Unexpected Events By D.I. Jolly
Josh walked sleepily into the lounge and looked at his old roommate Mathew, who looked back at him and smiled.
“Hey man, how are you? You look a little out of it.”
Josh yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“I’m alright, really weird dream though.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I dreamt that a demon leapt onto my bed out of the shadows, held me down and ran his nail over forehead while screaming that, if I wouldn’t choose to see the truth he’d pry open my third eye and force me.”
“That is pretty weird. What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know but I figure it has to mean something.”
“Why?”
Josh turned to his friend and a sad smile crept over his face.
“Well… because you died 2 years ago man.”
“I did? Holy shit I did! What, what happened?”
“Do you remember Nadine?”
Mathew thought for a moment and found his memories seemed to exist behind a fog.
“Sort of, nice girl, from work? Shitty home life?”
“That’s the one. You decided to help her out, went with her to her place to confront her boyfriend and tell him she was leaving. Needless to say a fight broke out between the two of you and…”
“And he killed me?!”
Josh sat quietly for a moment staring into nothing.
“No, she did.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“You were winning the fight and the more you hit him, the more her fear of what he would do to her grew. You were the safest option to stop so she grabbed his gun and … stopped you.”
Mathew slumped back in his chair watching his memories clear as he listened and felt like he should shiver or shudder but couldn’t.
“And now what, they’re still together?”
“Oh no, she is very much in jail. He was taken to hospital but hasn’t been seen since.”
“I can remember just wanting to help, feeling like I was doing the right thing, a good thing, but, but it all turned out so bad. How is that possible? I wanted to help her and I just made it worse.”
Josh let out a sigh and thought it over.
“Different, definitely, but as strange as it might sound, I actually think she’s happier now.”
Mathew turned and even more confused look at him.
“Well, everything she’d ever done was based on fear, abusive parents turned into abusive boyfriend, she lived her whole life afraid, but in prison, they can’t get to her. She writes to me sometimes, it started out just letter after letter of apology and I replied and now I get one once a month. She genuinely seems calmer, happier, less afraid. It might not have been the hero moment anyone was expected, it’s certainly not how it goes in movies, but I honestly think you helped that girl.”
The confused look on Mathew’s face stayed for a moment longer then everything about him seemed to ease and a smile the changed his whole face washed over him and he was gone, leaving Josh sitting on his couch blinking away the light and wondering if it had really happened, or if this was all still just a dream.