces, minced her and fed half to the dogs and threw the other half in this pond. I sold her organs and a little less than 2 liters of her blood to The Tunnel or whatever they are called. Don't try asking about how I have the connections there. Been through hell to get all that done, not gonna lie there,” he very simply told his mother, “but I am about to tell you since you're my mum. A few years ago, in Iceland-”

“Axir, please-”

“It’s been four months since that day and my life is falling apart. I didn’t tell anybody about what happened, firstly because nobody asked. She said she needed her space, well she sure would have gotten a lot of it if I let her leave this park alive,” Axir went on, “I am not sorry, mother, but I am forlorn again. I guess, I liked it better when she used to be all tied up and-”

“Can you stop? Just shut up!”

The short silence was broken by a loud screech of a barn owl on the tree right behind the bench.

“Feels like the barn owl's all that lives here,” Axir shrugged before loud patters of footsteps came from behind them.

*

Thank you! Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you liked it, please leave a heart if you did. Tips are always very appreciated. And thank you once again.

Here are some fictions where the characters mentioned here were featured:

Axir: One Good Morning

Mary: One Good Morning

Zara (Axir's mother): What symbolizes her strength AND Cora AND Zara Kozi, 1921