Taxi ride to nowhere

[Oddball]

There are far worse things I could be doing with than driving a taxi for a living. I hate the job. I hate getting out of bed every morning, looking into the mirror and seeing a face of somebody that's just given up. I hate the fact that work is the only thing I seem to do anymore. Still, it brings in the yen. It's not like I need much of it anyway. I don't go shopping often. I don't eat much. My hobbies are few and cheap and lately, I've even started to lose interest in them. I find a small bit of bitter humor in the fact that somebody who's life is going nowhere takes other people places for a living. … It sounds funnier in my head.

I'm calling it an early day today. I do that every once in a while. I let the others know I've got something I have to take care of, head home early, and then not do anything. At the very least, I can enjoy the illusion of having a life.

I pull up to the address I was given, the last stop of the day, stop, and open the door. Standing there is a person I've seen almost every night for years. Each other time it has been in a dream or a nightmare. This time, it's in the flesh. I almost keep driving. The face looks a little different this time. It's older, tired, thinner, but unmistakable. My passenger gets in and gives me the address of a hotel, then sits back and gazes out the window. Never once do our eyes connect.

"You look familiar," I say. I know exactly who this is.

"You're probably mistaken. I get that a lot," I'm told. I'm not mistaken though.

Traffic is bad and I'm driving slow. My radio doesn't work and there's no interesting scenery to look at. It takes a while but he speaks up again. "How are you, Hanako?' he says, never diverting his gaze from the window.

"Hello, Hisao." I reply. "I'm fine." I have no family, no friends, an empty apartment, and a job I hate. "You?"

"Alright.." He says. He doesn't apologize for treating me like a broken doll. I don't apologize for screaming at him, throwing him out, and refusing to talk to him or Lilly for the remainder of that year. "I'm surprised to see you out and about like this. You used to not like interacting with people."

"I guess I just got over it." It's fairly easy to stop caring how people react to you when you've alienated the only people that ever cared for you. "So, up to anything interesting? Seeing anyone?" Of all the questions I could have asked I immediately jump to the relationship ones. I'm trying to sound causal, but there's no way he can't see right though me.

He shrugs and turns away from the window, but he still doesn't look directly at me. "I was for a while. Nothing serious." Perhaps I was wrong. He responds to the question as casually as if I had asked him about the weather. "How about you?"

"There was somebody a while back, but nobody right now." Twelve years ago when we used to hang out together in school counts as a while back, right?

"It's a shame. A sweet girl like you should have people throwing themselves at your feet." If he voice wasn't so gloomy, that would have almost sounded like a pickup line. Even as depressed as he sounds, it's still the nicest one I've got in ages.

"Traffic's bad today. You might get there quicker if I let you out and you walk." I tell him. Please don't. He shrugs but makes no other movements. We sit again in silence. He glances at his watch a few times. With nothing else to see, he looks around the taxi. That doesn't seem to interest him either.

"You still keep in touch with what's-her-name from the school?" He tries conversation again.

Her name was Lilly. Lilly Satou. She was our mutual best friend and other than you, the only person since my accident to ever really give a damn about me.

"I don't really remember any of the people from back then," I tell him.

"Oh well. I've kept in touch with a few of them." He says without interest. Who? Tell me. Do you keep in touch with Lilly? Do you have her number?

"It's always nice to keep in touch with old friends." So I've heard. I'm not speaking from personal experience. His hotel comes into view as we turn a corner. There's only a few minutes left for us now.

"Well, it was nice seeing you. We'll have to get together sometime. Dinner or something." He says. I want to get together with you right now. Right here. I want to hold you in my arms forever and never let you go away again.

"Sounds like an idea," I smile back at him, but it's an empty smile of somebody that's just going through the motions. There's no contact information exchanged. Neither of us offers the other our phone number, address, or e-mail.

I pull to the curb and stop the car. I don't want him to go and he's in no hurry to leave.

For a brief moment, our eyes meet and we pause. In that single moment, I think we understand each other better than we had ever done before. We're just two sad lonesome people that have made some horrible mistakes. He reaches out and takes my hand, placing something in it.

"Keep the change." There's his smile again, his sad lonely smile.

He walks away, briefly looking over his shoulder back at me. I lower my head to look away. It feels like I'm a little kid again. For the first time in ages, the instinct to not let others look at me crawls back out of the depths of my subconscious. I notice my hand is holding enough yen to cover twice my fare.

"Hisao!" I call out just loudly enough to make sure he hears me. He turns again there's a look on his face. Surprise? Hope? Longing? I can't quite tell what it is. I could break down right now i front of him, screaming and crying, telling him all the things that have been going through my mind every night since highschool and trying to find out what to do to make it all better. Instead I say, "Have a nice one."

"You too." He smiles at me. For the first time today, he actually seems happy. I smile back. For the first time in years, my smile isn't fake.

Then he disappears into the crowd.

and I never see him again.

[random]

;_;

[random]

"and I never see him again."



WHY, WHY MUST YOU ADD THIS SOUL CRUSHING LINE?

[ThoughtLock]

Wow, just wow. A chance meeting between two broken people who should be a bit happier to see each other that goes nowhere. This is really sad, but I thought the characterization was perfect, and Hanako acts exactly like I figured she would after being on her own for a while.

Good work man.

[Elcor]

Twice in one day...I'm gonna go break down now.

[Mahorfeus]

Ugh, another nicely-written, heartwrenching story. Well done.

Only one complaint, being that the final line feels like a needless kick to the balls, crushing any and all hope. I know it was probably intended, but man, that hurt.

[crushinator]

A great little one-shot. I enjoyed reading it.

[# 2]

*Blubber*

I wanted a happy ending.

Where is my happy ending?

Well written though, my hat's off to you.

[lolawesome]

Awesome piece, man

I wish I can be as good at one-shots as you

[Enemy |]

Jesus that was depressing.

[Oddball]

Ah. I still got it.

[TheSongofRaven]

Oh My God, another broken soul line : " and I never see him again. "
Anyway, nice writing. Hope i can write well like you

[Revvy]

Great one shot, very well written

[nemz]

Hisao's address wouldn't happen to be 16 Parkside Lane by any chance, would it?

[random]

Hisao's address wouldn't happen to be 16 Parkside Lane by any chance, would it?

Hanako is in purgatory, she committed suicide and her soul is stuck in limbo until she can make peace with her self hatred personified here as Hisao

As is, she is still trapped there ...