The Roadkill Man

        Ramona Patton currently lived in a nice lakeside town. Or at least, it had been nice, but it was at the same time that the roadkill man appeared that things began to go to shit, perhaps he was even the reason for it.

        Ramona was currently at a funeral service two hours away from home in the place where she grew up for uncle, or more accurately he fathers brother, since she didn’t have a single memory of actually having met the man, so it felt wrong to call him her uncle. So far, the desire to shoot herself in the head had only come up twice, though the priest's meandering speech had been going on for about thirty minutes already, and he didn't seem like he would stop talking any time soon. She didn’t really care that much for all the praise the lord almighty bit that the priests did at these types of events, but she did like the breakfast they had given before all the religious stuff. And this wasnt to say that she was trying to disrespect peoples religions, it was just that they were really all the same to her, she didn’t believe them, and yet she didn’t not believe them. She preferred a more open minded view, she did actually have a favorite option of what she wanted to happen after death though, and that was, simply put, nothing. She found the idea of just having an end much more favorable than going on and on in some overrated afterlife. I mean, wouldn't it be nice to live a full and relatively exciting life and then to just die? Or even if you lived a terrible life full of regrets you would still have a final end, same as everyone else, instead of burning in hell for eternity because of your wasted potential. Or whatever punishment there was in the afterlife according to all the religious mumbo jumbo.

        But anyway, as the priest continued on about some dying old lady and a miracle, all completely unrelated to the actual deceased, Ramona took out her phone and saw that there was a text from her sister: ‘put away ur phone, we’re at a funeral for god's sake!’

        She responded with: ‘says the one who just used the almighty lord's name in an unholy way!?’ She snickered and looked over at her sister who was right next to her, she was currently looking the other way, pretending to be the responsible one their parents made her out to be. They were both in their twenties, but some things never changed. Suze, her sister, was going to college to be a dentist, and Ramona was… well Ramona was always changing jobs. Her current job, in the lakeside town, was as a waitress at the seafood restaurant that was right by the lake and was widely visited by people because people loved their food. Ramona thought it was just alright, but then again she wasn’t really a seafood person. She liked everything else there was to eat, she just didn’t like seafood that much, no matter how much she tried to acquire a taste for it. One thing that never changed though, her passion for writing. She hoped to one day publish something though she mainly just liked writing, in and of itself. It was a very stress reducing hobby, and if that hobby one day became her sole source of income, then what was so bad about that?

        The actual burying of the coffin was pretty swift compared to the priest's unending speech, and as soon as it was over Ramona said some quick goodbyes, gave her condolences to other people she had never met and then went to her car. But before she could enter the vehicle she was stopped by her sister.

        “Hey, Ramona, we didn’t really get a chance to talk there, it being a funeral and all, but I was just wondering how you're doing. I mean, I don't think we’ve seen each other in a year at least. Have you gotten anywhere with your writing yet?” She was the younger one, though an age difference of four years no longer seemed so big a deal as it had when they were younger.

        “Oh… well I don’t really write to get money, I mean, that would be a good happenstance if it ever did become my main source of money. But really just write because I like to, you know? Anyway, many of the best pieces of literature out there were written by people who just write because they genuinely enjoy it.”

        “That's a fine approach I suppose, I guess I just do dental work because I enjoy it just as well as you enjoy writing.”

        “Well, I wouldn’t say that… I mean, if you didn’t get money from it, would you really be doing dental work. That's kind of like saying I get random waitress jobs at the places I go because I really enjoy serving people, and cleaning up table scraps.”

       “Anyway, where are you staying now, you haven't started living in your car yet have you?”

        “No, not yet, I actually have had an apartment at a nice lakeside town. I'm planning on staying there a little bit longer, just to get this one book done. I have a really good feeling about this one, I’ve already pushed through the first two hundred or so pages and now its moving along real steady like. I think I want to try living somewhere foreign, just to see what it's like being somewhere other than the U.S. Who knows, maybe I'll become a famous author in Japan and end up living in the mountains or something.” Ramona had actually already tried living in the mountains, however, after two nights of that, she had decided to take a more modern approach, still experiencing nature in its beauty, just not sleeping in it.

