HENRY AND ZOOEY (Kieran Doyle)

Henry bit into the apple. Without removing a piece to chew upon he removed his teeth and held the fruit at a distance, watching the mixture of juice and his own saliva running along the apples smooth curved surface.

Observing this, Henry was reminded of his friend Zooey. The last time he had seen her, her own saliva was mixed with something too. She was fourteen then. Henry was three months shy of it and it was a dull day. The kind of day when you know it won’t rain but that it won’t be sunny either.

She had been wearing an odd mixture of clothes that day, not knowing whether it was hot or warm or both she had opted for a combination of a light sweatshirt and basketball shorts. The heave duty steel-capped army issue boots she wore that day were a permanent fixture on her feet and weren’t chosen out of any consideration for the weather, it just happened that she liked them. The boots were cumbersome and oversized and they proved to be a disadvantage when running away from citizens who were overly concerned with whatever mischief the both of them were getting into at any given moment. Zooey always said that they added to the excitement of the chase. Henry couldn’t agree more.

They had both decided that it was a good idea to wreak some havoc in the local community; under the almost-darkness of the overcast sky they would be almost invisible. It was decided between them that they would alter road signs for comedic effect, something which they had been planning to do for quite some time. They raided their own houses for supplies. Henry found a hammer and a nail gun. He brought an apple with him too, grey days always made him hungry. Zooey trumped these finds with a can of luminous pink spray paint. Henry suspected that she had set aside the paint for exactly this but he didn’t say it to her, he had too much respect for her.

It was hard work, coming up with clever ways with which to alter the signs along the only stretch of road that ran through their town. Henry managed to turn a ‘Form One Lane’ sign into ‘Form One Planet’ which he was very happy with. Zooey, feeling a strong feminist buzz changed ‘Men At Work’ to ‘Women At Work’. After a joint effort of changing ‘Disc Zone’ into ‘Disco Zone’ the two took a break, sitting on a wall by the side of the road.

Henry took out his apple and held it, contemplating its existence against his own. ‘This apple’ he thought ‘will be eaten by me and when I die I will be eaten by worms…worms live in apples’. He had no idea where he was going with this thought but knowing that he was undisputedly linked with and just as finite as the apple reassured him that eating it wouldn’t be a bad thing to do.

Zooey, who had staring at the road while Henry contemplated the meaning of existence, jumped suddenly to her feet and said ‘I’ve got it, I’m going to put ‘’eating animals’’ below that stop sign on the road’. Henry smiled,’ I saw you eating lamb last Tuesday, you’re not a vegetarian’. Zooey, with faux offence said ‘I’ve always been a vegetarian…that was tofu lamb. Anyway it doesn’t matter, keep an eye on the road while a go and create my masterpiece’. Henry had decided that he would eat the apple immediately, ‘Will do, have fun’ he said.

Zooey walked out onto the road, can of paint in hand and feeling good about the message she was about to send the world. Sh reached her destination and steadied herself with her free arm. She took aim with the can. She started, moving slowly and deliberately, this would have to be perfect if anyone was to take is seriously.

Henry was looking at his apple again. He was finding it hard to recapture the thoughts he had had moments ago so he gave up. Putting the apple up to his mouth he bit into it. Immediately, the sweet juice flowed into his mouth, setting his taste buds into overdrive, creating an instant party in his mouth. He knew that this would be a good apple. Extracting the chunk with his teeth and biting into it he felt that sharp burst of pleasure that he felt with every good apple. He closed his eyes to focus more on the crunch, he bit again and the pleasure spread throughout his nervous system. Henry was quite sure that this was the best apple he had ever had. He needed to tell Zooey.

He opened his eyes. He couldn’t see her. There was a car on the road. It wasn’t moving. Zooey was meant to be where the car was. Instead there was a car. Henry couldn’t understand. Where the hell is Zooey? He walked over to the car, hoping to ask the driver. The driver didn’t look friendly, the driver’s eyes were open and they were staring straight ahead at nothing. Henry noticed that blood was beginning to come out from under the car. He dropped to his knees and looked under it.

He had found Zooey. Her entire body was under the car, condensed into a senseless combination of blood and bone. Her face was visible. Henry stared at it, only one of her eyes was open, the other one had been smashed, much like the rest of her face, off the ground by the force of the car. The functioning eye anchored itself of the sight of Henry. Henry didn’t know what to do, he noticed that one of Zooey’s arms was free, he grabbed her hand and stared into her eyes. She stared back and tried to speak. Instead of words a there was harsh gurgle followed by a mixture of saliva and blood. She tried again and this time managed to say something. Henry would probably have heard it if he was any closer to her. Henry didn’t know what else to do; he noticed the bitten apple in his hand and offered it to his friend. She smiled, a steady stream of tears began to flow from her functioning eye. Henry dropped the apple, letting its juice, his saliva, her blood and her saliva mix on the tarmac. He didn’t know what else to do so he stared at her and held her hand. He held her hand after it had gone limp, he had held her hand after it had gone cold; he continued to stare at her. He didn’t know what else to do.

And so, eleven years after, Henry took a bite out of another apple and watched as the mixture of juice and his own saliva rolled towards the southern pole of the fruit.

When it had gained enough mass the droplet fell to the floor and with it Henry’s first tear for Zooey.

Grief overcame him and he broke down in tears.

Because he didn’t know what else to do.