Daniel Singh

Object of Desire


A beautiful day means nothing to a man that hates life. The sun is a curse that warms the skin while the soul burns. No matter how much light it brings, the world remains a ball of darkness. Seeing the cup as half full makes no difference when the throat remains dry. Some often live in their head. The real world is a fancy carrousel they can no longer ride without feeling sick. But even in their head something is wrong. Some not only despise others but also themselves and yearn to burn the world into a floating piece of ash. Every man has a story to tell and this one is Darius Brukner’s.

Darius just got over a three year obsession with is coworker Denise. That would be one way of looking at it. But on the fancy carrousel of reality, she had smashed his heart with an anvil. He called in sick the next day. And he was. His heart was so broken he puked until his bones hurt. She killed him with words but yet he still lived. His mind was infected and even the world Darius built in his head seemed to collapse.
Days at the office reminded Darius of college and Darius hated college. All of the popular people emerging from their cubicles like metal clubhouses, gossiping and spit shinning their egos. Everyday was like a sorority party and Darius was a nonmember. He spent his lunch breaks the way he lived his life, alone. But today, Darius felt like he was suffocating in that royal palace of tyrants. He decided to spend his lunch outdoors at the park across the street. The sun was tucked in a blanket of grey clouds and the earth blew fresh air into his lungs. He had never been so deep in the park before. Darius roamed around like a piece of litter in the wind. The park separated the woods from the city and Darius found himself at the edge of wilderness. He kept going. Maybe he would never return and leave this Godforsaken place behind. No one would miss him anyway. The trees stretched to the sky competing for the sun’s attention. But there was no sun, only a long strip of light that tore through the clouds and into a remote area ahead. The light seemed to reflect off of a large object that blinded Darius and he moved closer with squinting eyes. It was there where he found it. A beautiful woman carved out of granite stone.

Darius wondered why a piece of art would be in the middle of nowhere. She was a life-size sculpture that stood on a pedestal so that she may look down at her admirers. She was glowing in a ray of light but the rest of the world around her remained grey and dim. It was like a burst of energy the way the light touched her. Darius was almost afraid to get any closer. He could not remove his eyes from her. He could not even blink. His eyes began to water and something stole his breath. Darius slowly stepped towards her as if she was calling for him. A part of his mind wanted to fight it but a bigger piece needed to be wanted. A long gown was chiseled around her hugging her perfect form. Every muscle and strand of hair was perfect. Her beauty was flawless, an utter delicacy and Darius drank her in that eternal moment, tasting her essence.
He slowly lifted his hand almost waiting to ask for permission. His trembling hand made the connection. It felt like thick syrup coating his entire body. Darius tried to open his eyes but they only rolled in their holes. Tears dripped from his eyelashes and onto his dress shirt. “I love you,” he whispered.
Once Darius regained his sight, he looked up into her stone eyes. Below her feet was a faceplate with the word “Aphrodite.” Darius had never been so content in his entire miserable existence.

His hand was still on her calf when the alarm on his nerd-watch sounded. Reality began to pee on him once he realized he was only on lunch break. Darius wanted to remain with Aphrodite for the rest of his days but he was afraid of his boss. As a matter of fact, he was petrified of him and even worked on weekends doing his bosses work while he fucked his mistress who was the same age as his daughter. He looked around the woods like the answer was there.
“I will be back, Aphrodite-I swear it on my life,” he said.
Darius was no athlete. It was evident when he finally exited the park panting and sweating from a long grueling sprint. His belly bounced up and down like a woman’s breasts and he nearly fainted at the crosswalk. He looked at his watch and realized he was already fifteen minutes late before looking up and seeing something strange. There was a group of pedestrians also waiting to cross the street but there was something wrong about the entire scene. All of the women in the crowd were looking at him. And for the first time, it wasn’t a look of disgust. Most of them were smiling but one overweight woman was nibbling on her lower lip. Even some of the men waiting for the walk sign noticed the women’s strange behavior, especially when they saw what they desired. The men almost looked confused as Darius. What made it evermore strange was when the walk sign began blinking and none of the women moved an inch until Darius did. They slowly trailed behind him like pretty poodles and stood outside the building of his work where there were no pets allowed.

