The Seventh Day

The Seventh Day

By: Cholo Ayuyao

Gloomy like the rainy skies outside his pad, he couldn’t seem to contain the emotions that were running through the pits of his soul. Sitting down his easy chair near the door of his room, he finished the final sips of whisky in his hand. Ralph just sat there, sobbing and staring at his bed. It’s the seventh day since Larry left him. The heavens rattle with the thunder and lightning, illuminating the whole room like strobe lights inside a disco. He stared again at the bed that was his and Larry’s, at the far end of the bed, he positioned a couple of pillows ad covered them with a blanket, creating an illusion that there is another person there sleeping with him. But in the illusion comes the bitter truth that he’s alone now because of his infidelity.

Ralph regressed on what happened the week before. It was his fault because he allowed himself to be entangled with a fling and all Larry did was to love him with full loyalty. Now, all this came to a halt when he finally admitted to Larry that he was having an affair. Ralph could still remember the day when that happened, what Larry was wearing, the smell of the freshly cut grass in their front lawn, the taste of vanilla in the air from Larry’s lit candles. Ralph’s mind was racing so fast he couldn’t process the right chronology of the events that occurred before that instance. All he know definitely was that his infidelity consumed his relationship values and by the time he realized what he was doing was wrong, all the foundations of a very strong relationship with Larry was already in ruins. The only right that he ever did that moment was admitting that he was wrong to Larry and before he knew it, Ralph was sweeping the debris of a crumbled love.

The second day was almost insignificant for Ralph. The numbness from his heart brought about by his guilt still churns his mind, almost blank. His body functioning almost mechanically and the day finished unnoticed. The third and fourth day finally slit the wounds that were waiting to bleed. Larry’s absence was slowly pouring acid over Ralph’s self inflicted wounds. He sat there, at the easy chair near the bed and letting himself bleed until the time when he arranged the pillows to form as if Larry was still there just sleeping. He would stare at it the whole night till Ralph falls asleep and wake up automatically the next day and pursue his otherwise pointless life and do the same thing again.

Seventh day, Ralph thought and he couldn’t contain the pain inside him. Every time he closes his eyes, he could still see the naked body of the person that he allowed to corrupt his relationship with Larry, the taste of his sweat as he kissed the nape of the man, the feeling of his nakedness pressing against his, his hardness in between his legs, the moans trickling from his open mouth as they reached the apex of sin and the sobbing face of a betrayed Larry, all of this creating a puzzle that bit by bit created the larger picture that is his life. Ralph reached for his pockets to retrieve something as he cried in agony. It will be over soon he thought. Then it was morning.

It’s more quiet now. The smell of fresh air filled the room as the morning breeze flowed through. The languid curtains dancing with the breeze, warming with the peeking of the sun behind the clouds, the birds starting to chirp their morning greetings, all of this, great contradictions from the darkness that was last night. The first rays of the sun slowly passed through the translucent curtains and illuminating the dark room. Shadows played along the creases and folds of the bed. The piled pillows on the far end looked like a mountain casting a shadow over the unoccupied half of the bed. Then from the pile, a hand was peeking through the blanket. Larry managed to slip through the house and prepared to forgive the one true love that he has. As he opened his eyes to greet the new morning, he remembered how he smiled upon noticing the pile of pillows formed to imitate the position when he sleeps on that bed. He stretched a bit and sat himself facing the window. Larry stood up and looked at the easy chair to where Ralph was always seated. There he saw Ralph, eyes closed and an emptied bottle of pills on the floor. He immediately ran towards him and realized Ralph wasn’t breathing anymore. As if Larry’s soul was stripped from him, he slipped into shock and land on the floor. On the seventh day, the Lord rested and on the seventh day, man once again was betrayed by his weakness of never being satisfied.