Transcendence

Transcendence

Justin didn’t even want to be at the party. He was only here to try to talk to his girlfriend. So, instead of actively participating in any conversation, he sat back on the stairwell and slowly worked his way to the bottom of his beer.

Justin is relatively tall, and he works in the construction business. The nature of his work is apparent in his clothing tonight. Painter’s blue jeans with a couple of small tears in the knees are the regular pants he wears. The loop of the waist feels vaguely light to him tonight, without his familiar hammer hanging on his left hip. A simple red thermal shirt is both practical and stylish according to Justin.

Brown, cracked work boots cover his feet. They are weathered just like the calluses on his capable hands. They smell of the oil he smears on them to keep water out.  He remembers when he first started as a young man just out of high school working for the construction company. His hands would have livid blisters from shoveling dirt and cement all day. The only thing worse than the hot sun was all of the older crewman looking down on him simply because of his age.

Now, at a prime age of 25, he is the chief operator of a giant yellow backhoe. He is the senior employee and he makes it a point to treat the younger workers with respect out of his own memories. He is snapped out of his reverie by some guy wearing a backwards baseball cap.

“Come play flip cup with us, bro”, he slurs.

“I’ll pass, thank you”

Fortunately, some other guy was also standing near the stairs that said that he would play. These days, Justin doesn’t drink much. But tonight, he needed something to take the edge off of the accident he was just in a few hours ago. He was on his way to the house of the guy his girlfriend was cheating with. After he was done with him, there would be no more trouble.

The glass is shattering. The tiny bits of multi-shaped diamond like projectiles whiz past Justin’s face. The impact of sliding into a light pole at sixty miles an hour caused a huge adrenaline rush and caused time to slow. The car hit it sideways, the pole smashing into the driver’s side door. It was wrapped around the pole.

 It seemed like an eternity before the wrecked car came to a halt. The blood oozing out of his body seemed surreal, like in a movie. As slow as things were moving, Justin still couldn’t make sense of things. The shock was so great he just sat there not knowing what to do. Not until someone came rushing up to the window yelling “Are you alright?”

He came back to himself sitting on the stairs. This was no time to think that his car was wrecked. He had to confront his girlfriend and let her know that he forgave her as long as she promised not to do it again. Those kinds of experiences really set petty things aside and make priorities easy to label.

Just then, a drunken girl staggered up the stairs and practically ran him over. She smelled of liquor and she could barely stay on her feet. “Watch where you’re going”, Justin angrily yelled. She didn’t even bother looking his way, just continued up the stairs.

A familiar ringtone of some U-2 song caught Justin’s attention. It was his girlfriend’s phone ringing. He discreetly watched as she answered it. Her face turned to horror in seconds. She dropped the phone, eyes already puffing up, and ran for the stairs.

She was sobbing “He’s dead, he’s dead, I can’t believe Justin is dead.”