Mr. Milk a work of Fiction by neilfahey (Neil Fahey) A short story about taking the easy way out. Walter lay there staring at the ceiling, thinking of the weeks gone by. He listened to the kids playing outside in the street, the neighbours going about their daily lives, and the cars going past. He thought about the time that had only been about a week ago, when his life seemed to start falling apart. Walter wasnít exactly well off. His only income was his milk run, which gave him little more than enough to live on. He had been seeing a girl for over a year now, and had for some time been thinking of popping the question to her. So he had saved for about seven months and bought an engagement ring. He had finally done it two weekends ago in the park near his house. He thought that after all his anticipation, she would probably give him a simple ëyesí, but it didnít happen that way. She told him that she had been seeing someone else, and that they had already decided they were going to be married, she said she had been meaning to tell him. That afternoon, Walter went back to his house. He went to bed and lay there as he was now, staring at the ceiling, and thinking. He blacked out at about 5 oíclock and didnít wake until 7:30 the next morning. He looked at the clock and saw that he hadnít set his alarm, and had missed his 5:30 start for the Sunday milk run. He got up, got ready, and headed for the depot. When he got there, his boss wasnít too happy to see him. He told Walter that if anything like this happened again, he would have to find someone else who could do the job properly. Walter loved his milk run, despite the bad pay, he enjoyed it, and treasured his milk truck. There was no one who could do the job better than him, he knew he could deliver better if he had never met that girl. He did the run, and went straight home. He now had one more thing to worry about, so he again, went straight to bed. This time he made sure he set the alarm. He got up on time to do the run for the next week or so. Then one night he got a call, it was his sister, Cathy. She was sobbing and struggling to get her words out. ëWalter... Itís ba.... bad news....í ëWhat is it Cathy? Get it out.í ëItís mum an.... and dad, theyíve....í ëTheyíve what Cathy?í ëThereís been an accident... some g.... guy was drink.... drink driving and.... Theyíre dead Walter! Theyíre dead!í Walter was speechless, he hung up the phone and sat back down on the bed. He unsuccessfully tried to fight back his tears. He felt sick, so he ran to the bathroom and vomited in the sink several times. After a while, he felt better, he looked into the mirror in front of him. He looked like hell, tears flooded his cheeks, his face was red, he looked like a zombie. His eyes left the mirror and drifted to the side of the sink, where they caught on a razor blade. He took it, slid himself against the wall, down onto the floor, and held it to his wrist. Thinking, he kept it there for a minute or two, but he dropped it and burst into tears. He got up and went back to bed. How could his life be any worse, he thought. He had lost his girlfriend, nearly lost his job, and now he had lost his parents. He lay down on the bed as he had done a couple of times in the past week or so, and stared at the ceiling, thinking about Cathy, his parents, his job, and the woman he thought he loved. What could he do now? Pretend none of this ever happened. No, there had to be an alternative. So he lay there thinking until he blacked out again. He repeated this for the next week. He hardly moved, except to get some three week old Chinese, or some two week old pasta from the fridge, or to go outside and get the paper. He never seemed to feel the need to go to the toilet, and he didnít eat every day The shock had frozen his system. Then a few mornings later he awoke to the phone ringing. He answered to hear his bosses voice, he sounded angry. Walter had completely forgotten about the milk run, and hadnít heard the phone ringing, although it was right next to his bed, every morning. After a series of questions, the boss sacked Walter then and there, without really letting him explain his situation. Walter lay back down, and blacked out. Thatís how he got where he was now. He looked at the clock, 6:30 AM. He picked up last week's papers from beside his bed and started reading. Having finished at about 8:30, he found a deck of cards on his bed side table. He played patience until 10 oíclock. At about 10:15, Walter decided to get up. He swung his feet round off the bed, and they found the floor. Then he stood up quickly, he felt unstable, his eyes went out of focus, his head spun, and he fell back on to the bed. After regaining his sight, and his courage, he got up again, this time more slowly. He walked through the house and to the back door, as he opened the door he squinted from the brightness of daylight. He walked out the door and down the yard toward the shed. As he walked through the backyard he faintly heard the phone ringing and ignored it. The phone was answered by Walterís answering machine. After his message, a womanís voice came on the line, it was the woman Walter had thought he loved. ëWalter, itís me. Iíve made a mistake, Iím coming back to you. I want to marry you! Call me!í About ten minutes later the phone rang again and the machine answered it. This time it was a mans voice, it was Walterís boss. ëWalter, I heard about your parents, Iím so sorry I didnít give you a chance to explain. I realise I made a mistake, so I want you back. Call me as soon as you can and tell me when you can start doing the milk run again. Sorry. Bye!í That night, Walterís sister Cathy came around at about nine oíclock, she walked round the back to come in because she knew that Walter always left the back door open and she thought he may be in bed so she wouldnít get him up. As she walked in to the back yard she heard a faint creaking noise. There was little light, so her eyes searched the back yard. All she could make out was a figure swinging from one of the trees. She walked a little closer, it looked like a person. As she walked up to the tree, it dawned on her but she denied it. When she got there, she fell to her knees, sobbing. Walter was dead. Created on Wed, 13 Aug 1997 and last modified on Sat, 20 Dec 1997.

LOUDonline - http://www.loud.net.au - Fri, 10 Apr 1998