Short Story 2

Morning guys, I wrote another short story. This is the second one in my 'desolate' series. Here is number one.

Juliette was a moody girl. When she was feeling down, nothing could cheer her up, but when she was cheerful, she made everyone smile. Flitting between people and places, colourful in demeanour and looks, Juliette was the centre of attention at many parties. When she wasn’t, she went home early.

Juliette was a pretty girl. Her big eyes looked at the world in excitement and fear. Her red lips could hardly ever stop blabbering. Constantly gushing about the wonders of the world in big vibrant words, Juliette had the tendency to project her soul onto the world.

Her hands were always fiddling with things. Her brain churned over thoughts. Endlessly. Her heart never got fixed.

Maybe that’s why she chose Adam. Or that’s why Adam chose her. Adam was a reliable guy, he was down-to-earth and he was certainly what people would call marriage material. Juliette hated marriage material. With his massive bear-like stature he was the ideal protector. A man who takes care of things. A man who protects women. A man who protects Juliette.

They had been living together for 4 years. In a bright, yet relatively crowded maisonette flat in South London. Juliette’s record collection was all over the flat, Adam’s newspapers were neatly stacked in one corner. Juliette’s shoes were scattered all over their bedroom, Adam’s socks were colour-coordinated and packed away in the first drawer by their bed. Sometimes Juliette felt like she was living with her brother and she despised that. At other times she felt strangely close to Adam. Loving but not in love.

She wanted him to take her to the Natural History Museum. She wanted him to take her to the seaside. She wanted him to talk about the Grateful Dead, about Pavement, about some obscure music genre or at least about something that would show a spark, passion, emotion, humanity. That would prove that there is a light behind the curtain of thick brown hair, but he didn’t . He never did. All he said was “Do you want to watch TV?”

Juliette reclined. She didn’t want to watch TV, she wanted to watch Adam. She didn’t want to watch life projected on a dark screen, she wanted to watch it first hand.

Juliette didn’t tell Adam that she was six weeks pregnant. She hated him. She wanted adventure; he wanted babies and a good wife. While staring at the TV screen sitting next to Adam with blank eyes, Juliette spent hours pondering. Then her mind flickered. She told Adam that she was going for a walk. She never returned. Juliette lived happily ever after.