There Can Be Only One (3rd Installment)

He was swimming, trying to get to the surface of a body of water. He needed to breathe, but the sunlit surface was still quite a distance above him. He lungs began to burn with his desperate need for a breath of air. It didn’t look like he would make it in time before his breathing reflex would flood his lungs with water.

He couldn’t resist any more and gasped hard.

He made a loud croaking sound as he took in—not water, but air. His eyes flew open to see he was in his tent with the sun shining on it in such a way that told him it was morning. It had been a dream.

That was too close to what had actually happened to him. Doc had told him that he had pulled him out of a car at the bottom of a lake that also contained the bodies of his parents.

It was strange that he didn’t remember very much of his life before opening his eyes to the sight of Doc dripping wet, bending over him. All he knew was he did remember having parents and had graduated from high school. Doc had promised that his memories would come back to him over time. It had been a little over a month since he found he had come back from the dead.

Now it was time to go to work. He now had a job at a gas station that David Palmer had helped him to get. He had been quick to learn how to run the cash register and stock the snack items that were sold to those who came to buy gas.

With a job, he was on his way to finding a place for himself in this town. It was just a new town, though to Phil it seemed a brand new world with rules that were not fully understood.

He needed to make some money to eat, buy a sword, and to be trained to use it for his survival. Those goals had to come first, but what about living forever—barring the loss of his head? What about remaining eighteen years old for all time? These two things were hard to grasp.

Why couldn’t he remember his old life? That frustration would come to the surface of his thoughts more times a day than he would have liked. It could be the source of his dream.

Phil had taken Dave’s advice and enrolled in a fencing class. He had even brought up the subject of buying a sword to the instructor Dave had recommended. Now it was a matter of getting the money to pay for it.

……….

I envy the sun every kiss upon your skin.

……….

It was Friday night and Phil had cashed his first paycheck from the gas station. He had pressed his boss to work as many hours as he could to earn money for the sword as well as to eat. He had worked two weeks for about 96 hours, and was ready to do something fun for a change.

One of his fellow workers, a guy named Steve who worked part time while attending the local college, invited him to a party for one of his friends still in high school. Steve thought that this girl would enjoy Phil’s sense of humor as much as he did.

Phil wasn’t so sure, but he wanted to make some friends and this party sounded like a good place to start. He had brought a change of clothes to work so he could shower at Dave’s and be picked up there in Steve’s car.

It was dark when the two pulled up near the house. The party was to be in the back yard, and as the two approached the driveway, they could see the light shining from the rear of the house.

Steve lifted the latch of the chain link gate and led Phil up to a brunette talking to several people on the deck attached to the house. She was petite with dark hair and eyes, but Phil couldn’t decided what color they were in the uncertain light from the string of lantern shaped lights attached to the rails of the deck. He could make out perfect teeth and a generous amount of freckles on her face, neck, and disappearing into the neckline of her shirt.

Phil thought she could easily be a fashion model.

She greeted Steve warmly as he began to introduce Phil. “Andrea, this is Phil. Phil, this is Andrea.” He smiled and looked at Phil expectantly.

Phil looked her in the eye and said, “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” said Andrea. “There’s all kinds of snacks and soda is in the cooler. Help yourself.”

When Andrea turned to reply to another girl’s hail, Steve murmured to Phil, “She’s kinda religious, so there won’t be any beer or reef here.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

He grabbed a soda and began to take in everything around him. Seeing all these people close to his own age caused him to remember having graduated from high school somewhere, probably in Illinois. A vague memory of his own open house party flashed through his mind, but without many details.

He also remembered the cliques and attitudes from high school and began to try to figure out what sort of group came to a party for a girl like Andrea.

Phil found himself keeping within earshot of Andrea and couldn’t help watching her. There didn’t seem to be a single thing he didn’t like about her. Her freckles even brought a memory of someone telling him that freckles were kisses from the sun. In that case, the sun sure loved her and didn’t detract from her beauty at all.

…….

The party had been pleasant, and Phil had felt that those that knew Steve had tacitly accepted him. He was glad that Andrea seemed to be one of them.

Phil took a route back to his tent that took him past the college. It was there that he felt that jangling, electric feeling that came with the presence of another immortal.

Check back later….