A Gray Fate
Louis Don Gray hummed a tune from the band The Pixies, as he walked down the long desert highway. He had his left thumb out pointing to the yellow median in the middle of the road. A blue Volkswagen ignored the silent bait and sped past Gray. A few minutes later two more cars did the same as the Volkswagen and left Gray humming on the side of the road. Growing tired, Louis sat down on a large rock to rest. While resting, his mind drifted to the people that passed him. They probably felt a slight feeling of guilt for not picking him up. He smiled at the thought of his would be victims feeling remorseful for escaping a rather Gray fate. Louis Don Gray was a psychotic hitchhiker.
It would be a great understatement to say Louis Don Gray was a delusional psychopath. At age10, his parents were found dead at a scene of a car accident along with a dead deer. They were on their way to pick Louis up from his Grandma's house. A deer jumped in front of their car causing his father to swerve off the road and hit a tree. The father died from the impact of the crash. His mother was found to have died from thirty-six stab wounds ( from the father two hours before the crash). Raised by a sadistically twisted and mentally unstable, father made Louis a little strange before the accident. Being raised through young adulthood by the psychotic father's mother made him downright kooky. She was a strong believer in fate and destiny, therefore accidents never happened and nobody died without reason. The young depressed Louis of course believed the same.One might even say that fate was their dogma. While growing up Louis never had friends. His interests were in death ,murder, and death. He studied serial killers like An artist studies old paintings. After graduating high school he decided to become what he studied the most and knew a lot about: a serial killer. He loved the notion of fate. He let it decide who would be his victim. The way he did this was by standing on the side of the road with his thumb out. The good Samaritans always stop, and he always slashed and dashed. Like fate Louis had no empathy, nor Did he care what life he took.
A green lizard crawled past Louis but was quickly skewered by his sharp knife. He got off the rock he was perched on and retrieved his weapon. A white Ford F-250 outlined the horizon. A quiet tingle rippled down Louis's spine. As the white truck approached, he could feel fate doing its crafty work. The truck slowed to a halt in front of him. A middle aged man in the drivers seat rolled down the window and said in a heavy voice, "Hello sir, looks like you need assistance." Louis quickly analyzed the inside of the cab. A six year old boy sat in the passenger seat and stared blankly at the crucifix hanging on the rear view mirror..Louis smiled and said "Thank the good Lord you found me. I've been robbed by some hitchhikers. They took my car and left me here to die." "Well hop in. I'll drive you to the next town. Move to the back Gabe, so Mr. umm?" "Mr.Gray" Louis replied as he got into the twin cabs passenger seat.The man started driving once louise was comfortable and replied. 'Well Mr.Gray, I'm Alex Fatum and that's my son, Gabe. We're going to visit some some family in the desert. Kind of like a reunion, you know?' Louis shook his head in agreement and in annoyance. Mr. Fatum took this as understanding and began talking again. Louis's mind left Fatum's one sided conversation and wandered to the knife he held in his hoodie pocket. His fingers caressed and rubbed the sharp blade. The tinglings in his spine had now entered his hands.It was almost time. Mr.Fatum brought him back to the present by asking, "would you please join us in a prayer Louis was taken aback by this question. He must have missed something while daydreaming about the crime he was about to commit. "Umm, sure" he stammered. The joyous father looked in the back behind louis at his son."Alright, Gabe remember to close your eyes." "Why do I have to close my eyes? You're eyes aren't closed when we pray", Gabe replied. "That's because I'm driving. Everyone knows that the right way to pray is with their eyes closed." This was news to louis but he bowed his head and closed his eyes. Mr. Fatum began praying. "Dear Lord", Louis zoned out again and started getting pumped for the bloodbath about to occur after the long, boring prayer."We have grown thirsty and you gave us water. We grow hungry and you provide food." Louis pulse quickened and his palms became sweaty with anticipation. The feeling of cold steel against his throat threw him back to reality. He quickly opened his eyes to see Mr. Fatum holding a sharp 12-inch dagger. Before Louis could lift up his head, Fatum had sliced a deep gash in his throat. He quickly replaced the knife with a towel and kept praying. "Lord you have given us this bountiful feast and we are forever thankful. Amen" Louis's conscious slowly faded out as he heard Gabe behind him in a song sing voice say "Amen."
