Her pretty face.

She waved at me today, she actually waved at me. She was walking that dog, the new puppy she had gotten last month. She looked so beautiful in the morning light, she saw me on my porch and waved to me. She flashed that perfect smile and tossed her hair. She was on the phone talking to someone, she seemed to glow with joy. I was so stunned I barely got my hand up in time. She had combed her hair back from her pretty face. The gold curls swayed in a ponytail behind her as she passed. I missed the cut-off shorts she would wear in the summer but the longer ones still clung to her legs perfectly. I watched her walk away, she would most likely go around the block one more time before returning to her house. Today. It had to be today. I couldn’t wait any longer. My last had already started to mold and crust over a little despite my efforts. But she… she would last forever.

I rushed back into my house and down the basement stairs, creaking loudly with each of my footfalls. But when I approached my tools I paused. Was she too good for this? At least the others had tempted me a little, teased me, hurt me in one way or another. They all had disgust in their pretty eyes when they saw me. But not her. 

I sat at my work table and put my head in my hands. When I closed my eyes her face swam in my mind. I could try something different this time maybe, If she could love me then I could see that face every day. If I could just talk to her, maybe she wouldn’t laugh and scoff like the others. Anyway, her eyes would surely go dull after a while, her hair would fall out and she would rot just like the others. The last one still sat in the corner, ever since she had moved to his neighborhood I hadn’t taken any time to tend to it. The once pretty face now drooped across the skull and the open mouth had attracted flies. I scooped her up in my arms, I had gotten quite used to the smell of rotting flesh over the days. She went into the dumpster outside with the others. I dumped my trash bins on top of her to conceal her form a bit but I knew nothing could hide the smell. She would be almost past my house by now, I had to hurry to my porch if I wanted to see her again. I shut my door firmly behind me and looked around wildly. I had just missed her, I watched her perfect legs walk farther and farther away from me. She crossed the street at the corner to her house. I saw her walk up her pretty green lawn and… and a man opened her door for her. His muscular arms reached out to hold her waist as he pulled her into an embrace. His short beard scraped her face as he pulled her in for a kiss. Was this the man she had been on the phone with this morning? Was this the reason she had smiled at me? Was she only happy because of this…man? Before the couple went inside the man glanced over at me. His eyes met mine and he narrowed his eyebrows before pulling the girl inside and shutting the door. 

I could feel my nails cutting into my palms. He cannot have her. He doesn’t deserve her. I wouldn’t let this happen. It looked like his car was parked outside her house, some big beefy car with dirt on the tires and scrapes on the hub caps. The body of the car gleamed shiny gray in the morning light, clearly, the man had enough money to maintain his car's look. He didn’t live with her yet, I was sure of this. Of course, I mean this was the first time he had ever seen them together. He would leave in that car eventually. 

I called in sick to work and my boss yelled at me over the phone but it didn’t bother me. My mind was far far away from any of that. I sat by the window, occasionally peaking out to see if the car still sat there. 

Finally, it was 7:00, that was the time she would leave for her work. I peered out the window and, after a few minutes, saw her and the man step out of the house. They kissed once more, to my disgust, and the man got into his car. He sat there for a second waiting for the girl to pull out before he left. As soon as they had both turned the corner I sprinted out the door and into my car. The poor thing had trouble starting usually and the driver-side door didn’t quite shut all the way. The engine grumbled a little before I peeled out of the driveway. Ignoring stop signs and speed limits I shot after the man. I saw his shiny car turn around another corner. I wanted to follow him to a better area, somewhere more secluded. Fifteen minutes passed as I followed him, waiting around corners and trying to keep out of his sight. Finally, he pulled onto a long road that broke its way through a shabby field. A couple of cars drove past but it seemed now that they were as alone as they could get. I sped up behind him, no longer caring if he saw me. I got close enough to read the few gym-themed bumper stickers he had before rammed the front of my car into his. My head smacked against my wheel but I had gotten what I wanted. I saw him open his door and start to walk over, I could see his lips moving in anger. Calmly, slowly, I stepped out of my car. A look of recognition fell across his face, then fear as he saw the pistol I held in my hand. “Hey, man… look it's ok I won’t press charges.” He had his hands in the air as he started to back away slowly. But when I raised the gun to his chest he turned to flee. One shot caught him in the side, and he continued to run. The next whizzed past his ear. The third caught him in the spine and he went down. His lips moved in mumbled pleas as he spat out his blood. The shot blew his golden hair across the asphalt, along with the back of his skull and brain. 

That finally shut him up. But now what? Now that he was out of the picture she… she could be mine. But what if she didn’t like me? What if she only liked men like him… men who looked like him?

It was late at night when I finally finished my work. It was difficult, but I knew this time it would work. I had always hoped I would find the right woman to love me but I had been foolish. None of them would ever want me so I had to be different. It was hard to see what she liked most about that man she had liked. I just hoped she liked his face more than his muscles.

It was nearly midnight when I stepped out of my house and walked towards hers. I felt like a new man ringing her doorbell, I could feel what he felt, and I felt confident that she would finally smile at me like he smiled at him. 

But she didn’t.

Instead, I saw her pretty face contort in horror and when I tried to pull her in for the kiss that she had given to him so many times, she pushed me away. Why? She had kissed his face before was it just because I was now the man under it? Maybe I should have gone for the muscles instead. I followed her into the house, and she screamed as I stepped after her. I had to look down at her face and the angle caused my new face to nearly slip off. I cringed as I felt a flash of my old insecurity. But I was new now, wasn’t I? I looked just like him, didn’t I? I had his thick dark brows and stubbly beard. I didn’t manage to get his pretty blue eyes though, and his nose wouldn’t quite fit over mine. 

At this point, she was still backing up, tears running down her face. She hated me. She was… disgusted by me. After all I had done for her, It still just wasn’t enough. I balled up my fists, this wasn’t fair! It just wasn’t fair! I ran at her, she tried to evade me but I caught by the hair and pushed her down. She grabbed my arm as she fell and the force of her fall pulled me down with her. My forehead hit hers and the man's face slid off mine and onto her. That was just it. His face didn’t fit mine because it fit hers. She was just like him, pretty and mean and… and disgusted by me. Why?! My fist slammed against her the face that covered hers. Why were they always the same?! Why?! Why?! Why?! It just wasn’t fair!

I continued to bash in her perfect face. The face that would never smile at me unless she was thinking about someone else. The face that taunted me. The face that flirted with me. The face that broke under my fist now. The face I would never see again.

My hands hurt, my face was itchy and bloody, and I was breathing hard. She had screamed, hadn’t she? The neighbors would be up. Someone would have called the police. I sat there as the faint sirens grew louder. She would never love me now. I would never get to see that pretty face smile again.