4:48
California sighed and rolled over to stare at her ceiling. She hadn't been sleeping well for months. Since the crash really, but ever since she had been discharged from hospital and returned home her insomnia had become worse. She wasn't sure why, it hadn't been as bad when she'd been in the hospital, maybe it was the drugs. Either way, she'd been through the process enough times to know she wasn't going to get back to sleep and whenever she did sleep she had the same dream. An impact, rolling, the screech of metal. So instead of lying in bed, she rolled the duvet back and stood up. Outside a car drove past momentarily lighting her entire room up and she caught a look at herself in her mirror.
The person stood in front of her was unfamiliar. Her eyes were red with large dark bags underneath them, her hair had grown long and messy, knotted in some places due to a lack of care. She pulled part of it back from over her right ear and grimaced, the top was missing, crudely cut off by the impact of jagged metal, the line had softened with time it had been since the accident but she still hated seeing it. Finally, her eyes fell on the scar, her hand dropped from her hair and ran down it, from the right-hand side of her mouth to the base of her neck. The shadows cast from the streetlight settled in the recesses.
Sighing, California turned to her desk and opened the top drawer, withdrawing tobacco, filters, a pack of papers, and her lighter. She took a filter out of the packet and held it in her mouth as she placed the tobacco in the paper then put it at the end, licking the paper and rolling it over. Cigarette made she tossed the packets onto her desk and held it in her mouth as she pulled her gold puffer jacket and beanie on, slipping her phone into her pocket. She picked up her water bottle off the floor as well and then gently opened her bedroom door and made her way downstairs, passing paintings and a few family portraits as she did so.
The house key was in the lock, as it was always left, so she unlocked it and stepped outside into the cold. There was a chill breeze flowing down the street and a faint dusting of snow sat in the recesses of the stoop. Withdrawing her lighter from the pocket of her jacket California cupped her hands in front of her mouth and lit her cigarette, inhaling and letting the first drag sit in her chest for a moment before breathing out and watching the smoke curl in front of her. Cigarette successfully lit she sat on the stoop and watched the occasional passing car.
It had become a nearly nightly routine of hers. Stay awake for hours to eventually fall asleep only to be woken up by a dream of the car crash and going outside to smoke. Sometimes however she didn't sleep for an entire night and on those nights she considered herself lucky. As she sat in the dark smoking the cigarette California considered what the new school year would hold. She was repeating the senior year for the second time, any progress she had been making towards graduating destroyed along with her Ford. Starting again from the beginning alongside kids who were two years her juniors didn't appeal to her. There were no connections she held with them, not really. She would recognize some from the hallways of the school but she only knew a handful, generally Salem's friends or those she shared clubs with. Aside from that, she didn't know them, and meeting new people had never been her forte.
As she sat in the cold thinking California heard the familiar squeal of tires and her head snapped up, her heart beating faster in her chest. Along with the squeal had been a dull thud followed by rapid acceleration as whatever car it had been sped away. Her hand shook as she withdrew the cigarette from her mouth and exhaled, standing as she did so. The sounds had come from around the corner of her house, which sat at the end of the block. Pushing down the sense of panic that was threatening to push up from her chest California stepped around the corner of the building and took in the street ahead of her.
The orange glow from the streetlight was much brighter and she could see her own window up and to her right. The dull orange light bathed everything around it, including the small black shape lying in the middle of the road. California breathed out, half in relief. Whatever car it had been was long gone, either having continued down the street or turning a corner somewhere and disappearing into the night. She stood for a moment, watching the shape, knowing it wasn't going to move, but giving it the chance too. When it didn't California stepped out into the road and next to it.
It had been a cat. A black cat.
California breathed out a ball of smoke.
For a moment she stood, taking in the body. It was misshapen, a side-effect of its encounter with the ten tons of metal that was a car but the fur was clean and shiny. There was also a collar. Carefully she crouched down and picked it up. Se had no idea why, but she carried it out from the middle of the road and placed it down on the concreted of the sidewalk under the streetlight. Sitting down next to it California withdrew her phone and checked the collar.
Hello!
My name is Salem!
If found please contact my owner Martha
503-555-0138
My name is Salem!
If found please contact my owner Martha
503-555-0138
She took a long drag of her cigarette then typed the number into her phone.
It rang and rang but there was no answer.
It was for the best California thought as she stood and flicked the end of her cigarette away. Before heading back to her house.
The cat didn't strike her as a good omen.