The Thomas Brief

Drunk with anger, the sound of her voice stung the skin on my neck like alcohol spilled on an open wound. “Kenneth!” she bellowed my name. She was heated, and I could feel the burn. Although my back was turned and I couldn't see her face, there was something about her voice that could be detected even if I was a blind man. I couldn't believe she was back again following me. The shadows of her feet coordinated with my every step, fading into one. “What do you want?” I called out to her. There was no answer. “Hello?” I said. Suddenly she responded, “Kenneth, can you just do me a favor and shut up!” She was so loud that her voice shrieked in the back of her throat and irritatingly tickled at my eardrums. Her voice grew deep and left her sounding more like a crazed beast and far from the delicate flower that I used to know and who she used to be. Suddenly the weight of my skull felt light like I had been poisoned with a toxic substance. An array of fine bumps quickly bred against my body as the clicks of her heels accelerated towards me like a car speeding up a sharp hill. My heart began to beat uncontrollably fast, feeling like it was seconds from bursting out of my chest. I stopped walking and took a deep breath. Just as I was desperately trying to regain control of my mind and my body, the clicks grew louder, and her pace became slow. As I sluggishly gasped for air, I could strangely see a cloud of my breath before me, as if it were an icy winter day. But it was far from cold. It actually seemed as if the sun was following me, stabbing me with heat each time I moved. I wanted to see her face, so I slowly turned around, but the rays in the sky gradually grew wider and brighter, transcending into white light. I put my hand up to create shade, but everything just transcended into black. “Turn back around!” she yelled. Her voice unbearably sliced through my brain. Covering my head with my left hand, I instinctively reached for my sunglasses in my pocket, but I didn't feel them. Unexpectedly, I heard what sounded like them fall to the ground. “Looking for these?” she asked. “How the hell did she get my sunglasses?” I thought to myself. I distinctly remembered putting them in my right pocket. I began to feel a prickly, excruciating pain at the back of my head. It quickly surged down my spine and extended to the tip of my toes as fast as lightning, leaving a tingling sensation throughout my entire body. Though I couldn't see anything, I could feel her presence grow closer to me. “What is it? What do you want from me?” I yelled at her. “Just shut up!” she screamed powerfully. “Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to you?” I asked her. “Shut up!” she said again. “No, I won't! This is unnecessary. Why are you acting like this?” I said ignoring her roaring voice. “Shut up!” she yelled again. “You know, I'm really getting tired of living like this. You can't keep following me!” “I can do whatever I want!” she replied. “Well, can you let me know when this is going to end?” I said frustrated. “Right now!” she quickly said to me. Within seconds, she erratically put her arm around my neck and pulled me towards her. Then she pressed a cold tool against my back, clenched her palm tight, and just like that it was over.