//------------------------------// // Dissolve // Story: Thing a Day // by Rennoc215 //------------------------------// Thing a day: Dissolve She finally did it. She finally left me. Ah well, it wasn't like either of us enjoyed that relationship. It was the way she did it that hit me. "It's over," She had shouted, tears in her eyes. "I had hoped you were the one for me. I clung to that hope, but you just got uglier and uglier. I'm leaving." And that was that. I opened the refridgerator door, and sat there, browsing my breakfast options. Eventually, I reached in and grabbed the nearly-empty pizza box. Cold pizza is the king of breakfast food, after all. I turned to head to my dinning room table when I froze. There, resting on the table, was a small gift-wrapped box. Slowly, I walked over, set down my pizza, and then picked up the box. The bright pink wrapping paper was adorned with pastel yellow and blue balloons, in clumps of three, and a darker pink bow wrapped the whole thing. Attached to the bow was a card, with a simple note written inside. "I'm sorry for shouting, that day," it read. "But you had me so fired up. I wanted you to have this, because I hope it will help you. Sincerely, Caroline." I lowered the card and sighed. I hope she isn't expecting us to get back together, I hoped, then looked at the card again. "PS: I'm not expecting you to forgive me, and I haven't forgiven you, so don't expect me to come crawling back." It continued. "PPS: I got in with my spare key you had given me. I put the key in the box with my parting gift for you." "Thank god," I sighed, closing my eyes. Then, a strange thought hit me. "Parting gift?" I asked aloud, holding the box away at arms length. "Nothing good will come of something with that kind of name," I said, shaking my head. "And yet, even through all these bad vibrations I'm picking up, it IS a gift." A quick breath, and I set the box down. "So be it, box, I'll play your game." I said, before reaching in my pocket, and then withdrawing a coin. "Balloons float to head level, so on a heads I'll open you. Deal?" I asked, not expecting a response. The ting of metal clinking against my fingernail rang out, and the coin spiraled through the air. It came down a bit faster than I expected, and I missed it when I tried to catch it. It hit the table, bounced, and landed on the box, heads up. "Alrighty, then." I said, picking up the box, and tearing through the paper. Residing inside was a three season collection of some kid's cartoon called 'My Little Pony.' "What?" I ask, mind completely blank. I'm repelled because it's for little girls, yet intrigued. Why would she want me to have this? Curious, I walk to the DVD player, plop in disk one, and sit down on my couch. I select episode one, and I dissolve into the sofa, watching the pastel colors cross my screen. -+-+-+-+-+- With the closing credits, I'm left speechless. At one end, I'm slightly disgusted that I'm finding this good, and at the other end, I'm pulled into a mad trap, because this is really good. The writing, the story, the voice acting. It's clean, like something professional, but also light, like a children's show should be. It was a part of me, I realized. Something I wouldn't be able to forget, or shake off. Of course, why would I want to shake it? It's mine now. Something precious, and something that no one has to know about. And even though I feel changed, I... I like it. I pick up the phone and call the office. Peggy, the nice lady at the front desk answered. "Clean Comp Co, Peggy speaking, How can I help you?" "Peggy?" I ask, mind still slightly erased. "I don't have any appointments today, right?" With her confirmation, I continued. "Good. I need you to make sure nothing requiring me comes up, alright. I'm pretty sure I'm not coming in today." "Whatever you say," She replies, before hanging up. With the call end tone blaring in my ear, I slowly lower the phone and raise the remote. I click play, and dissolve again. -+-+-+-+-+- It was after I had finished watching the last season when my phone rang. "Hello," I answered. "Hey, did you get the gift?" A cheerfully unappetizing voice asked. "Yes, I did, Caroline," I replied, trying to keep my voice as monotonus as possible. "And?" She asked, trying to get something from me. "If your trying to get me to apologize, it's too late for that. Anyways, it's not true. But I've got something to ship to you. It's a small box, and I'll send it there for you." I smile, imagining the look on her face. "I hope you like it. And if you need me, I'll be anywhere but here." With that, I hung up, and stood up. Slowly, I repackaged the now completely-watched show, and wrapped it back up. I wrote the postage, stamped it, and went to get a card. That's when I wrote my own note: "Dear Princess Caroline. I'm not apologizing for what I did, because it made you a stronger woman. Sometimes, we have to hurt the ones we like in order to help them deal with their problems, and that's exactly what I did. Maybe we would have been perfect together, but not in this life. I wish you luck, and I want you to remember the importance of friendship." "Who knows. Maybe one day, we will be able to forgive each other, and be friends once more. I would like to see that day come. Good luck finding 'The One,' and godspeed."