The Black Bucket - Chapter 3

Around forty five minutes have passed since Dorelei started crushing on Shoxy, then Shoxy finally dozed off, though Dorelei kept peeking at her every other minute. Dorelei lit up a cigarette, had a toke and kicked her head back on the couch.
   “Did you hear about that accident? Involving the dog?” I asked Dorelei.
   “Nah, what happened? Shit, there hasn’t been a dog sighting for how long now? And the first thing that happens is that it gets involved in an accident?” She took another drag. 
   “Yeah, I didn’t notice the relation between the dog and the accident at first till Vipin, the guy who works with me pointed it out.” And so, I went on explaining what happened this afternoon.

She started putting out the cigarette while exhaling, I liked the way she breathed the smoke out of her lips, the way she puckered them sometimes was really cute.

   “Hmm, the dogs coming shouldn’t necessarily mean the virus is back, he could have just entered through the outer city sewers and somehow made his way in.” She scratched her chin while pondering. “Besides, they already developed a vaccine for it, so people bitten can immediately go to the hospital for a shot.” She turned to look at Shoxy.

   “Fair enough, I wouldn’t bother too much with it anyway; let’s just hope they don’t invent something new this time…” I let out a sigh.

   “Yeah, let’s hope.” She began stretching, her shirt lifted up a bit, you can see part of her cherry blossom tree tattoo. She has a 'Sakura Tree' tattoo all across her left side, starting from her thigh, extending up to her underarm. It is a really beautiful tattoo, I wonder how long it took her to get this done because that’s art right there.

We went on to sitting in silence for a few moments, staring out of the window, Dorelei did all she can to not stroke Shoxy though she was very tempted at times. Dorelei was someone I could fall in love with, if I just pushed my feelings a bit more, I could actually love her but I wouldn’t do so, even though I could. I am not quite sure how she views me, but if I were to kiss her right now she would kiss me back and it will end up like that day. Dorelei came over one night; she was very upset about something that happened one night during her bartending job, she got into a fight with a customer and was fired by her manager later on. She wasn’t the type that took shit from anyone, she’s a made girl and doesn’t have time for low lives. So, she came over that night, I sat comforting her. I remember that night very clearly, I’m so glad I didn’t lose my memory after this happened, it’s such a nice peaceful memory to have. I remember her laying on this same couch, her head on my shoulders, I can feel my shirt getting wet where her face was, she was crying but I just sat in silence and let her have her moment. She isn’t the type that will be comforted by soft soothing words, she just wanted someone to physically be there and in their silence she’ll find her own comfort. Ah! I remember that look she gave me when she lifted her face from my shoulder, she looked me deep into my eyes, I can see the appreciation in them and I couldn’t resist placing my lips on hers. And before we know it, we were laying skin to skin in each other’s arms. But we never spoke about that day again, it’s what made this relationship more special; that mutual understanding we both had, I’m really glad that she’s around.

  She caught me staring at her again. “Well I best be off, while the office workers sleep, I shall be mixing drinks to sooth broken hearts or to create wild nights! Oh! The joy!” She kissed me on my cheeks and made her way to the door.

   “Shut the door properly!” I shouted, knowing that she wouldn’t do it. Yes, I knew she wouldn’t do it; she just blew me a kiss and left it slightly opened. I sighed as I walked up to the door to close it.

Suddenly the whole room started spinning, I couldn’t place my hands on a wall to support myself…

The Black Bucket - Chapter 2

I can feel needles going into my skin, what is this pain? What is this man doing to me?

  “How does it look?” The man held a mirror which was reflecting my skin.

I can see a blurred image, against my skin, I got a tattoo on the side of my chest? Since when? What is the image?

  “That’ll be 46 credits dude!” The taxi driver held out the credits machines.

I placed my phone against, I was always fascinated by this and ever since it was introduced the amount of robberies went down. I disembarked from the taxi, carrying heaps of luggage, including my new kitten, why did I get a kitten again?

I took a look at my building and sighed, it was a beautiful building, it was all red bricks, properly maintained, save for the growing weeds on the walls. Apparently it’s been here since the 2010s, around ninety percent of the buildings in this town have been demolished and rebuilt save for a few buildings and this is one of them. “Montirave Building”, who was this Montirave, whoever he was he surely did a fine job with this. As I walked towards the doors, the doorman greeted me cheerfully as always and pulled the door open. He made a nod at the kitten, I just smiled back and so did he. Jason, the doorman, lost the ability to talk, during the “incident” he lost his voice to his enraged state.

