The Perfectly Horrible Day

It was a beautiful day for a walk. It was sunny, and the temperature was approximately 75 degrees. She left her house and started the two- and 1/2-mile trip into town. She could have driven her car or rode her bike into town, but she could not imagine not taking the time to truly enjoy such a perfect day.

She carried a bag containing library books and a full water bottle as she started along the gravel road. The tree lined path was absolutely breathtaking, and she stopped several times to look at the way a particular tree was growing or to watch a bird in its nest. She watched three bunnies hop across the road without a care in their head.

As she walked along the road, she thought about what a wonderful life she had surrounded by the beauty of nature and the simplicity of living near a small town. Her job allowed her to work from home so she could live in such a tranquil setting. When she arrived at the town, she went straight to the library to return her books then choose new ones for the week.

His day started badly and went downhill from there. He did not wake up when his alarm sounded for the third time this month and when he got to work, he was promptly fired for habitual tardiness. He stopped by the convenience store to pick up a newspaper so he could review the job advertisements. He could not imagine having a worse day.

He reviewed the want ads and did not see a single job he seemed qualified for. He decided to apply in person at two of the businesses to see if they might overlook his experience deficiencies. When he went out to his car, he realized his tire was flat, said a few four-letter words, and preceded to change the tire. He was glad he did have a spare tire but was even angrier because he was going to need to shower again before he could apply for a new job.

As he showered, he thought about what a horrible day he was having and wondered why he was trapped in his awful life. He had been floating from dead end job to dead end job and could never seem to get ahead even a little. He drove to the first business, a hardware store approximately 1/2 mile from his apartment, to fill out an application and possibly speak to a manager. The position had already been filled, so he went to the second business in a nearby town to try his lack of luck.

The library was one of her favorite places no matter where she lived. She had lived in 12 different places in her short life, which was one of the reasons she was so happy to settle here. She wanted to grow roots like the trees and start a family in a place you could relax and feel safe. In the library, the world was wide open to anyone who wanted to seize it. She seized ever moment of life she could.

She stopped at the librarian station to drop off the books she was returning. She chatted with the librarian for a few minutes about the beautiful day and other light topics while the librarian scanned her books into the database to mark them as returned. She then browsed through the many rows of fiction books looking for some historical fiction and murder mysteries. She loved to imagine the past with rose colored glasses and solve whodunit books.

She wandered around the library for almost an entire hour pulling books from the shelves and returning the rejects as she looked for books that would both fulfill and delight her. She found two murder mysteries and four historical fiction books she thought would amuse and inspire her. As she went back to the librarian station to check out her books, she noticed a young man sitting with the library manager talking.

The library was probably his least favorite place in the world. He did not like to read and felt the library was mostly full of annoying children and old busybodies. A job is a job and if the library would hire him, he would put up with children and old people. He was tired of this two-bit town but did not have the money to move somewhere else to start fresh.

He came into the library and stopped at the librarian station to ask for an application. A young woman was just leaving the librarian station and quickly disappeared into the rows and rows of books. The librarian handed him an application and told him she would be happy to give it to the library manager if he wanted to fill it out right now. He sat at a table and pulled out his pen, it was time to start a new page in his life.

He gave his completed application to the woman at the librarian station who told him the library manager was in her office and might be available to interview him very soon. The librarian returned to tell him the library manager would be available to see him in approximately 15 minutes if he could wait. The library manager sat down across from him and introduced herself less than ten minutes later. The library manager told him that even though he seemed to have broad employment experience, the position they were hiring for required extremely specific training which he did not have.

She left the library bursting with joy. She had six exciting books to read which were sure to put amazing images in her head to release into her art. Books had been the primary source of her artistic expression for many years and she loved reading a book and then transferring those images on to a canvas, sketch pad, or even, occasionally, a sculpture. She had built a small following of collectors who provided her with a lowkey, yet comfortable lifestyle.

