Centerpiece

The thunder crashed outside and shook the windows of the now dark house. Only a single light was on, an old fashioned desk lamp that looked like it belonged in a flim noir movie. It was the centerpiece to his desk. It made it all look so sophisticated and daring. Almost intelligent. But he wouldn't push his luck that far.1

The thunder shook the house again and now the rain began to pour. He stood at the sliding glass door and looked out into the pool. The lights in the water shimmered beneath it's icy cool surface and were all at once beautiful. Mesmerizing almost. He stood at the door staring into the water for what seemed like an enternity but was really only a few minutes. 2

Lightning struck down now and awoke him from his trance. He dropped the glass of brandy in his hand and watched almost in slow motion as it broke on the tile floor and shattered into a thousand pieces. He titled his head at it and laughed. 3

"No use in cleaning it up."4

He stepped away from the door as to not be electrocuted by the glass. He turned around and went back to his desk and sat down. The thunder crashed from far away and shook the frame of the house itself. 5

He picked up the other glass that was on the table and poured more brandy into it and raised it high up.6

"Liquid courage! The drink of champions!"7

He laughed in his druken stupor and drank from the glass generously.8

The thunder crashed again, louder than ever before now and the power went off. Still he laughed in the darkness. 9

The sound of the desk drawer being pulled open filled the room. 10

Shuffling from the distance.11

A click.12

He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote:13

"To my many friends, see you in hell!" 14

He leaned back and laughed at the note, the room still shourded in darkness. 15

He leaned foward and the clicking sound came again from somewhere. The lights came back on and it was as if God himself commanded it. He looked out the desk window and saw his reflection and wept.16

"For all the things that I have done, let this be my redeemer"17

He pulled the trigger.18

A thunderous crash of lighting came down at the same time the gun went off. No one ever heard it.19

He fell back in his chair and onto the floor, his body falling to the side and his head hitting the desk with a loud thud. A snap filled the room. His neck had broken.20

The desk lamp rocked from the vibrations of the desk and crashed onto the floor, it too shattered into a thousand pieces. All the lights went out in his house. His body lie surrounded in darkness. His centerpiece had been broken.21