Some Assembly Required pt. 2

Some Assembly Required pt. 1

Artie realized the gravity of the situation. He was trapped. His leg was in agony and he thought it was surely broken. Above all, his chief concern was that his beer buzz would pass without him watching his Netflix shows.

His cell phone vibrated on the kitchen counter. “Help!” he meekly shouted. He tried banging on the floor, trying to get the attention of the tenant below. His efforts were met with a few thumps back from the handle end of a broom.

He felt himself losing consciousness. He decided it was better that he let the feeling take him away. Either he would wake up to a possibly more favorable scenario or the sweet relief of death would alleviate the situation.

An amount of time unbeknownst to Artie had passed before he came to. He people talking. He tried to cry out but he had no voice. His vocal chords were not damaged; just nothing came out despite his better efforts. He also had no response in his limbs. “Oh my god” he thought, “I´m paralyzed.”

The voices were clearly talking about him. There was no urgency to help. They seemed to be gossiping about Artie. Nothing they said was flattering. In fact, it was hurtful. Artie even tried to cry, but no tears fell. He slipped back into unconsciousness.

Artie was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was still encased in the darkness of the armoire, yet the arm seemed to just pass through the wood.

“Artie, are you all right?” the voice asked.

Artie came to and saw his neighbor. The armoire was still in the upright position it had been before the fall. The ladder was capsized on the floor. Artie had smashed his head on a pile of lumber.

“Artie, I heard a crash and I ran up as fast as I could. I found you here unconscious! Good thing you keep your door unlocked.”

“How long ago did you hear the crash?” Artie asked.

“A few moments ago. The time it took for me to get up here”

“Wow, great!” Artie was relieved that it was only head trauma that made the episode feel like a long time had passed. He was happy to know the window of buzz was still open for optimum Netflix viewing.

The end

Some Assembly Required pt. 1

Artie carefully slid the box cutter down the taped seam as to not damage the contents of the intricate packaging. He was excited, yet nervous. He was still unsure if he would be able to assemble the armoire by himself.

In his anticipation he had watched hours of YouTube videos about putting this monstrosity together. He made a list of do’s and don’ts cultivated from perky, over caffeinated, wannabe internet celebrities. He had his unused and fully stocked tool bag and he was ready to go.

The first thing he noticed was the quality of the wood. It was extremely thick and heavy, considering how little he paid. After all, he had spent hours reading reviews and they all spoke highly of the quality materials so he shouldn’t have been surprised.

After a few hours of fervent assembly and dutiful beer drinking, the armoire started taking form, as well as his buzz. He marveled that the once pile of wood was transforming into an actual piece of furniture. The alcohol increased his amazement even further.

All was going smoothly until he got to a piece of trim that he couldn’t for the life of him figure out where to put. His determination and attention to detail were starting to float away with each gulp of cold beer. He was starting to get antsy and wanted to be done so he could watch another episode if the Netflix series he was currently on, while still buzzed.

He thought he figured out where the piece fit, on the inside of the opening for the sliding door. He had to climb in to screw this piece on. He saw it was a little high up so he propped the ladder on inside of the armoire. The screw hole was just out of reach but Artie was too much in a rush now to reposition the ladder.

As he reached over to insert the screw, the ladder slipped from under him and as he fell to the floor and the heavy armoire fell with him. It laid over him like a tomb. To make matters worse his leg was smashed and pinned under the internal drawers.

The first thing he thought was to reach for his cell phone. He was in a lot of pain, entombed in the armoire and completely stuck. A wave of panic washed over him when he realized his cell phone was on the kitchen counter. Charging.

 

To be continued…

Some Assembly Required pt. 2

One More Life

A crowd gathered around the fallen motorcyclist. Rumors and conjecture of what had happened flowed through the crowd like a current of electricity. The people furthest from the injured man were transmitting the most fantastic stories while those closest were most concerned with the actual well being of the man. The screech of sirens filled the air as the ambulance made its way towards the scene.
“Please make way for the paramedics” a deep voice shouted. The people in the back of the crowd were too busy gossiping about the incident to hear the command.
“Make way for the paramedics, now!” the voice shouted, this time even more forceful. There was no response from the back of the crowd.
The chief paramedic, whose disdain for humanity has grown and festered inside of him from two decades on the job, reached for his .380 auto sidearm he carried in his waist band. He aimed it at the sky and pulled the trigger three times.
A few people in the back looked back to see what was making it difficult to hear the fabricated story of what happened by the person beside them. One had the audacity to say “What´s the big idea?”
The paramedic went numb. A single thought went through his mind. Why should I help this victim for him to recover and become one of these people in the back of another crowd around another tragedy. He thought of the drunk drivers he fixed up only to see them again, in another accidents, drunk. He thought of the gang bangers that he patched up only to find them another time with another bullet lodged in them. He thought of the pedophile he saved after having being lynched by furious neighbors only to read about him being caught red handed destroying another young life.
He felt invisible. He felt powerless. He felt insignificant.
He raised the tiny pistol to his temple. He shook his head. Not this way, he thought. He then raised to pistol towards the man who questioned what he was doing. NO, he thought. He tucked the pistol back into his waistband. Not yet.
He decided to do what he knew how to do. He pushed through the crowed and saved another worthless life.