The Skeleton was Dead

A skeleton walked down the sidewalk, watching his steps. Wind whistled through his ribs, and his teeth chattered along with it. He was cold. November had settled in, and he probably shouldn’t have been walking bare, but he had to see if Laura was home.

Cars drove by, and they honked their horns at him. They were always rude to skeletons these days. Some people shouted things at him. Juvenile things like “Boner”, and “Hollow body”. He kept his head down.

He had the foresight to wear his boots, and a wool knit hat. It kept sliding over his sockets. Maybe Laura would have a jacket he could borrow.

The sky was grey, and it wouldn’t have surprised him if it started raining, or snowing. That was the skeletons luck.

Laura worked at the Red Cross blood bank across town. She didn’t make much there, but she liked to think she was helping the world. She filed billing sheets.

He loved Laura.

The skeleton came to the largest intersection in town. Five roads that intersected in what was supposed to be a traffic circle, but was really more of a traffic pentagon. It made for an amusing sight during rush hour. This however, was not rush hour. It was six-thirty, on Sunday evening. The pentagon was almost barren, save for one car that just now approached, slowed, and took each turn carefully until pulling off directly in front of the skeleton.

He used the crosswalk, reached the other side, and used another crosswalk. He got to Huxley Street, and began the long stretch. More cars drove by. From the corner of his socket, he noticed a small girl staring at him from the backseat of a silver car. He waved a little at her, and he could see she started to scream. He kept his head down, and kept walking.

Behind him, the car with the little screaming girl pulled over and parked. The skeleton didn’t notice the sound of the drivers door opening, or the sound of the driver, her father, slamming it shut, and walking quickly at him.

“Hey! Skinless! Bone Job! Turn around!”

The marrow in his bones chilled, and the skeleton considered fleeing, but he had had enough. The looks from ignorant farm boys, the names, the blind intolerance. Laura always told him he needed to stand up for himself, and he wanted to, but it just seemed so tough.

He decided, today was the day.

“Skeletor! I said turn around!”

The skeleton stopped, and turned slowly to face the man. Behind the man, he could see the daughter, looking out the back window of the car.

For a second, he hated that little girl for this.

The man approached quickly.

“Sir, I don’t want any trouble,” the skeleton said.

“Well, you got it buddy!” the man said, and shoved the skeleton.

The skeleton tripped, and fell backwards. He heard his pelvis chip and scrape against the sidewalk. He felt his wrist crack. He held back a scream.

“Sir, please,” the skeleton said.

“I’m sick of your kind!” screamed the man. “Terrifying our kids! With no skin! No muscle! No SOUL!” The man kicked the skeleton, and the skeleton watched as three of his ribs cracked, and bent inward.

This time, the skeleton could not hold it back. He screamed out.

The man grabbed the skeleton by his upper arm and yanked him up.

“Please sir, this doesn’t have to happen!”

“Sick of your kind!” the man said again, and shoved the skeleton off of the curb, into the street.

The skeletons vision became blurry as his skull hit the pavement, and cracked and chipped. His arm broke off, and his knee bent in the wrong direction. The pain was unbearable.

“Laura!” the skeleton called, but Laura was still a few miles away, sitting at work, filing.

The cold November wind only intensified the pain as it whipped across his bones. A loneliness so large it could rival most European countries swept over the skeleton, and if he could have, he would have cried.

The man stepped off the curb, and kicked the skeleton under the chin. The skull broke loose and rolled under a passing car, crushing it into a powder.

The skeleton was dead. The remains of his body laid broken and cold in the street. Laura filed billing, and forever wondered what happened to her skeleton. The man went back to his car. The daughter turned around, and together they drove home.

-A.