One Last Breath
Daniel Yetman May 4, 2011
The last flames flicker on a dying fire, Dominic prods the embers with a branch from an elm tree while he waits for the girls to return to the campsite. With his gaze fixated on the fire’s light his voice is held at a whisper to Alex who sits directly across from him.
“I think I’m going to do it tonight” his voice is stoic and doesn’t waver at all—it portrays complete confidence.
Alex doesn’t say anything at first; he just stares at the fire perfectly relaxed. It’s not until he senses Dominic’s eyes move towards him that he speaks.
“Are you sure about that?” He says without emotion.
“Yes, you can’t stop me.”
“I wasn’t going to try to stop you; I’m just asking do you think that’s really such a good idea.”
“What do I have to lose?”
“What if she doesn’t say it back?”
“Then at least then I’ll know for sure.”
“And that wouldn’t kill you?”
“I didn’t say that.” Dominic swallows hard. His face fades from a portrait of excitement to exuberant disappointment.
A faint smile grows upon Alex’s lips, “I’m sure she will.”
A sudden rustling in the nearby grove of birch trees makes both men turn instinctively, even though they both know it is just the girls being noisy. Samantha is the first of the two to emerge, the light from the fire bounces off her golden locks. She smile as she walks into the campsite, and is held in a perpetual state of laughter from something Britney just whispered to her; she tries to regain her composer.
Samantha is Alex’s sister, twin sister although she is about three minutes younger. The two of them have always gotten along better than most siblings, keeping within the same groups of friends and sharing an unequivocal devotion.
Sam is also the woman who has held Dominic’s heart for as long as he can remember—they have been close friends since elementary school but never as close as he would have liked. Maybe it is just his own ever rising standards but he has always felt a disconnection between the two of them, as if there has to be a group of people around for him to speak to her. The two of them have almost never been alone together, the only occasions arising from awkward social situations gone awry leaving the two of them standing next to each other.
Luckily there is one positive that has always kept the two in close contact, Alex has been Dominic’s best friend since grade school and for as long as he had known him he has known Sam. He was originally afraid to tell Alex that he had developed strong feelings for his sister, afraid that it would cause the termination of their friendship. It wasn’t until they were both seven years old on Christmas Day that he finally told him. They were in Alex’s bedroom building the Lego castle set that Alex just received. When Dominic told him, he wasn’t angry—he wasn’t really anything at all. It wasn’t until years later that it gained any real significance for him. He had never looked at his sister as an outsider might.
Samantha has always been naturally pretty, with a pure and innocence face—fair skin and a laugh that seems to be just about perfect. Somehow she has remained single for most of her life, to Dominic’s joy and utter frustration. She has always seemed to have more important things to occupy her time with, a relationship has, for the most part, been the last thing on her mind. There have only been two people to ever completely win over her heart and neither worked out well—she ended up being hurt both times. Now more than ever, she subconsciously keeps her distance from anybody she may be romantically interested in to make sure that she never gets hurt again.
Alex has been dating Sam’s best friend, Britney, for almost two years which has only strengthened the bond of their circle of friends. Britney is essentially Samantha’s opposite in every way; Sam has Blonde hair, Britney’s is jet black; Sam is outgoing and social while Britney has always been much more reserved, only ever able to talk openly to the few select people who have entered her tightly knit circle of trust.
“Hey, what are we talking about?” Sam asks throwing herself in the chair next to Alex and across from Dominic.
“Why girls of course!” Alex responds sarcastically.
Britney sits down on his other side and smacks him in the stomach lightly, “shut up, I’m right here.”
“Oh sorry babe, I didn’t see you there.” He says with a wink.
The moon shines brightly over the remote camp, three-quarters full and illuminates the two tents pitched underneath a half dead oak tree.
Their voices are loud and obnoxious against an otherwise silent night. The wind is almost stagnant and the firewood is dry—it burns quick and refrains from crackling.
There is nobody else around for miles, they are by no means in the middle of nowhere but far enough away that a scream may or may not be heard. A voice might be able to carry across the lake.
Alex reaches into their cooler and opens a package of hotdog sausages, offering them around.
“Shhhhh,” Brittany hushes while trying to grab the package from her boyfriend.
“Hmmm, what is it?” He asks confused.
“What about bears?” The look in her eye seems to portray absolute terror.
Alex and Dominic look to each other instantaneously in a way only best friends can. They hold back laughter until tears start to form underneath their eyes.
“There are no bears in Atkinson county, everybody knows that,” exclaims Dominic.
“There definitely is, I know people who have seen them!” Britney fights back.
Alex grabs her hand and pulls her closer, “Don’t worry, I’ll save you.”
“My hero,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“You know what you really ought to be afraid of, don’t you?” Dominic asks.
“What’s that?”
“Monsters…”
“I’m sure, space monsters are going to come and find me and rip me to pieces.” Britney says with disregard.
