029 - behaving now

Dressed only in his boxers, Tom strolled casually from his bedroom to the bathroom. He gently closed the door behind him and then let the boxers slip to the floor. He was alone in his little duplex anyway, but he still bothered with things like not getting naked until he was in the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Tom didn't lock the bathroom door, though. That would be silly. He slid the glass shower door open and stepped inside. Turning the faucets brought the room to life with the sound of rushing water, and a moment later he pulled the little knob that sent the water rushing up and out the shower head. His body shivered a bit as it was pelted with water that was a little too cold, but within moments it adjusted to a comfortable temperature.

The room was beginning to fill with steam and Tom began to go through his daily bathing routines. He didn't even think about what he was doing, instead his mind wandered to various other matters--what he might eat for dinner, that presentation next week that he still hadn't prepared for, and why that girl had never sent him a text message back.

In the background, he heard the siren of an ambulance. Living near a busy road, hearing such a noise in the distance wasn't all that uncommon, although he did still take note of it. Briefly, this ambulance overrode those other thoughts that had occupied his mind. He wondered what had happened, if it had been a car accident, and perhaps how close it might have been to his house. He said a quick prayer that, regardless of what had transpired, everyone was okay.

It was something his grandma had told him to do at a very young age whenever he heard the sirens blare, and it stuck with him.

That would have been the end of it. Thoughts of other things began to creep back into his head as he resumed washing under his arms, but then he realized the sound of the siren persisted. It was getting louder, in fact. Much louder. The acoustic qualities of the bathroom and shower weren't the best for calculating distances, but it sounded like the ambulance was essentially right outside.

For a moment, it was just him, the shower, and the ambulance siren.

Then, without warning, the bathroom door was violently kicked in. Stunned, Tom looked toward the door and saw several paramedics standing in the destroyed door frame, all of them armed with silenced pistols. The shocked expression on his face was the one he would wear to the grave, as quickly thereafter the paramedics unloaded their magazines into him.

His body slumped down into the pool of soapy, bloody water. Shattered glass was everywhere. The paramedics stepped further into the room with smug expressions on their face. One turned and smiled to the others. "Looks like we've got another one, boys."