The Last Thing to Go Away

Sonny Pearce woke up to the sound of the alarm clock on the bedstand on a sunny Friday morning. As it was spring break and he was a college student, he didn't have to get up too early to go to school. He stopped the clock's ringing, but couldn't remember when he had set it the previous night. He got up from the bed and slid his feet into the slippers on the floor mat. He didn't know how he found them there. When he walked to the bathroom, he stuck his tongue out and opened the drug cabinet to take the tube of toothpaste. He didn't usually put the tube in the cabinet. Probably misplaced it. Happens sometimes, especially when he gets drunk. He took a shower, brushed his hair and walked down into the kitchen. The cat ran right past him and hissed. He must have forgotten to replenish the bowl. But he he struggled to recall if he ever had a cat. He picked up a can of cat food and poured its contents into the bowl, which he set down for the pet. For when it returns. He pulled back a chair and grabbed the paper on the corner of the table. The cup of coffee he fixed for himself some time that morning had gone cold. He couldn't quite remind himself when he had made it.

Sonny wondered whether or not he should also start fixing breakfast, since starting up the oven would probably devoid him of his personal time, those moments at the beginning of the day that you can't take back for yourself once somebody else shows up. He felt much more at ease keeping it low for a few more minutes, if that gave him his desired uninterrupted privacy. At one point he thought he'd heard somebody knock. Maybe the postman or a person spreading around adverts. Because the chair was comfortable, he didn't go check. Didn't seem important for the effort. Sipping his coffee without worry, he looked over the front page of the paper and read the line "Man disappeared without a trace". Right below, the sports column kept track of the football match with heated observations. On the next page, an announcement about a litter of kittens put up for adoptions caught his eye. Sonny thought the cat could use taking care of some kittens.

From upstairs, his roommate Josh came into the kitchen. His green bathrobe hung disorderly on his shoulders. As he slowly treaded towards Sonny's chair, Sonny noticed Josh's bathrobe, but didn't remember his roommate having one. Why would it matter anyway? He was his roommate, what he bought or not was his choice. Josh pulled a chair and sat down with a groan, rubbing his face.

"Got a full night's sleep, Josh?" Sonny asked, smugly.

"I couldn't even get my legs in my pants, man", Josh giggled, pulling at his hair.

"Have some coffee", Sonny cooed, as he almost flung the cup towards Josh.

"Stop that!", Josh laughed, throwing his arms in front of his face.

"Hey, man, you should get an alarm clock, so you know exactly when you go to sleep".

"How so?".

"'Cause you know when you have to wake up"

"Ah, fair point".

"Anyway, uh, Josh, when did you get that clock in there, by the way?"

"Oh, man, it's... It's always been there. Haven't you seen it?"

"No... Not ever!", Sonny jokingly waved his hand.

"Guess sometimes it has to ring real loud and wake you up to notice it".

"Yeah, guess it has to... Why do we place the toothpaste in the cabinet, though? I thought we never put it there".

"Well, it sort of can't be reached by really everybody, so I think changing the spot is more sanitary".

"Maybe. I don't know, dude, but I barely found my slippers and didn't even know I had them".

"I had put them out there for you yesterday, thought you used slippers".

"But how did you know which side of the bed I got out in the morning?".

"Seen you in the past two days".

"That's freakish, bro, don't spy on me like that in my own room!", Sonny laughed and teased.

"Promise that I won't do", Josh held out his hands and threw a napkin in the bin.

"This cat", Sonny continued, "when has it started hissing like that? We got the devil in the house".

"You know what? You're right, we do have the devil in the house".

"Has it done so for long?".

"Not really, only very recently".

"I fed it now".

"Take my advice, and don't feed the devil for very long".

"The coffee is good".

"What coffee? Where did you find coffee?".

"In that drawer, over there".

"Ah, I must have forgotten about it. I almost would have gone out to buy more".

"Good thing I found it".

"Yeah, good thing", Josh rubbed his face and sat quietly for a while.

"Hey, man, how long have we been here?".

"I, for a few months. You, way less".

"I don't know, I just... It does feel like I haven't been here very long. I guess it will take me a while to get used to how things are around here".

"Well, you will have enough time to get used to everything".

"How long do we stay here? Do we have a contract or something?".

"I guess it's indefinitely. We are not pressured by a contract. All that is here, beds, table, chairs, cat, if there would be anything to be taken away, it will go before us".

"So, in any case, we would be the last to go?".

"Despite everything I just said, the mind is the last thing to go away".

"I don't think I remember how I got here. How did I turn up?".

"You turned up because I wanted you to be here".

"And I suppose you won't let me leave, right?", Sonny laughs".

"No, not just yet. I suppose you are going to leave when I want to as well", Josh smirks.

The cat runs around playing with a ball while Sonny sits at the table next to his captor.