I think we each lost a certain thing during our enraged states, and they’re somehow related to our past, I am just speculating here but I think it’s somehow connected, the virus targeted certain aspects of our behaviours and destroyed them. This is considering we actually made it back from the enraged state. I took the elevator to the 12th floor, the kitten gave a nervous meow. “Don’t worry hun, you’ll see your new home soon enough.” I can already tell this is going to change everything. Finally reached the 12th floor, as the door opened one of the most mesmerising sights greeted me, and it is the painting on this wall, across the whole corridor a very oriental Dragon graffiti is painted on it, I love the colours, orange, grey, black, and some other shades in between. But the fact that it’s painted with these three shades only is amazing, they wanted this painted over but everyone on this floor petitioned against it. Also, three people live on this floor other than myself, 1201 is Phillip, 1202 is Maurice, 1203 is Dorelei and 1204 is me. “Welcome to your new home.” Welcoming the kitten as I swung the door open. My whole apartment was designed by Maurice, he’s quite the artist, he’s also fun company save for the fact he’s gay and constantly hitting on me. I don’t mind it though, it’s quite nice to get attention like that sometimes, even from another male. My whole flat was very simple, black and white furniture, and only my music corner was out of place but I don’t care. One bedroom, one and half bathrooms, a view overlooking the city, a fully functioning kitchen with enough room for a dining table. All this for the price of a sharp tongue, and sheer luck, I managed to swindle this out of my former boss, who I caught faking reports and pocketing extra cash. I felt guilty at the time I took it, but I really needed a place like this but he’s dead now… Enraged, his body couldn’t handle the effect, he was one of the unlucky ones.

I managed to finish unpacking all of the kitten goodies, litter box, scratching pole, a small bed (which for some reason I recall they hardly ever use), a small ball and two bowls (one for wet and one dry food). Right, now to let it out of the travelling cage, she immediately jumped on my lap and so I scratched her head in turn. "Shoxy, yes, that's your new name, I don't know why or how I came up with that name but I think it suits you." I gave her nose a little poke she purred. I took the next week off, it's a strange coincidence, and a funny thing too. I was planning on taking next week off for myself, but it seems like I have company now and it should be interesting. I let Shoxy have a stroll around the house, I need to make myself something to eat, I haven't eaten since the accident because I'm still thinking about what Vipin said.

I feel lost, my memories are no where to be found, sometimes I think it's a good fresh start, although I still want to find out what happened in my past. Who was the girl in the woods, who were the people surrounding me when I was a child, were they even my real parents? Where did the tattoo go? Did even get one to start off with? Did I remove it? All these questions tortured me, I don't know what to make of it. I have been having these small time lapses ever since this Enraged incident, they didn't really have any negative effect on my day to day life but I wonder when will I reach the point of missing out on whole hour instead of a few minutes.

I timed the microwave to 25 seconds, waiting for the sandwich to heat up, I really just wanted the cheese to melt with the pepperoni. When microwave stopped I could sort of see my reflection against the microwave door, I haven't shaved for days, I look very scruffy maybe I'll tend to this later. I grabbed my sandwich, and just deflated myself on the couch, I can see the kitten scouring under the couch opposite me. "Shoxy, come here..." I doubt she understood, she still kept investigating her finding. I can see the oils seeping out of the side of the sandwich, the cheese, the pepperoni, the pizza sauce mix and the chilli sauce. I took pride in this sandwich, it was my speciality really, just this sandwich, and maybe tuna melt but that's it.

The doorbell rang, It's probably Dorelei, I pulled the door open, and there she was 1204, the fiery red head from next door. She has dark brown eyes, there was a little scar on the outer side of her left eye, she said she cut it while doing her eyebrows, then there were her slightly unkempt eyebrows which is probably why they weren't fixed, probably out of fear of hurting herself again. Her hair was lovely, I pay great attention to people's hair, I find the way they style depends on their personality rather than if it makes them look better. She has bangs to her eye brows, then two small braided strands of hair on both sides of her ears, the back was shaved, leveled really short at the nape, gets thicker as it goes to the back of her head. She has a slightly long nose, but it wasn't protruding, her cheeks were always flushed, she has interesting lips the upper lip was slightly narrower than her lower lip but overall she was a pretty sight.

  "Stop looking at me as if I'm the only human you ever see..." She kissed my cheeks and went in.

  "Not sure you qualify as a human." I knew how to make her blush.

  "Always the smooth talker 'ey?" She turned around and gave me a wink. "Ugh! You made that sandwich again didn't you? Your whole apartment smells of it!" She sat her self on the couch and put her feet on the coffee table.

