Digging a Hole: A Short

As water leaked into the torn up top of his Mazda Miata while driving to work in the rain, Dave knew that he royally screwed the pooch. At thirty-seven years old and counting, life was not getting any longer for this bloated shell of a man. Looking at himself in the review mirror only dredged up feelings of disgust and loathing. He found his smile to be nothing short of revolting. "What a piece of garbage I am. Who could ever love you? You're going to die sad and alone. Why can't one of these semi-trucks put me put of my misery?" These thoughts were commonplace in his mind, never able to shake them for more than brief moments throughout the day.

As most people would tell you, Dave had quit on himself. A virus had taken control of his mind and it was not going to give up control anytime soon. He fell in love with the depths that he now resided. He took sadistic pleasure in failure and humiliation. He found that his depression had made his life so much more clear. He had himself convinced that it was best for him to die alone. He didn't deserve the love of friends, family, or soulmate. He was all alone in this world and that is how he wanted to keep it.

He arrived to work ten minutes late and he knew he was going to get a reaming for it. He hadn't shown up on time for weeks. He didn't care. He wanted to get fired just so he could languish in yet another failure. He walked to his desk and looked through his emails expecting another message admonishing him for his tardiness. There was nothing there. He peered over his cubicle wall and saw that his boss wasn't in his office. "Of course, he can take any day off that he wants. This place is such bullshit."

Dave had dreamed of living under the spotlight as a younger man. He left home at eighteen to live in the City of Dreams hoping he would one day achieve his fifteen minutes. Instead, he took up residence in Los Sueños Rotos and never left. He needed to make money and living in Los Sueños Rotos was much cheaper, so it made sense for him at the time. In the other city, one always had to walk uphill, where in this place, all the paths seemed to be flat or at a slight downhill. Dave wasn't one for exercise.

Lunchtime. Dave had brought his typical lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dave wasn't one for cooking. He reached into his pail hoping to find those ruffled chips he loved so much. Nothing there. "I'll bring them tomorrow." Tomorrow, always tomorrow with Dave. In the year 2006, Dave had struck up quite the friendship with a beautiful woman at work. He felt they really got along well and he was always able to make her laugh. One day, he finally had talked himself into asking this woman out on a date. Hour after hour passed as well as opportunity after opportunity to just ask her the question. He talked himself into waiting to ask her out at the end of the day. Clock out time arrived and Dave looked all over hoping to find her, but she was gone. "Maybe tomorrow" is what Dave told himself. Unfortunately, she had been fired only a short time before and would never be showing up there again. Looking back at that moment, Dave retorts, "I probably should've asked for her number."

Clock out time. Dave got out of his seat and proceeded to walk to the doorway. "What a shitty day. Fuck....oh my, she's an angel." A beautiful girl emerged from the door, took a look at Dave and smiled. "Hello!" "Huh-huh-Hi" Dave stammered. He watched her walk by, amazed that someone so beautiful would smile AND say hello to him. What a moment! This didn't happen often to Dave, mostly because he kept his eyes to the ground when he walked. Dave hopped into his car, smitten about what had just occurred. "Is she new? I hope she'll be there tomorrow. I must get her name tomorrow!" He started the car and pulled out of his spot and headed towards the freeway. "She had such beautiful eyes! That smile? Divine! And what a lovely ass." Driving on the freeway, Dave thought about this mystery woman again, "Man, she's too pretty for me. I could never get that. Please God, do this for me. Answer my prayers for once." Unfortunately for Dave, God has decided earlier in the day to make one of his wishes come true, and at that moment, a semi-truck came into his lane and collided with his Mazda Miata. Dave's head smashed against the windshield and a piece of the car's frame lodged itself into his neck, paralyzing him and slashing open an artery. As the light began to fade, Dave pleaded with God, "Please help me, I'm not ready to die....not like this!" God replied back, "Maybe tomorrow."