        “Oh, well once you finish it, just send me a copy and I'll give it a read. I don’t have much experience as an editor other than looking over the occasional essay for a friend, but I do like to read. Reading fantasy novels is basically all I do if I'm not doing schoolwork, and I'm sure I'll like whatever genre your story is in.”

        “Yeah, well I've been trying to incorporate more philosophical stuff into my writing. Mostly swayed by the books I read. But I do like to have a horror setting for my stories. If you like that kinda thing, then I'm sure you'll like this chunker I'm writing right now. I expect it to end up being around five hundred pages, but who knows what its length will be. I don't think a book's length matters, as long as you don’t drag it out longer than necessary or are holding something back or present beliefs which you don't actually stand for, then I will give it a try. And hey, if I don’t like their beliefs then a little criticism never hurts anyone, but it's human nature to disagree. Or, rather, humans have just evolved intellectually to enjoy disagreeing with each other. Even if basically all of our views are the same, it’s still a problem when we chew our food to loudly, or when we sit weirdly, or whatever other situations can start stupid disagreements. Though I suppose disagreements are a good thing, if we didn't have them we’d just hold everything back, or maybe they're just a little bit of fun in a boring life.”

        “Yeah, you know, I think I just learned a lot, thanks for the lesson profesor.”

        “See, now you're doing it without even realizing it, trying to start a pointless argument just for a bit of excitement. Which there's nothing wrong with! I actually think that arguments at a controlled level are very healthy. And anyway I just enjoy blabbering on, so I suppose I'm just trying to generate a bit of excitement as well.” She fetched her keys out of her pocket. “Well, I better be going now, I got off for the day at the seafood place I’ve been working at, but I promised this guy I’d go out on his boat with him.”

        “Ooooh going out on a date with a man, perhaps you're not completely hopeless at living a normal life after all.”

        “Oh, no, I don’t think I'd let any man turn me into another normal.” She said the word with a joking distaste. “Well, I hope to see you again soon, maybe I'll come down to do a proper visit to mom and dad, I only talked to them briefly earlier.”

        “Just don’t go off to another country without saying goodbye, or at the very least, tell me about it before you do.” They embraced in a quick hug that was common for most siblings.

        “Maybe I'll just drag you along with me if I go, no need for a goodbye then, eh?”

        “No thanks, I couldn’t leave my... boyfriend.” She said boyfriend quietly and nervously, she had always been like that with boys.

        Ramona just smiled at it and said goodbye before getting into her car and driving off.

        The drive was just dull as it had been on the way to the funeral, Ramona had thought about just not going to it, but her mom had seemed to genuinely want her there, even though her dad hadn’t spoken to his brother in years. At least, that had been the case when she was still living with them, but some things, at least some things, did change. But anyway, Ramona was starting to not mind long car rides since she moved from one place to another so much. She usually liked to break up a drive with rest stops, this time however she just went right on ahead, this caused great relief when she saw a familiar building.

        Right past the familiar building she took a turn onto a gravel paved road, all the towns roads were gravel, which caused for lots of bumps. The road was also enshrouded by lots of bushes and overhanging branches from trees on both sides of the road. And at one particular branch enshrouded part of the road, she nearly missed a turn she was supposed to make, when she noticed the turn she rotated the steering wheel as much as her strength allowed. As she made the jeeringly sharp turn, man suddenly came into view, in the middle of the road she had turned into. He was completely out of view because of some leaves. She slammed on the brakes but it was too late, she hit him relatively hard and he went down, out of view because of her dashboard.

        As soon as she comprehended the situation, she hopped out of the car and ran to the area where she presumed him to be. Her heart, already beating fast, began to beat faster at the sight of the dead looking man a few feet from the front of her car. He looked homeless, except… she got a very strange feeling that seemed to be radiating off of him and seeping into her skin. The whole thing made her suddenly queasy, she did not however, back away.

        “Are you all righ-” He suddenly lifted his head and looked at her with a set of eyes which adorned the most hideous face she had ever seen. It even looked disfigured in some places, but she got the feeling that it was intended, like he was meant to look so ugly. The worst part about his face was the nose, it was ginormous, almost wichly, but worse, much worse than anything she had imagined before. It was as if he possessed some kind of sorcerous evil for which easily defied all the good in the world, and it emitted from him and seeped into her skin.

