Carl
Ronove sat watching the clock slowly ticking. He had always found time such a
novel concept. The thought of measuring life’s progression in small regular
intervals was bazaar at the very least. He glanced briefly at the secretary as
she typed away at her key board. The clock continued to move through its paces.
He had never been very good at waiting, which is why the passage of time never
occurred to him. Carl was always moving. His philosophy was that it was harder
to hit a moving target, so being still made him uncomfortable. He looked over
to the office door. He wondered what sort of appointment was going on beyond.
The
secretary looked up from her furious typing, “Mr. Abigar will see you now.”
Carl
stepped into the office to find Abigar sitting behind a large desk. Carl slept
on a bed smaller then that desk. The man looked up from a stack of papers that
sat before him. A smile spread across the old weary face. “Carl, how good to
see you.”
“Mathew,”
replied Carl offering his hand, “It is always a pleasure.”
The
old man took firm grasp of his hand. “I feel this is not just a visit for a
friendly chat,” he waved to a seat across the desk from his own.
“You’re
right my old friend.”
They
both took their seats and waited for the other to implore further. It was Carl
who broke first.
“I
need your advice.”
“That
is my specialty,” the old man laughed, “Ask what you will.”
“Mathew,
I have met a girl…”
The
old man held up a hand to silence his young friend, “It never works my dear
boy. We are not like them.”
“She
is more than a normal girl. She consumes my thoughts. She clouds my vision. I
am completely enthralled by her.”
“Carl,
you are a demon.”
“I
know, I know…”
“You
steal human souls for a living, you are the damned Carl, the best thing that
you can do for this girl is leave her the hell alone.”
“I
can’t simply forget her. Why should I?” Carl nearly roared as he flew from his
chair, “I just want what all of them have, the white picket fence, a beautiful
wife, two point five kids. Is it so much to ask for… a little happiness?”
“This
is not a pleasure cruise. We are here for our eternal punishment.”
“I
fought beside you in the war. My sword clashed as many times as yours, believe
me I do not forget. But can I not ask for a brief reprieve, a single lifetime
of happiness out of an eternity of misery.”
The
old man shook his head slightly. The young were so hard to argue with, they
just wouldn’t see reason. He looked up at his friend and could see a hopeless
case.
“So
when were you planning on asking her?”
Carl
fell back into the chair. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled forth a
small velvet box. He carefully set it on the desk in front of him.
“Today,”
he said as the two of them stared intently at the little box, “After I saw
you.”
“Then
my advice obviously mattered very little to you.”
“I’ll
need a best man, I believe that is the custom.”