  I might have left out how well we know each other, I was coming home from work one day when I heard shouting from her apartment, it wasn't unusual, she always fought with her ex but this time I heard things smashing. I knocked on the door to let them know someone is here, in hopes that they calm down but that's when I heard a big crash. I opened the door to find her sprawled, her face covered in blood, her psycho ex put her through a glass table. I was threatened by her ex if I didn't get out he would kill me, he then went on accusing her of sleeping with me. one, I don't take kindly to serious threats, two, do not accuse me of something I didn't do, these were my basic rules. I told him to get out, he then went on to punching me in the face, that's when I grabbed a broken table leg and battered him with it, I broke the hand he punched me with to pieces. I grabbed him by the back of his clothes dragged him out into the corridor, and called the police, and an ambulance. I left him there, I knew he wasn't going anywhere, I quickly went to aid Dorelei, helped her up and took her to my apartment. Oh, one more thing, that was me in my enraged state, controlled enraged state that's the intended effect of the Virus, and I managed to keep it after recovering from it, it basically gave us extra strength and physical capabilities.

  "You got a kitten?!"  She jumped up from the couch in surprise.

  "Ah careful, she's very picky about who she likes!" I warned her. Knowing her she would just neglect the warning and go for it anyway.

  "What did you call her?" She asked as she reached out for her.

  "Shoxy, just be careful, she gets aggressive if she doesn't like someone, she has to pick you." I was getting very defensive about her touching Shoxy.

  "Don't worry, me and Shoxy will get along just fine." She grabbed her, they touched noses and then Shoxy licked Dorelei! "Hah! I told you she'll like me!" She went on making funny faces at the kitten and I just stood there dumbfounded.

  "Well, I guess Shoxy has a new caretaker for when I'm away!" I laughed as I basically just told Dorelei that she is going to have to care for the kitten as well.

  "You didn't even have to say it!" She smiled at me and then went back to tickling Shoxy.

She rarely smiled, it was a warm smile and I always felt better knowing she's recovering.

The Black Bucket - Chapter 1 (part 2)

I was sent back to reality as a passing truck honked, and sped by. There I was standing in front of the animal shelter, I looked up at the sign which read “Little Pets, we’re the best because we care” that’s the shelter’s slogan. I stood in front of it for a few moments, looking at the small kittens prancing about in the display window. When I opened the door, an electronic meowing sound greeted me, I hated these sort of bells, the ones that made a noise when you opened the door  they really bothered me. A started looking around, no dogs were to be found here, no dogs for at least 200 kilometers, or save for the roadkill today. “How can I help you Sir?” A cheerful blonde worker greeted me, she had her pulled back and bunched up in a ponytail, I assumed this was because she didn’t want it to get in the way when handling animals.

  “I’m looking to adopt an animal, preferably a kitten.” I said in a monotone voice.

  She clapped two hands together. “Wonderful! Let me take you to the adoption section!” I nodded and smiled.

I followed her towards the back of the store, there was lots of cages here, but they all looked nicely maintained, I looked around, my eyes darting between cages, I can see a sad look on some of the animals here. Cats, rabbits, hamsters, mice, turtles, guinea pigs and two small red pandas. Not all looked sad, some seemed happy and didn’t care where they were. “These are the kittens up for adoption, now do you have any breed in mind or?” Her ponytail looked really nice as she turned to face me with a smile.

  “I don’t have one in mind, no. I’ll just have a look at them, can I have a moment alone please?” I sounded fishy, though that wasn’t my intention.

  “Why certainly! I’ll be over by the counter when you’re done!” She’s really perky, is it possible to be this perky? She looked like she was almost skipping and her lovely ponytail was bobbing up and down.

  What I really wanted to do is have a moment, I didn’t want to pick a kitten based on it’s breed, I wanted one that gives me a sort of connection. I started inspecting them all, twiddling my finger in front of them until I came across this Black Cat, it looked directly into my eyes, something that slightly riveted me.

  “Stars, Bombay cat, she was found abandoned at an old apartment, she is a little shy but has a very fun sense of humor.” As I read the small description a few things came to mind, why is it even called Stars? How does a cat have a sense of humor?

I decided right there and then that this was going to be my new friend.

   I went up to the counter and with a small cough. “Aaah, excuse me?”

  “Oh! You decided?” She did the hand clap again as she turned around, I really like her ponytail.

  “Yes, I have, the cat called Stars.” I felt stupid calling it stars, I’m going to call her something else.

