Why is ‘ocean breeze’ such a popular candle scent? Have the creators ever been to the ocean? It smells nothing like those fake blue blobs of wax. Nothing clean about it. I’m staring at the steely blue water now. I smell seaweed baking in the noon sun, flies buzzing around my ankles. If I walked further down the beach, I’d smell a bloated, rotting seagull. It’s been there for a couple of days. Probably died from swallowing too many yogurt lids. I’m walking in the wet sand, barefoot. Just close enough that when the waves rush in they tickle my toes. I’m squinting because I forgot my sunglasses, and thinking about synthetic ocean candle smells when it hits me. No, like, literally hits me. I look around, disoriented, and see a volleyball floating in the foamy surf. Some asshat in board shorts trots over to grab it. He looks at me as he picks it up, shrugs, and saunters back over to his buddies. Damn tourists. I bet the girl he’s sleeping with has an ‘ocean breeze’ candle on her nightstand. I wonder if that keeps her warm at night.

That’s it. I’ve had it. I’m leaving. Sarah doesn’t appreciate anything I do for her. I’m there for her all the time. I’ve made sure I’m always available. I listen to her problems. I cuddle her when she’s down. I’m always by her side. Sometimes it seems like she might love me the way I love her. A few times a day she seeks me out. But she never holds me when I need to be held. I cry and cry for her attention and get nothing. Oh, and her cooking sucks. I just don’t know if I can do it, you know? Actually leave her? She’s all I’ve known for so long. Yet I know there’s something better out there for me. Some big adventure to go on without her holding me back. Something big would happen for me if I just walked out that door. I’m going to do it! Today’s the day! As soon as she walks through that door, I’m going to walk out of it. Let her know what she’ll be missing out on. I hear her footsteps on the porch. I walk towards the door, hear her key in the lock. Just as she steps inside, I yell, “I’m leaving! I’ve had enough!”
I walk through the door. I hear her behind me, “Mack! Get back inside? Where are you going? You stupid cat.” She picks me up. Pours me a bowl of food. I’m purring now. Maybe my life with Sarah isn’t so bad.

“I think I just met the happiest person in the world!” I said, annoyed, to my cat Sebastian. He stared back at me with an irritated look that I believe matched my own, and waited for the rest of the story. “I mean, good for him or whatever. He was just so nice. Too nice. To me. And there wasn’t any reason for it.” At this point I’ve started pacing. Getting more and more annoyed that I was annoyed by someone who was nice to me. Isn’t that ridiculous? I know it’s ridiculous, so I’m getting more frustrated with myself for being upset about someone being nice to me. “I just wish I was that happy too.” I said to Sebastian, who now wasn’t even looking at me. I could feel tears pricking behind my eyes. Sebastian walked away, our conversation clearly no longer holding his interest. He had a dead bug in the kitchen to bat around that was much more important than my crisis. I sat down on my bed, took a deep breath and swallowed. The tears threatening to break slowly subsided as I started to relax. The thing was, I used to be that happy. And I wanted that back. But feeling depressed is addictive, and it made me angry with anyone who dared be happy in my presence.

The red shot composed of Beast goo and shards of metal shot towards me and my commander Kurd. As the air around me started to vibrate, I jumped out of the way just in time. The earth shook as I looked over at my leader and friend. He hasn’t been quite as lucky. His face was pale and drawn and his fingers shook as he reached down to where, seconds ago, his legs were attached. Now covered in mud made of dust, red shot, and his own blood, he looked to me and mouthed two words. Do it. Horror gripped me as I realized what he was talking about. The fight against the Beasts could be won only one way. They were so genetically mutated and so far from human, that the only thing that could kill them was the fresh heart of a human combined with the blast from our laser rifles. We had started retrofitting our rifles with a chamber that a human heart would fit in and be absorbed into the beam of our laser gun. The problem was, to be effective, the heart can only have been dead for 7 minutes. Which brings us to the question; do we kill our own people to stop the Beasts? Or do we wait for them to kill us first? A quick look into Kurd’s pained eyes showed me that we’re both knew what had to be done. He knew it, and I knew it, that he wasn’t going to make it with injuries that severe. I try to think of what we’re about to gain by what I’m about to do to my dying friend. I try to rationalize that he’s dying anyway. As I walk over to him, I think of all the people I’m about to save. By killing him myself.