She stopped at the cafe a couple of blocks from the library to fill up her water bottle and order a sandwich to eat on her walk home. While she waited for her order to be completed, she looked out the large glass windows into the street to watch the few cars rolling by and the pedestrians walking along the sidewalk. She wondered, and created stories in her mind about, where the people were going. Her contemplations were interrupted by a car speeding down the street. When her sandwich was ready, she started walking back to her home.

Once she was out of town approximately half a mile, she slid her water bottle into her bag of books to open her sandwich and start eating. She had ordered a BLT and the cafe did not disappoint; the sandwich was excellent. She scoured the tree line for animals to admire as she completed her sandwich. She saw a deer, several squirrels, and several birds. How wonderful life is, she thought to herself, it truly is a perfect day.

He left the library incredibly angry. Two whole hours plus time to change the tire and shower again wasted at the two businesses, neither of which had hired him. He was tired of his continual failures. Dumped by every girl he ever dated; his love life was nonexistent. His grades were not good enough to get him into a college, and he would not have had the money to go anyway. Since the creamery closed six years back, the remaining jobs in the area were quickly snatched up by people much more qualified than him. He was tired of living paycheck to paycheck especially now that a paycheck would not be coming.

His tires screeched as he drove out of the library's parking lot. He was so angry he needed to drive fast to blow off steam. As he drove by the town’s only cafe, he noticed the young woman from the library standing by the windows looking out. She was smiling and looking quite contented. For some reason, her happiness made him even angrier as he sped by. He drove about 1/2 mile before deciding he was going to turn around to find out who she was and where she was going in such a good mood when his world was falling apart.

He saw her turn onto a street that led out of town and parked his car so he could see how far she went. He did not want her to notice him following her. He watched her walk completely out of town and realized she must live in one of the country houses stretched for miles until the road reached the next town. He decided to wait until she was almost out of eyesight to move down the road so he could keep an eye on her.

She heard a car coming up from behind her and moved to the far edge of the road so the car would have room to pass her unimpeded. Instead of passing her, he slowed the car down and rolled his passenger side window down as the car crawled beside her. “Would you like a lift? It is a little warm today for a long walk.” he told her. “No, thank you. I think it is a beautiful day for a walk and I do not have too much farther to go. Have a great day.” she replied.

Her answer enraged him. How dare she reject him and tell him to have a great day when his day was getting worse by the minute? He floored his car, so the tires spun… spitting dust up into her face. He drove with smug satisfaction a few hundred yards before deciding he had finally had enough. He pulled his car to the side of the road and stopped. He put the car in park and grabbed his hunting knife from the glove compartment. He climbed out of the car, put the hunting knife in his back pocket, turned in the direction of the young woman, and started running toward her.

The young man acted offended by what she had said and when he drove away it seems he intentionally had his car spit dust in her face. She saw him drive a little way down the road and then pull over, stop, get out of his car, and start running toward her. She decided he must be coming back to apologize and perhaps he did not intentionally spin dust in her face. What a nice guy! Perhaps she would accept his ride after all since she was quite dusty and wanted to take a shower and wipe off the books in her bag.

As he reached her, all he could see was the smile on her face and all he could think was how he wanted to erase that smile. He shoved her off the road and onto her back in a patch of marigolds. He pulled his hunting knife out of his back pocket and plunged it into her chest. “Why are you tormenting me?” he screamed. “It is not a beautiful day! I am not having a great day! Why do you keep trying to rub your fantastic day in my face? You do not deserve a beautiful day; you deserve a horrible day just like mine!”

She was overcome with shock when he pushed her down on the ground hard with both hands. She was so startled and short of breath she could not react before he had straddled his body on top of her and pulled a knife out of his back pocket. She felt him stab her yelling almost incomprehensibly about the day. As the knife plunged into her chest yet again and she looked at all the beautiful yellow flowers surrounding her, she thought to herself at least my last day was a beautiful day.