  “Hah, I really didn’t expect you to pick Stars, but let’s go to her so you get to know her better.” She made her way to the cat with her bobbing ponytail.

Why didn’t she expect me to pick that cat? I followed her, she slowly opened the cage, at the same time she was making “cute” noises to calm the cat down and she carefully picked her up. She placed the kitten on a table, the table had a small raised up glass wall around it, I assume it’s so they don’t accidentally fall off.

 “Why is she called Stars?” My curiosity got the best of me, ironically.

 “You didn’t notice?” I felt stupid for a moment. “Look at her eyes, if you look closely you can see her iris is slightly star shaped.” She bent over a little and pointed at them.

  I bent down to have a better look and this childish joy slowly overtook me. “Well that’s something you don’t see every day.”

  “Oh yes she’s quite unique, though she rejected two couples and one woman so far…” She said with a slight sad tone.

  “How come?” I wondered.

  “Well, she just gets a little aggressive if she doesn’t like someone… Here, try your luck with her” She handed me a string.

I started to tease the kitten with the string, she didn’t seem to react, so I made a small noise to her attention and it gave me the same look as she did when she was in the cage.

  “Can I touch her?” Why do I feel nervous?

  “Of course, just be careful she usually gets aggressive when you try to touch her.” I sensed as if she’s already expecting the cat to get aggressive.

  I held out my index finger, and slowly moved it and poked its head, it’s like I’m testing if it’s safe to go in or not. The kitten gave a small nod, so I did it again, this time slowly stroking it with my index finger. I can swear I heard a little purr, she purred, she must have! I impishly smiled. The kitten stepped back, raised both paws and playfully hit my fingers.

  “She likes you! She likes you!” The ponytail lady started jumping up and down in excitement.

  “Me and you are going to get along just fine.” A big goofy smirk spread across my face.

I started feeling this great joy, as if I’m starting a new chapter in my life or something. She took the kitten away, I waited at the reception while she did some checks before giving it to me.

  “Sir, can I have your details please?” A not so cheerful worker, she looked like one of the rebellious teenagers but she seemed interesting.

  “Ah yes sure, what do you need?” I took the pen out of my pocket.

  “Just fill out this form aaaand…” She pointed at the end of the paper. “Sign here.”

“Name: Imreil Shahrizai

Date of Birth: 26/05/2049

Contact Number: 315161148974

Email: Imreil.s@gmail.com

Address: Apt 2, Montirave Building, 2522, 4805, Mohave”

I signed the form and handed it over to her.

By the time the rebellious teenager finished explaining the types of food, how to train them to use the litter-box, and few other things the lovely ponytail lady had Stars ready. I finished purchasing all the required things, I also told Catherine (the ponytail girl, yes, that’s her name) that I’ll be changing the kittens name. And with a handful of things, I couldn’t walk back to the apartment, I had to hail a cab to take me back.

The Black Bucket - Chapter 1 (part 1)

I wasn't sure where this was, but that’s me, building a castle in the sand, defending myself against the sea’s waves but I must have been four or five years old here. Why can’t I see their smiles? Why can I hear laughter but not see their expressions. Suddenly I was startled by a loud crashing sound, I got up and noticed most the staff were heading towards the window left side window. Naturally, I followed suit, I can hear murmurs between them, also some of my colleagues were pressing their hands against their gaping mouths, attempting to subconsciously conceal their shock. ‘What’s going on here? what’s all the fuss about?’ grumbled Mark while pushing his way through the others. He really gets on my nerves, he’s your typical testosterone pumped office cunt.

  “There’s been a horrible accident!” Jennifer answered, with a shrill sound. That had to be the most vague answer I’ve heard, it sounded like it was taken out of a 70’s movie, you know the ones with a ridiculous reaction to show “emphasis”. But yes, it was a ‘horrible accident’, from the blood splattered on the windshield, the way it’s splashed upwards I can only assume he crashed into something which happens to be that dog. My heart ached for the dog, I detest people who do not pay attention for animals crossing, because it’s something that happens often, roadkills, by now one would think they would get it through their heads that animals will cross the road. But the man managed swerve off into a street light, I don’t think the impact was too kind on him, for one he wasn’t moving and now two people were approaching the car. You can deduce from their reactions that he most likely passed away, or - “Oh my! There’s a child in the backseat!” Trust Jennifer to be the most observant one in the room.

  “What a mess…” Jack said under his breath.

