In Pursuit of Being Remembered

Zac stares into the blazing flame in front of him. He’s always been mesmerized by fire. By the way the colors of white, yellow, and orange blend together in a perfect pattern to create something magical. 

“Zac?” Asks the man sitting across the beat-up wooden table, causing Zac to snap back to reality. For a moment he had forgotten where he was. Unfortunately, he’s on a date.

“Sorry, you were saying David?” Zac hates this part. But it’s a necessary part of the process. 

“These zucchini crisps are amazing. Do you want to try one?” David holds out a zucchini crisp in his hand for Zac to grab, but he doesn’t notice. His gaze is fixated on David’s piercing blue eyes. Zac shakes his head. 

“No that’s okay. I’m saving myself for dinner.” Although Zac wishes that they could just skip dinner. The part that comes after is always his favorite. 

David shrugs and deposits the crisp into his mouth. 

“So what do you do for work?” David asks in between bites. Zac crunches his nose in disgust as David continues to shovel crisps into his mouth. Zac’s thankful the part of David’s body that he’s most interested in is not his lips, which are now covered in oil.

“I’m actually an artist,” Zac says while attempting to throw a smile onto his face. He knows he has to play nice or they won’t get to the fun part. 

“Oh really? I love art! I’m actually an artist myself. During the day I’m an art teacher, but at night I paint sets for local movies.” Zac knows. It’s why he clicked on David’s Tinder profile in the first place. “What medium?” 

“I dabble in a lot of different ones. Mostly painting. But I’ve recently started to work more outside of the two-dimensional sphere. Right now I’m working on a self-portrait. The process has been slow, but this is certainly one that I will be remembered by.” 

“I would love to see it sometime.” Oh, you will David, Zac thinks. Zac scans the room and then stands. 

“Why don’t we get out of this place, huh?” 

“But we haven’t eaten yet.” David laughs. 

“I know a place we can grab something on the way.” Zac leans in close. “I think it will be much better than this place,” he says in a low tone. He knows he needs to take it slow. He can’t lose David. He’s been looking for a guy like him for months. But he just can’t take it any longer. He’s ready for the next step.

“Um, okay?” David says, standing wearily. Zac holds out his hand and David grabs it. Before leaving the restaurant, Zac catches a glance at himself in the reflection of the glass door. His piercing blue eyes shine back at him. He can’t wait for David to see his self-portrait.

Zac unlocks the wooden door of his rustic farmhouse and opens it wide. 

“After you.” Zac smiles. 

“Wow, this is nice.” David scans the room before taking a step inside. “You know, I’ll admit, that I was a little nervous about going back to a guy’s house after half a date, but that pizza was amazing. I’m so glad you recommended it.” 

“I’m sorry for being so forward. Those fancy restaurants just aren’t really my thing.” Zac has always hated crowds. He’s really not even a fan of pizza, but when he stalked David online yesterday he found out that pizza is his favorite food. He wants to make David happy. It makes the next part easier.

“It was a little stuffy in that place I’ll admit. And the floors were very sticky. Mind if I sit?” David asks, pointing to a leather chair in the living room. 

“Of course. I’m going to make some tea, would you like any?” 

“Sure, that would be great.” David smiles. Zac hustles into the kitchen. He turns on the burner with the kettle on it that he had set out earlier just for this very occasion. It’s almost time. Almost time for Zac to reveal his masterpiece. 

As the water boils, he opens the pantry door to take a peek at his greatest work. Normally it hangs over the mantel in the living room. That way it’s always right in front of him to work on when “inspiration” strikes. But for the last 10 months, he’s been struggling to finish the final details. It’s the eyes. His blue eyes are just so difficult to replicate. He just can’t get them right. 

The tea kettle whistles, prompting Zac to slam the door of the pantry shut. Show time. He prepares two cups and walks swiftly into the living room. 

“For you,” he says while holding out a white mug. 

“First class service around here!” David grabs the mug and immediately takes a sip, then places it on the coffee table in front of him. 

“It’s the least I can do. I was actually hoping you would be able to do me a favor. I was wondering if you could take a look at my self-portrait. I need a little help with the last couple of details.”

“Is this why you were in such a hurry to rush back?” David laughs. 

“What can I say, I’m an artist. When inspiration strikes you have to grasp onto it. And you my friend were the inspiration I needed.” David blushes in response.

“Well then let’s see this painting!” 

“It’s actually not a painting. Like I said I’m expanding my work into the three-dimensional sphere.”

“That’s sounds intriguing…” Is all that David can muster to say before he falls unconscious. 

Zac slams the cooler lid shut. He catches a glimpse of his reflection in the freezer door. He’s not sure if he will regret what he’s done in the future. But for now, he feels content. This is finally over. He can finally stop this madness. He’s not a bad guy, at least he doesn’t think so. But the stress of this portrait has led him to do some things he’s not proud of. It will all be worth it though when his masterpiece becomes famous. He knows it will. This is the thing that will put him on the map. So that when he's dead and gone, people will remember his name.

But unfortunately, this means that he has now come to his second least favorite part of the process. Disposing of the body. But that will be a problem for tomorrow. For tonight, he will relish in what he’s created.

He glances over at his finished self-portrait and smiles wide. It’s finally complete. David’s blue eyes glued to the center of the canvas sparkle back at him, surrounded by the other mismatched body parts of his other victims. A self-portrait made entirely out of pieces of other humans. He has finally finished the most unique masterpiece, all thanks to David.