Darius entered his cubicle sweating like a greasy piece of pork. He was over twenty minutes late but no one even noticed or maybe they never cared to. After Darius gathered himself, he fired up his computer and began editing his bosses spreadsheet. But it was no use, his mind was still with Aphrodite, along with is heart. He clicked the search engine on his desktop, typed in her name and the Internet told him exquisite things.
Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love. Legend has it she was created when the titan Cronos removed Uranus’s genitals and tossed them into the sea. Aphrodite then emerged from the tides as a beautiful and fully-grown woman.
“Aphrodite,” Darius whispered to himself. He shifted his eyes to a nearby window and imagined her legacy. When his eyes fell to the cityscape below they captured something frightening that turned his daydream into a nightmare.
There were at least a hundred women staring up at him. Women covered the entire street shutting down a sector of the city. The women were all ages, ethnicities, shapes and sizes- all smiling and eager to earn Darius’s attention. Darius stood as fast as his legs would allow. His jaw was locked open but he could only breathe through his nose. They were all like mannequins modeling the latest fashions, not one movement as if they were all statues. Darius felt a throbbing in his chest that shook his entire body. He stepped away from the window as if he was in danger of falling.
“Darius,” a voice called out from behind. The top half of his body spun around but the bottom seemed to be bolted to the carpet. He looked as though an invisible hand was crushing his heart. “Are you okay?” Denise asked while giggling. Darius looked out of the window before answering. All the women were gone. Only small groups of pedestrians and cars were scattered along the avenue. Darius shook the nonsense from his head then smiled at Denise, “Ugh, yeah-I’m fine… What can I do for you?” Darius was surprised she even remembered his name. She probably wanted to borrow a highlighter or have a second round of verbal abuse. She folded her hands behind her waist and slung her shoulders back so that her breast pressed firmly against her blouse. “I was wondering if you could lend me a hand. There’s a box in the storage room too heavy for me to lift.” Darius was now officially in shock. This is the same woman who has trouble even looking at him. Not to mention the women that practically ripped his heart from his chest like an Aztec sacrifice. Darius snapped out of it after realizing she was still waiting for an answer. “Sure. I’ll take care of you-it-I mean, sorry.”
Denise looked pleased and led the way to the storage room. She knew how to walk. She shifted her hips, her firm body waving sideways at him. She peeked over her shoulder to see if Darius appreciated the view then smiled because he did.
The room was dim and stuffy with boxes stacked in rows against the walls and large grey file cabinets in each corner. Darius heard the door close behind him. When he turned to ask which box, Denise sealed her lips against his so that even air could not escape. Her tongue searched his mouth for worship as his arms dangled from his sides. He didn’t know what else to do with them but Denise knew exactly what to do and she helped herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Darius was sitting back at his desk. His face was red as the lipstick smudged on his collar and his tie was missing. Darius wiped his chin with his fingers but nothing was there. Never in his life could he tell such a story, even if he did, who would believe him? He looked at his phone but didn’t hear it until the third ring. When he answered it, a woman introduced herself then apologized for returning his call so late. Darius didn’t even remember calling her. Before he could find her name on the call list, she had requested a year’s subscription. She then told him it was his voice she couldn’t refuse. Darius was so stunned he barely remembered to input her order into the system. Before he could complete her transaction, another line lit up and was answered by his voicemail.
Darius made over two thousand dollars in commissions in less than two hours. Calls poured into his extension so fast his voicemail flooded. After returning calls for an hour, Darius was now the top sales agent in the company.
And all of his customers were women.
He held his head in his hands and spun himself in circles with his office chair.
“Darius?” He used his foot to anchor himself on the carpet and saw two Denise’s when he looked up. “Congratulations! I was wondering if I could take you out for drinks to celebrate,” she said. Darius reached for his tie but dropped his hand when he realized it was not there. “Drinks… um, yeah-sure.” Once again, Denise looked pleased. “Alright! I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.”