  The analytic voice of Vipin startled me. “There’s something wrong, there hasn’t been any dogs in this city for over three years now, it’s either really bad luck or something brought that dog here.” How did I not noticed that? Oh yes, my memory is still fizzled from the “incident”, there was a virus outbreak around four years ago, dogs, they carried a man made virus which when bitten turned people into raging menaces which almost always led to their self obliteration. Yes, almost, some people survived, like me, and like Mark but we didn't survive with only a bite mark scar. Mark, during his enraged state tore all the hair from left side of his head, just above the ears and you can see the scar it left, it looked like a burn, rather ugly but he was proud of it. As for me, it took a toll on my brain I lost some of my memories, some of my old personality too from what the doctor said but there’s something else they didn’t notice.

  “Oh the poor child, what’s going to happen to that poor child? Does the child have a mother?” I sighed, as another question was raised by the ever so observant Jennifer.

  “It’s going to be hard for that child, his future is completely altered now.” Vipin’s insight, and his beliefs always captivated me, I think he’s the only “sane” person in this room.

  “Hah! Nonsense! I turned out fine without parents!” Every time Mark made a statement like that he would adjust his trousers - and so he did without fail - Some people turned around, and give him a quizzical look but he paid them no heed.

The scene was cleared up, the news are already broadcasting about this strange appearance of a dog, no word on the people involved in the accident because why should they matter? And so for the whole day it was the talk of the office, people raising different speculations on what could be the cause of that dog appearing. I can see Mark from the corner of my eyes, he had an audience of three other male colleagues, all listening to his take on why the dog appeared there, this man really gets on my nerves I don’t know why but he’s reminding me of something I just can’t remember. The day ended, without much more work being done because of the incident. I decided to head to the animal’s shelter, I don’t know why I just got the urge to go there, maybe that child triggered something in me, I have a feeling I want to save that child but because I cannot do anything about it I need to find a compensation to give me a certain satisfaction.

There’s me again, someone is holding my hands, I remember this part of the woods, we were headed to a gazebo. Why am I here? I can see blurred words, either the creation of two lovers or vandals embedded into the wood. She pulled my face to hers, I don’t see her lips, nor her expression. When did this happen? And did it really happen?

My eyes burn

I've started this time last month, been a month since i've been working... Working in a IT company in Ruwi called "imtac". I spend most of my time behind a computer screen, it's bad for my eyes really, I looked in my car's mirror and I saw my eyes... It freaked me out! I started reading a few tips about how to "maintain" your eyes, etc. It's also has to do with the fact I wake up every night from 3am-5am, I wake up freaked out, first thing I do is check my phone - Ouch, my eyes hurt it's too bright - I have these nightmares, I don't remember them at all, I don't remember my dreams MOST of the time but I know it's a nightmare considering the way I woke up. I used to dream a lot, I would stay up fantasizing about stuff, pirates, romance, wars, post apocalyptic world and sex(I'm a guy -__-). This was around 2-3 years ago, I stopped doing that now, I admit I still do with pirates, but I love 'em and I'll always wish to be one!

I've been in a relationship for 2 years and half now, lots of feelings developed and stuff. They were very nice feelings I loved them, they kept me up at night loooong at night but I didn't like that because I loved sleeping early and waking up early. So I sort of started to "shut" those feelings aside to let me sleep... What I didn't realize it numbed me a lot. So if you're experiencing stuff, keep feeling, keep enjoying them and let them torture you! They'll make you feel better in the long run

First recording with new peeps!

Well, after I posted on a englishsabla.com that I was looking for members to jam with, I found someone and also a friend of mine happened to pass by at the same day! So the three of us got together and recorded a song...Hozzah for the balushi peeps!

Here's the link to the song! Sorry i couldn't place it on any online streaming site.

http://www.2shared.com/audio/He2DQQvQ/baluchjam.html

Nothing too fancy it was kinda done on the spot but enjoooooy!

Take down a lamp post and burn a truck...

Oh! The glory! Just a few months ago we were all celebrating our lovely national day, joy and love thrown everywhere and the country praised in every way possible!

REJOICE AND REVOLT! Follow our Middle East families and let's get shot for the sake of trying to make our lives easier instead of trying to hard to make it easier. We love this country, some people envy this country, people move to this country because it's good and yet people are marching with anger.

I don't see the reason behind this at all, I know why it's happening but I don't know why they're doing it... If something happens to HM Sultan Qaboos and the new leader running the country isn't doing a good job then by all means go throw bricks through his windows but Sultan Qaboos built this country gave them everything he could give yet they still want more... God didn't create people and give them what they cant handle but they decide to think otherwise.

Hand in hand long live HM and go fuck yourselves violent protesters