“No, not space monsters,” Dominic looks to Alex and gives him a little nod, “Lake monsters.”
“Oh how could I forget about the lake monsters?”
Alex turns his girlfriend to face him, “Wait, you mean you’ve never heard of the Millpond monster?”
Britney looks on in disguise while Samantha leans forward in her chair with chin in hand; she looks like she is about to break into hysteric laughter.
Alex starts in on the tale, “Well a long, long time ago on a night just like there was a boy nearby here camping with his family. Legend has it that in the middle of the night he wandered off and got lost in the woods. His mother, realizing his absence, searched the woods for him. She looked everywhere to no avail, that is until she went down to waterfront. She saw the boy staring off into the darkness, across the lake. She called his name once, twice, thrice but the boy didn’t respond; he was fixated on the lake. When she took a step forward so did he.”
Alex pauses and looks around the circle of friends, “Every step she took so did he until he was over his head. The child snapped out of the trance and began to drown, the mother tried her best to save him but by the time she reached him it was too late. Sick with a broken heart she let herself go in that lake.”
He pauses again for dramatic effect, “To this day the mother’s spirit haunts this lake poaching unexpecting campers from the lake’s shore. Dare somebody go swimming when the moon full—well—there life would be a short one.”
The wind blows solemnly through the silent camp as Alex’s failed attempt at humor rears no reaction. In one quick lunging motion he grabs the back of his girlfriend’s neck and yells, “Got you!”
Britney jumps in agitation but shows no signs of fear.
“Seriously, that’s the best you got? I’m going to bed,” She says while getting up from her seat on Alex’s lap.
“Well I thought it was very scary,” says Sam with a wide smile.
“Thanks, I thought so too,” Alex retorts.
“Heyyy, you know what we should all do?”
“What’s that?” Asks Dominic.
“We should go swimming, you know, see if we can go find that monster.” She winks.
Dominic looks to her with wide-eyed longing, “That’s a great idea!” His eyes literally sparkle as he says it.
“Yeah that sounds awesome, I—” Alex looks to Dominic and gives him a quick wink and a subtle nod. “I think I should go to bed as well.”
“Ahhh come on, it would be a great time.” She pleads to Dominic’s dismay.
“Well…” He considers it for a split second, until Dominic shoots him a look that’s half pitiful and half agitated.
“No sorry, maybe next time.”
“Fine, me and Dom will go ghost hunting ourselves.” If he was in solitude Dominic would fist pump but instead he shoots her a smile.
The two beat through the woods for a short ways before coming out in a clearing overlooking Aldino Lake, in the distance city lights can be seen, and the low rumble of traffic on a freeway penetrates the crisp night air.
The two sit on a rock overlooking the water, kick their shoes off and dangle their feet.
“It’s such a nice night out, isn’t it?” Dominic says nervously.
“Yes it’s beautiful; I wish it could be this warm all year.” She sounds perfectly calm.
A million thoughts run through Dominic’s head—thoughts of how nonchalant she seems, how he can’t sense even the slightest bit of nervousness in her voice. Clearly this moment doesn’t mean as much to her as it means to him but does it mean anything to her at all?
“I never want this night to end.” Dominic’s says through clenched teeth.
“Why’s that?”
“Well if this night never ended then it would be summer forever.”
“But it would always be night.”
“Well it wouldn’t matter because I would get to live this moment until the end of time.” Sam’s head makes a jerking motion as a result of her surprise at Dominic’s words. It’s such a subtle motion that nobody else would have noticed it but he did.
“Why wouldn’t you want this moment to end?” Finally there is nervousness in her voice.
“Because then I would get to sit next to the most beautiful girl in the world forever.” Subtlety he slides his right hand onto her left hand. She’s taken back by the abrupt touch but she doesn’t pull her hand away.
“Oh I see.” She says without enough emotion for Dominic to get a read on what she’s thinking. Biting his upper lip Dominic looks around, avoiding eye contact by any means necessary.
“If some crazy ghost, monster thing comes and grabs my foot you have to save me, kay?” Quicker than the words leave her mouth she’s off running towards the water leaving Dominic confused and frustrated. He himself kicks off his shoes and wades into the lake’s shallows. The water feels cold against his skin and he can only imagine what it must feel like against hers.
“Sam, how is the water?”
“It’s freezing, come on!” She waves for him to come to her. Every fiber of his being wants to walk into the depths of the lake and bask by her in the moonlight but a figment created by his own mind holds him back. She stands silently waiting for him but he stands frozen. He moves his eyes from her down to his feet. A bashful smile forms on his lips and by the time he looks up again she’s looking at him as if to ask what’s wrong? He takes a step forward and then he takes another, his heart pounding.
