Sleepless Mind

Courtney Knott

Ms.Wilson-Scott

        It was a foggy day in Wincook, Bannington where the sun and moon greeted at the same time. The smoke from the streets covered the ground and the odors from Ms. Connie’s Bakery filled the air. The lady in the candy shop always put out a new sign and the man who worked in the bakery always took the trash out at 8:14 am. For Jack Krusto, this wasn’t going to be his ordinary day but more of a day that would lead to more days that he’d try to forget. Jack was a determined man that wouldn't let anything get in the way of his goals.  Jack wakes up waiting for a new idea to spark his mind to draw. He was a man with a dream that would one day come true... or so he thought.

           “Look’s nice doesn’t it?” Says Mr. Wilson

            “Yea…yea I like it,” says Jack,

            “Well…what are you waiting for take this to the others and get it made.”              Jack takes the cartoon into Studio 8. While walking into studio 8 he takes a glance at Mr. Wilson’s cartoon knowing his drawings were better but who was going to listen to the guy who cleans toilets and does inventory work for a living. Being 30 with a dream and cleaning toilets wasn’t going to get him far. That day he went home early. The house smelled of old wood that has been sitting outside in the rain for days. Jack opens the door and the light from the chandelier blinded his sight. Irritated Jack looks for his pen,

         “Son!” called Jack.

        “Yes Father,” said Zacharias

         “Can you hand me my pen”

        “Sure.”

        “Don’t you speak to me in that tone.”

        “What are you talking about what tone?”

       “Don’t you talk back to me okay? Do you understand me?”

      “Yes Sir.”

       His wife Rose enters the room from the stairs, confused on the brief conversation that has taken place. She turns to Jack,

     “You know you don’t have to be so hard on the boy.”

     “Look! I don’t need you bothering me right now with nonsense.”

     “Honey, believe me, I understand you had a tough day but don’t take your anger out on him it’s only going to effect him later on in life and perhaps maybe you can spend some father son time with him…”

    “I don’t need to.”

       Disgusted by his father’s attitude Zacharias runs up to his room and slams the door. Zach was so much like his father, he had a passion for drawing and wanted to share that world his father wanted to live, he just couldn't tell him.  A thump on the window.

          “What's that?!” Startled by the sound Zacharias crawled from the floor and peeped out the window. He opens the window to find a cat curled up by the window seal. The cat's hair was a dark chocolate brown with blue/green eyes. What was more frightening to Zach was that Zach too had dark chocolate brown hair with blue/green eyes, almost as if he were looking at a reflection of himself in the cat. He stares at the cat for thirty seconds,

      “Hey! Come Here!” Whispered Zach,

He reaches his hand toward the cat and the cat scurries off into the shadows of the night. Zach crawls back into his room and climbs into bed. He hated the thought that he was just like his father and wanted to be like his father. He reaches over to take a glance at their family portrait before he closes his eyes and fell asleep.

    The next day Jack passes by the bakery and the lady at the candy shop at 8:14-am as he enters work at Cavalier Studios. With his cartoon in hand ready to set them down, he picks up the duster suddenly he thought, I can't live like this anymore I know I have what it takes. With that in mind, he puts down the duster and walks out the inventory room and heads to the executive producer’s office. He knocks. The door opens and Jack starts to speak.

     “Hi, I’m Jack Krusto…I work in inventory, I was wondering if I can just have five minutes of your time?” Nerves shoot from his hands down to his toes and the sweat starts trickling down his right ear.

     “Sure. I’m sure a hard working man such as you has something to say worthy of my time,” says the executive producer, Phillip Vancross.

     “I have this huge dream and I was wondering if you would take a look at my drawings.” A thump on the window. Phillip and Jack both glance quickly to find a cat sitting at the window.

     “Because I am feeling great today show me what you have.” Phillip takes two minutes and fifteen seconds viewing the cartoons. Phillip looks at Jack and almost immediately Phillip says,

 “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

     “Is it good?”

    “No,” he paused for thirty seconds, “It’s not good…it’s brilliant!”

     Jack instantly had tears streaming down his face and starts kissing the ground thanking God.

    “---Look this is amazing and I’d be shooting myself in the foot if I didn’t offer you a job here using one of your cartoons.”

    “But you haven’t even read the whole thing…how do you know?”

    “Jack, what you fail to understand is that I watch and see everything that goes on in my studio. I have been watching you for the past five years waiting for you to walk into my office.”

     From that day on Jack Krusto published five cartoons with in six years. Within those six years he’s produced two animated films landing major awards. Jack Krusto became a household name and was named one of the greatest artists of his time. At home things changed also, though their financial status was better but the Krusto's as a family grew further apart.

