Faceless faces

A Story by Noah

It was late in the evening that Nitk entered his house. His wife was lying down on the floor bleeding. He approached her and came on his knees. He was staring on her closed eyes and he could notice the last vibrations of them. The metallic smell of the blood already hit his nose, but it didn’t touch him much. After all, it wasn’t the first he was so close to a dead person, while he was almost sure that he never saw a wife of him dying.

He stood up and went to the kitchen. The same kitchen that they renovated a year ago together. The cheap light bulb was spreading that yellow and heavy light. A light the burden of which you can feel on your skin. He opened the tap water to drink his last glass for the day. He couldn’t recall when the last time he was really thirsty to drink a water.

The door rang. Usually it was not him but his wife was opening the doors. This time he couldn’t rely on her anymore. He opened the door. The wintery smell of the air spread over the room. It was smelling the upcoming winter. The same smell that almost everyone has some nostalgic memories from their childhoods.

“Hi”

“Hi. How are you Nitk? It’s our day - Thursday”.

“True. I was waiting, come in”.

They walked into the living room and sit on the sofa, just next to the wife’s body. The blood was already formed a small lake in the middle of the room. They had to do a very long steps to not spoil their shoes.

“So how was your day Nikt? Haven’t heard of you since our last day. Got any news?” asked the guy.

“I am fine. Was busy at the work.During last couple of weeks could barely even see my wife”.

“Uh, the same. Did you get your promotion?”

“Not yet, waiting for it”.

The guy stayed for another twenty-five minutes. It was this guy that would visit them every month. He was a so-called friend of their so-called family. He would visit them and chat about their lives. The lives that they were thinking they lived. This time their chat was no better and no worse than the previous ones. The main thing in common was that all of them did not exist anymore or ever.

The funeral was the next day. Nikt prefered crematorium instead of a graveyard as the latter was too expensive. After all she wanted to renovate the living room as well. He didn’t want to visit the funeral as it never would have taken place. Instead, he went out and started his aimless walk. It was deep autumn. The golden leaves were flying on the surface of the half-dry roads. The wind was calm but he could feel it as it was fondling his entire face and hands. He wore his black long coat. She never liked it. Neither did he.

Many others were also wondering from somewhere to somewhere, from something to something. He could see their faceless faces. He could see his face on them. They were him and he was them. The ashes of Melany were already in the air being breathed by those who never existed.