Maybe... Just Maybe - Part Two

Jake Martins tried raising his feet from the ground, first his left, and then, as there was no movement he tried his right, neither moved an inch as the wooden branches, vine like gripped tighter and pulled him to the floor. Taking a deep breath he raised his eyes away from the floor, trying to regain some composure.

‘No… there are no branches… you are just reluctant to face him… that’s why you can’t move… but there are no branches and in reality you are in control of your own feet’.

It was enough rational, all his feet needed and Jake was moving once more toward the terrace, despite the rational winning out he still didn’t look back to confirm the branches were not there nor any trace of a cracked tile, just in case. Then he was out, this time the tiles really were burning hot and Jake had to throw a towel down to stand on to stop from damaging his skin. The water of the lagoon remained flat as it was before, the sky clear and there were no signs of the storm he had envisioned. The ship however, the ship was still there, its paint seemingly to flake further at each site and the stranger, that figure stood like stone in the exact same place.

****

Jake Martins spent the rest of the afternoon stood on his terrace, his arm’s leaning down on the warm metal railings at the edge of his property, his eyes transfixed on the figure, locked in what must have been the world’s most intense stare, if the stranger wanted to freak Jake out then Jake would certainly put up a fight. The sun rose higher in the sky for the first two hours it radiated down onto Jake’s neck, the back of his arms and neck burning, changing from a delicate pale brown to a fiery red, without any protection. The pain began to break through, on more than one occasion did he nearly quit and retreat back inside but his resolve won through as the thought of letting the stranger win even one round was too much.

By four o’clock the sun had begun its decent, thankfully dipping down behind the roof of the apartment, gradually sending shade across the tiles and up Jake’s body. Now it was a different burning sensation that took hold, his arms and neck still red roar, a constant sting but now the burning came from lower down. His bladder screamed out as he reached bursting point. He could not wait any longer, reluctant to let this round go, as his opponent had not seemed to even shift his weight, Jake thrust his arm’s forward pushing his own weight off the railings. His legs quivered as they took his full weight for the first time since he had crossed the terrace so many hours earlier. As he took the first step they went from quivering to buckling and he crashed to the floor, his head light and dizzy as the sun and dehydration took its hold and he was lost into an unwanted slumber.

No dreams or thoughts broke the dead silence, the blackness of his comatose sleep and by the time he regained consciousness the sun had fully descended and the sky above was a pale glowing blue, the unfailing beauty of the evening sky as the last light passes over the horizon, just before the day transcends into blackness and the stars take control of the night.

Jake Martins stretched his arms pushing his body up from the floor, his lips were dry and his head seemed unwilling to be held upright as the dizziness could not be shaken. He managed to grab hold of the chair next to him and softly raised himself to his feet, his legs still shaking unwilling to take responsibility for his full weight. He felt and fell his way from the balcony to the apartment, his arms catching and grabbing anything they could to prevent another tumble, it was like this he made his way to the fridge, opening the door he took out the chilled bottle of water. Steadying himself on one arm he raised the rim to his lips and poured the cool liquid, drinking for the first time since that morning. The cold of the liquid almost seemed to burn his throat as he forced himself to drink the whole bottle, fighting back the urge to vomit. Letting himself slide down the kitchen cabinet, his back pressed against the door and his legs felt the cool tiles below. There was no doubt and to Jake’s disgust he could not deny the fact that the stranger had most definitely won that first round. Even though he could not know Jake Martins was confident that the figure was still stood in the same position at the front of his ship, somehow unbeaten by the sun’s might.

After a further thirty minutes Jake found his strength began to return to his limbs and the fog in his mind began to lift. It was at this point he noticed the uncontrollable urge he had felt in his bladder had vanished. Jake reached his hand down touching over his crotch and realised there was no longer the urge, that he no longer needed to evacuate his bladder as the evacuation had already taken place, Jake Martins had pissed himself, worse than that, he found he did not care in the slightest, his thoughts immediately returned to the stranger. Standing, probably a little quicker than he should he made his way over to the cupboard in the corner of the room where he kept his bottled drink. Opening the left door his typewriter just to the left caught his eye, in particular the paper sticking out the top. That morning the paper had been blank, Jake unable to get over his current writer’s block had not even managed to type one word in the last two months. Now however, the page was not blank, but neatly, in the top left corner was typed an address. Jake grabbed two bottles of red wine from the cupboard, paused, his eyes still glancing to the paper, tucked one under his arm and grabbed a third bottle, this time filled with water before closing the cupboard and staggering over to the desk.

F.A.O

Jake Martins

Fordton Asylum

Chilstern Road

Fordton

FO12 6TH

Jake stumbled back nearly dropping all three bottles.

‘How?’

‘You know how!’

‘…’

‘You know WHO!.. There’s no question now… he’s been in here… that stranger… he’s a stranger to you but to him… he knows you… maybe… maybe he was a doctor… or… or another… patient… who did you tell… who did you tell that you liked it in there?’

‘NO ONE! STOP… you don’t know what your fucking talking about! Just shut the FUCK up!’

‘Maybe… just maybe he knows…’

‘ARFGHHHHHH’

The wine bottle from Jake’s right hand flew across the room, the glass shattering on the far white wall, the red content splattering before running down the white paint, appearing as if someone had had enough and decided to take themselves out of the equation, the equation, that was, of life.

Storming across to the cupboard, thrusting it open, Jake grabbed another bottle, paying no heed to the content. Three bottles in hand he traced his feet across the tiles and exited onto the terrace. The night had now taken hold, the stars filling the black canopy above, the moon, not quite but almost full thrusting it’s light across the Lagoon, illuminating, not only the water, light reflecting off the movement, but also the boats, all five of them. On the fifth boat, still positioned to the left of the harbour the stranger stood, he hadn’t seemed to move his position once, even in this light his face could be seen peaking under his cap, his eyes fixed on Jake Martins and his apartment.

Jake opened the first bottle, wine of course, he had only bought the water to avoid the same incident that occurred earlier that day, he wasn’t going to lose, not this time. His pants already stained with piss and so would not be any worse if he needed to relieve himself once more, he had ample beverage and so this time, the stranger would be the one to collapse or piss himself. In the background, somehow seeming more distant than the few feet it was, Jake’s phone alarm rang out in the apartment, signaling it was time again for his medication, the medication the stranger had made it impossible to take, the second dose that day he had missed. Jake Martins now stared out, directly toward the figure on the yet, more decaying ship. Could it be the paint had flaked further, worn down so much since that morning when he had first lay eyes on the intruder that the once faded aqua blue now looked almost brown from the wood below.