 The night grew dim and hollow waiting for the sunlight to open the sky. Jack turns out of his bed and to turn on the light. Sitting up on his bed he then takes his tablet and begins to jot down new ideas for his next cartoon.

   “Will you turn that out!” Said Rose.

   “No! I’m trying to work.”

   “You know… maybe this isn’t working.”

   “What.”

   “This…this marriage isn’t working. We want two different things in life and I would only be a burden on your dream because you’re too self-centered to think about your family.”

   “Don’t say that to me Rose. You know what time this requires and I don’t think you are being too understandable. I can’t believe you are asking for a divorce.”

   “I’m just saying that this would never work.” Tears began to stream down Rose’s face as she struggled to look at Jack in the face.

   “After all I’ve done! After all I went through, you do this to me!?”

   “That’s it ‘I’ is all I ever hear come out of your mouth. Do you think about us? Our son?”

   “Of course this is all for you I’m doing this for you!”

   “---No! No you’re not. You’re doing this for yourself!” Jack follows Rose as she storms out the room and slams the door. As she reaches the end of the stairs she sits and cries. Jack puts his hand gently on her shoulder,

   “Don’t you touch me.”

  “You’re right. You’ve been right this entire time. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have neglected my family like I have been and I’m sorry. Why don’t we go for a drive…to clear our heads…just you me and Zach?”

    “No.”

   “Honey I’m trying to make this work!”

   “Maybe I don’t want it to work maybe I want all of this to end! You know I get a feeling that you only want to make this work only to protect you image. Image or no image I’m walking out. I can’t do this anymore.”

     That night Jack sleeps on the living room sofa and rocks himself to sleep. Meanwhile his son was sitting on the floor in his room with his ear pressed against the door hearing the entire conversation whispering to himself,

    “My father never loved me.” Zach drags himself to his bed laying there with his eyes wide open the entire night.

      Sunday Jack thought it would be a good time to go for a drive with the family. He comes down the stairs smiling because he was certain that this was the day he was going to prove to his family that he is willing to change.

   “Hey Rose…Son, um so how was your morning so far?”

   “So far, it’s been fine.” Responded Zach.

   “I think we should go for a ride somewhere…spend some family time together.”

    Later that day around 7:34pm they all entered the car. Silence filled every amount of space left in the car, the silence of confusion, sorrow, anger, regret, and despair.

   “So, where are we going?” asked Zach.

   “I don’t know, but wherever you want to go just say the word.”

   “Is this an act?” asked Rose.

   “No, I really want to try to work things out.”

“You never tried before, why try now.’

 “It’s never too late to recognize and change.”

 “It’s just that you’ve hurt me in such a way that it cuts too deep to just start over. You have to realize that it’s not just me you effecting but its Zach also.”

“I know and I’m sorry.”

“Dad, you say that but I’m not sure if I can believe you either.”

:”OH NO!” screams Jack as he sees a cat run out in the middle of the freeway. The car swerves back and forth while Jack tries desperately to get the car in control. The car starts spinning off the freeway hitting a tree on the passenger side. The airbags fly out suffocating Jack. The car was bent inward like reaching over and touching you feet only to find that you can’t reach them. Ten minutes pass by and Jack’s eyelids slowly start to open. He wakes up in shock screaming,

“HONEY!! ZACH!! ANSWER ME!!” he searches for them in the car with tears flying down his face. His wife was curled up on the floor of the car.

“Rose! Speak to me, say something please.” He turns his wife over only to find her face shattered by the impact of the car laying face down in a puddle of blood. He shakes her vigorously over and over again and still there is no response.

“Oh my God! What have I done? Son? Where are you!” Jack tries to climb over the front seat ignoring the excruciating pain in his body. He finds his son’s body pinned by the side of the car that caved in from the tree with blood slipping out the corners of his mouth.

“Zach get up! Get up! Don’t die on me. No, no, this isn’t real!” Jack Struggles to get out the car. When he gets out the car he starts screaming at the top of his lungs, “HELP PLEASE HELP SOMEONE CALL 911 PLEASE HELP!!!” but no one could hear his screams. No one could hear the strain coming from his vocal chords. He breaks down on both knees and digs his hand into the wet gravel pounding the ground begging God for help.

     The cat slowly walks by Jack. Jack looks up at the cat and stares into it's eyes. Familiar eyes,"Who are you?" he leans towards the cat and notices something strange. The cat had chocolate brown hair and blue/green eyes just like his son. The cat slowly walks around him pacing every movement absorbing every gaze Jack gave the cat. About thirty minutes later and ambulance shows up towing the car away. With rain pouring down from the sky the cat looks at Jack again and walks off into the distance. The fog covered the ground that  the night grew black waiting for the return of the cat.