        Suddenly, he crawled off into the woods, the view of his back revealing only the rags that smothered his body in tattered strands. Once he had passed out of view, Ramona looked down at the road to see a dead^[a] fox. It was in the spot where she had hit the… man, though calling it a man felt wrong after seeing that face. Around the dead fox were buzzing flies, and parasites were squirming in and out of its mangled, bloody, fur. She didn’t want to think too closely about what the man thing, or maybe just it, had been doing with the roadkill, but she felt off just being near it, because it gave her the same feeling he had given her. So instead of contemplating it anymore she just got back in her car and drove the rest of the way back to town, her hands on the steering wheel all sweaty and her body shaking slightly. And instead of thinking about the events that had just occurred, she thought about her date with the man living in the apartment next to her. Though, deep down she knew that in the quiet of night, unpleasant thoughts would come back to her, and sleep would most likely evade her.

——————————————————————-

The two days following the roadside accident went by smoothly, though, Ramonas prediction about how much sleep she would be getting held true. Her date with the guy in the apartment next to hers went well and they had gotten to know each other some. His name was Steve, and he had gotten the boat as a present from his dad. Though, he said that even though he loved the boat he still wanted to get enough money to pay his dad back for it. He said that once he was able to do that he would sail the high seas and visit all the places he had always wanted to. Ramona also told him a bit about herself, mainly about how she had spent the last five years getting money where she could just to support herself in her writing. But also about how she planned to spend some time in another country for a while, and if she liked the place she went she might stay there. Though she doubted she would ever stop traveling. Steve had also said he liked to paint and he would teach her next time they saw each other. That would probably be their ‘next’ date, though she really just liked to hang out with him, he was a very mellow person.

        But anyway, after two days of free time, Ramona was back at the seafood restaurant, which was called Sammy's Seafood Shop, by the way, a very dull name in Ramona's opinion, but not terrible. She was currently talking to one of the other waitresses in the restaurant in the bathroom, where no one would tell them to get back to work.

        The other waitress's name was Becky, and she was one of the only people in the restaurant that was actually sociable enough to chat. “You know, I saw the strangest thing the other day while I was driving back from the Hampton grocery store.” Said Becky with a curious expression on her face.

        “Oh really what was it?” Rebeca asked the question while thinking about the strange accident she had been in while coming back from her uncle's funeral.

        “Well this strange looking man, probably some homeless guy I guess, came out of the woods while I had my car stopped to get something out of the trunk, he didn’t even look at me he just came out of the woods, and picked up some roadkill that had been pushed to the side of the road then walked back out into the woods as if he were going on a stroll. Gave me a good scare when he came out of the woods like that, but I just found the whole thing so strange. Have you ever had the feeling that something was much more than it seemed and whatever was actually going on was beyond your understanding? I mean that's a pretty specific way of feeling but it was exactly what I felt, and it was different from anything I’ve ever experienced before.”

        “Yeah, I think I know what you mean.” She didn’t tell Becky about her own encounter with the man who seemed to be collecting roadkill. She really just wanted it out of her mind so that she might have a chance of sleeping without that hideous face appearing in her mind. The conversation didn’t extend much further and the rest of that day played out normally, that was, until she got home to her apartment.

        Once she got home she put her stuff down on her dresser and got changed out of the outfit she had been given for work before going outbak to the sitting area that was set up in the back area of the apartment complex. There was no one else there and so she found some nice peace and quiet in the cool evening breeze. As she sat there she noticed a faintly obscure pathway that led into some woods, it seemed to go on beyond her line of sight. She felt strangely drawn to it, as if what lay at the end of the path was beckoning to her, calling her name in quiet anticipation. She got up, not even sure what she was doing, and yet doing it anyway.

        After starting down the path, there seemed to be an increase in the beckoning she felt coming from the end of the path and it only kept increasing as she continued along. Branches from trees stuck out along the path but she just kept walking as they pushed against her, resulting in scratches along her body. The path seemed to stretch on for quite a while, but in her delirious state, Ramona didn’t intend to stop anytime soon. Ramona also didn’t notice the roadkill, which had been very clearly strung out along the path.

TO BE CONTINUED