Darius rode in Denise’s car. She drove like a teenager that bribed the instructor for a license. But Darius didn’t mind, even when he held his hand out to the dashboard for support. This was the greatest day of his life and things just got better every moment. “I love this song,” Denise said. She lit up a cigarette and blew smoke out of the sunroof. The entire car smelled like a wet ashtray. Darius tried to roll down his window but it was childproofed. Before he could ask to roll it down, Denise had cranked the volume up but her shriveled voice overpowered the speakers. She asked Darius how her voice sounded and he just smiled and nodded. Endless chains of cars traveled in four directions but never got tangled. “You’re so cute, you know that?” Denise said. Darius didn’t know what to say so he just kept smiling. Denise rolled her window down halfway and flicked her cigarette against the curb. She shifted the car in neutral and pulled up the handbrake. She placed her hand on her thigh then slowly pulled up her skirt. The music was still blasted and the smell of smoke made him breathe funny, but Darius didn’t mind. He was about to receive a second helping of desert and it was his favorite. This time Darius felt more confident and molded his hand to her thigh, working his way up to Denise’s sweet spot. He felt his slacks stiffen. She gripped his hand with her thighs like a pair of pliers then leaned over and moaned in his mouth. She really can sing, Darius thought. But something caught his eye, pulling him away from the moment.
“What’s wrong?” Denise asked. Before Darius could answer, her head whipped backwards. Someone was yanking her hair through the window. When Darius looked over her squirming body, he saw half a dozen women and they were all going ape shit.
Denise emptied her lungs with a terrifying wail. Darius grabbed her arms but the women still sucked her frail body through the tiny opening of the window. A crowd of women swallowed Denise with her arms still reaching for Darius in desperation. All that was left of Denise was a pair of high heels that never made it out the window.
The women then turned and looked at Darius. He slid back in his seat and watched them surround the car. They had pretty faces painted with makeup like evil clowns. He looked out of the windshield for help but only found more women getting out of vehicles in front of him. Countless women bolted out of shops and emerged from street corners, running full speed for Darius. Some of the women even ditched their shopping bags and purses, climbing over newsstands and vehicles.
Denise’s car began rocking and Darius used both feet to kick some of the women that tried to hop in through the window. He caught a few in the face, smashed some hands and broke some nails but even more took their place.
The second wave of women leaped on the hood and dropped their entire bodies on top of the windshield. The windshield cracked in three sections and Darius could no longer see out of it. He tried to shift the car in gear but it only grinded and the engine died. Darius could hear the car bending inward, metal and steel was now like a single sheet of aluminum foil. There were hundreds of women but only some could get a piece like a single loaf of bread feeding a village. The roof began folding and wild arms pushed in through the sunroof pulling at Darius’s hair. There were too many of them. Some of the women used patios chairs in front of a small coffee shop and shattered the car windows. A sea of women poured in through the jagged glass with arms and legs dangling from all sides. They looked like stunt women, some with bloodied blouses, snarling through smeared lipstick. The entire car was covered so that other male witnesses that were drenched in fear could not even see it.

There was one last scream that faded in the wind followed by an eerie silence. All the women casually disbursed from the crushed car, which was so pulverized it was unrecognizable. It was a slanted piece of metal covered in blood and pieces of human flesh. Only the sound of wind and the clacking of high heels were heard. Some of the women retrieved their shopping bags and purses before walking in separate directions.
But some of the women walked away with souvenirs. There was no sign of Darius. Not entirely. The women carried him off in pieces like unwrapped slabs of meat.
And they all kept their prize, all but his genitals, which were tossed into the ocean from a bridge nearby.

All rights belong to its author. It was published on e-Stories.org by demand of Daniel Singh.
Published on e-Stories.org on 10/01/2011.

 
 

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