And then without warning it happens. To Dominic it appears that the monster of the old woman finally got her revenge but if he could communicate with Sam telepathically he would know that it is simply a lack hydration causing a painful cramp just below her right hip. Nonetheless she goes from wading to scrambling and then to drowning, as she grips her leg in agony her head radiates over and under the surface of the water. Dominic stares in awe, watching her mouth the words please save me. He hesitates, second guessing himself. He’s stuck staring at her helpless, and with every second he waits her chances of survival diminishes. His feet have become heavy, bolted to the ground and Sam’s head progressively spends more time under the water’s surface than above it.
Chains hang from his wrists and ankles, immobilizing him as her eyes fade away from his. His breath gets cut short, as if he is the one who is drowning and it isn’t until he has a flashback of their childhood together that he regains full consciousness. He remembers the two of them playing in the sandbox at school shaped like a turtle, playing basketball behind the gym, and sharing a lifetime’s worth of memories.
Suddenly selfless he wades into the lake before diving in completely; he pulls her now lifeless soma onto the bank and presses forcefully against her chest with his palms, trying desperately to jumpstart the heart that causes his heart to beat. The night has contiguously become silent, all the crickets seem to have stopped chirping instantaneously and the wind no longer brushes through the trees.
Dominic puts an ear on her chest in desperation, trying to hear anything—any sound at all to break the night’s silence. Although his grief is overwhelming no tears seem to fall, nothing happens at all actually. Leaning in he finally whispered the three words in her ear that he has meant to tell her for half his life, “I love you.”
He covers her face with a makeshift veil of leaves and walks away. It feels as if his blood sugar is crashing and his blood pressure has all but disappeared—if what he was feeling earlier was love this must be the exact opposite—utter self-loathing.
Upon returning to the camp he is met with a wide eyed smile and a jab in the ribs from his best friend.
“Soooooo, how did it go?”
“How did what go?” Dominic’s voice stagnates.
“You know, the whole I love you thing…”
“Oh that, right… Well...”
“Well what?”
“Well, I said it…” His voice trails off and tears start to form underneath his eyes.
“And I’m guessing she didn’t say it back?”
“Actually she didn’t say anything back.”
“Where is she, is she okay?”
“No.”
Alex’s heartbeat hastens and his sympathetic nervous system takes the reins. With eyes dilated and blood vessels dilated he prepares himself for the worst.
“She’s dead.” Dominic’s voice is flat and emotionless.
It feels like five minutes before Alex can clear his throat enough to synthesis a single word, “How?”
“I killed her…” For the first time in the conversation complete remorse can be heard on Dominic’s voice.
Alex grabs him by the shirt collar and slams him against an oak tree as hard as he can, back first. He snarls and speaks with hatred, “Do you have any idea what you have just done? You killed my sister because she didn’t tell you she loved you? You are sick!”
Alex’s pushes Dominic to the ground before he has time to speak. He puts his left hand upon his throat and draws his right hand into a fist pointed at Dominic’s nose—a nose that soon erupts like a volcano.
***
The police arrive to find Dominic unconscious, near death and shaking underneath a blanket in one of the two tents. Alex sits on the bank tears rolling down his cheeks and blood across his hands and face. Britney is in a state of delirium, completely out of her mind, unable to hold a tangible conversation. Alex is the one who tells the police of the body down by the lake, his sister’s. They arrest him promptly and charge him with an account of second degree murder and aggravated assault.
And so he was exiled from mainstream society and sent to a cell he thought he would rot in for the rest of his life. It wasn’t so bad, time moved faster than one would expect. He had to plenty of time to think, for better and for worst, and he nearly came to peace with his convictions—that is until the afternoon when he was approached by the same two police officers who escorted him away when he was originally convicted.
One of the two cops looks down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact while the second doesn’t seem to wear any emotion at all.
“Alex?” The emotionless police officer asks.
“Yes?” He responds.
“You have a visitor.”
A young woman walks in behind the two officers shyly, with dried tears underneath her eyes and mascara running halfway down her face.
“You have five minutes.” Says the cop.
Alex’s stands up, gripping the bars with his calloused hands; the steel is cold and appropriate.
“How is he?” He asks timidly.
“He died today, after three weeks in a coma.” She says coldly.
Alex takes a moment before speaking, trying to ignore the catch in his throat, “that’s ahh… That’s too bad.”
“Too bad? You killed your best friend and all you say is too bad? Why? Why’d you do it?”
“He killed her, I had—“
“Dominic didn’t kill anybody. She drowned, Alex. They didn’t find a mark on her, no signs of struggle, nothing. Not a single bruise—“
“But he said he killed her!”
“He was in shock, and sure as hell didn’t expect his best friend to start swinging at him the moment it left his lips.”
Britney slips a golden ring with a small diamond off of her left hand and throws it at Alex’s feet, “You belong here.”
He picks up the ring and reads the engravement aloud, “Forever and always, I’ll always be there for you.”
She gives him a look of cynicism and a bitter stare—with that she walks away, leaving Alex in the dark once again.
All rights belong to the original author, as defined under the Canadian Copyright Law.
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