The Living Will

Chapter 4 - The Beach

Melanie came out of the shower not too long after I saw the pills in her backpack. She came out in her pajamas and was drying her hair with one of the white hotel towels.

"Hope I didn't take too long," she said, squeezing her hair with the towel.

"I almost fucking fell asleep," I said as I grabbed my change of clothes and walked into the bathroom.

"You liar," she said, squinting her eyes at me.

The shower felt pretty good. It had been a while since I showered with hot water, since the water heater back at my apartment broke down a few months ago and my greedy-ass landlord didn't want to send anyone to fix it. So I enjoyed it, and let the hot water cascade down my face and shoulders. It was almost numbing, like it drowned out all the dark and cloudy thoughts that circled around in my mind on repeat. For whatever reason, the tips of my fingers and toes were almost always freezing cold. Probably from poor blood circulation, but I hadn't bothered to go to the doctor in years. But, it felt nice having the water warm them up as I ran the shampoo through my hair.

When I came out of the bathroom, Melanie was already fast asleep on the bed closest to the window. She fell asleep facing toward the Melanie, and she left a small gap in the curtains so she could see the city nightlife as she slept.

"Guess that means this bed is mine," I whispered to myself, lifting the covers of the other bed. I climbed in and got fairly comfortable. I don't remember how long it took me to fall asleep, but I do remember Melanie moved around in her sleep a lot. I swear at one point she started kicking up towards the ceiling in her fucking sleep, guess she was dreaming with ninjas or some shit.

I dreamt quite vividly that night, too. I had a dream that I was on a giant, floating island over a deep, blue ocean. There was nothing on this island except grass, rocks, and a small green car. I couldn't see too well, like I forgot to put my contacts in or something. I looked down at the ocean and realized how high we were when I saw clouds pass beneath me. It was really unsettling. I turned around and looked at this car parked on the island, then noticed there was someone working under the hood. Immediately, I knew who it was, and as I walked closer, I knew I was right. It was none other than my older brother, Daniel, who I hadn't seen in 4 years. There he was hunched over, wrench in his right hand and grease rag over his left shoulder, tightening the belt on the engine of his car.

"Damn thing, always gets itself loose." he said as I got close. He noticed me and turned around, a warm smile on his face.

"Little Robbie, how's it going my man?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the front of the car.

"Hey Dan.." I said, trying my best to hold in my tears.

"Mind giving me a hand with the car? Can't seem to get it working.." he said, looking over at the rusty engine and scratching his head.

"But why would you need a car? We're on an island in the sky.." I said, unsure of why the fuck there even was a car up here or how any of this was possible. But my brother smiled again and let out a big laugh. It was like he had no fear or uncertainty at all.

"Robin, that's what the car's for. We can use it to get off the island." he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Somehow in the dream, this made sense. Without hesitation, I agreed to help him. Anything to get off this island.

"Alright, go sit up front and crank the engine, on my mark." he said.

I ran over to the car and it opened by itself, and I floated into the seat. He gave the 'thumbs up' signal and I turned the ignition on, and the engine roared to life. He closed the hood and jumped up in excitement.