YiffyOne presents…

"Lucky 13" Prologue: "Curiosity Killed the Cat"

Amazing, how you can make a person hate you with a single word.

What little self-esteem I had evaporated, and I hated myself for what I did. I'd never been so depressed in my life.

I… I always said I'd lynch anyone who made her cry. Being a man of my word, I guess this meant I'd have to noose myself.

I shuddered at the very thought of doing it… I'd never considered it before… It was just so scary to me… death, I mean. I was the biggest coward I knew, so I figured no matter how much I wanted to die, or how everyone would be better off without me, I'd never be able to do it.

So there I was, sitting on that bench…

That hard, cold, still… just thoroughly unpleasant bench. I remembered how the couch in her house was so soft, and warm… I remembered how she was even warmer, so lovely and supple. I adored her, so I claimed. As far as I could see, that was bullshit. If I loved her, I wouldn't have broken my promise. I wouldn't have laid such a heavy burden on her.

…I couldn't offer to help her with it, for fear I'd screw it up even worse. I was almost positive that her step-dad would pulverize me when he found out. I didn't know if she would tell him or not, but it didn't matter. She couldn't hide it forever.

I got scared again. He had some serious connections, I doubt I could get away from him even if I moved to Antarctica. Call it a hunch, but something inside told me he'd wring my neck in due time.

…For my sake, I hoped I was wrong.

So here I was, nobody but myself to console me. Heck, even I was too smart for that… I knew I didn't deserve any such comfort, so I didn't offer myself any.

I had nothing to do but wallow in my own self-inferiority issue. No, scratch that, this was guilt. Pain, sorrow, any way you look at it, I was miserable. At the end of my rope, I had nothing to do but look back into the past… before I gave her that unwanted gift…

Oh? Curious, are you? You know, they say 'curiosity killed the cat'…

…Brr! It gives me the shivers, I tell you!

I hate that saying, but it's true. Maybe that's why I hate it… after all, it's something I can relate to, in a very, very ironic sense. So ironic, it goes beyond being funny, and teeters on the brink of scary.

Hmm? Ramble? Me?

…Really?

Ah, forgive my rudeness… My name is… Hmm.

Actually, I have two.

I'll start by giving you my birth name. I'm Joshua Alan Duncan… Josh for short.

Heh, I know, it's a tad generic, but that's what I was given. I don't go by that name anymore, though… Sometimes it's a wonder I don't forget it. It… It represents everything I used to be, before lady luck changed everything I knew, including myself.

Now, don't take that statement lightly. Lady luck, she's a fickle mistress. She can never decide if she wants to kick me or kiss me, it seems. Sometimes she's got me so dizzy and bleary-eyed, I can't tell if the luck she sends my way is good or bad.

At one point, I was convinced my luck was SO rotten, that the old lady was using reverse psychology on me. So, being the 'clever' chap I was, I decided to change it around on her, and I started surrounding myself with bad luck signs. My lucky number shifted from 7 to 13, I broke mirrors on a daily basis, and I decorated my room with open umbrellas.

…Now, one who knows the meaning of the word superstition might think I had a death wish, but I'll tell you one thing, around the time I started spilling salt on purpose, and tossing it over my right shoulder, life started getting exceedingly better. Coincidence? Maybe. The old lady has her ways of making it look so, even if it's not true. Even at this point, I'm not sure if the prospect of luck even exists.

Well, even though I had my doubts, I always thought that, if things can't hurt you, they can only help, right? Ok, so maybe it's not the best motto ever, but it was something I went by. I continued to spice my life up with 'bad' luck, and I'd say it was working, or at least seemed to be. I was too indecisive to really decide on whether I was a 'believer' or not, but I had my fun with it.

… Then it came back to bite me. No one likes to be fooled, right? Miss luck's plan to keep the little black rain clouds above my head backfired, and she wasn't too pleased. It might sound like a folly, but, judging from what happened next, I'd say I pissed her off, BAD.

Long story short, that's when my life as Josh D. was over. She did it, she killed me.

What? No, no! Not in a literal sense, you don't understand…

Hoo boy. Guess there's no such thing as a short version to my story. Not one that anybody'd bother to listen to, anyway… Alright then, I'll tell you the whole thing… I need to get it off my chest, anyway.

Hmm… Where to start? Ok…

I don't wanna confuse you (or myself) anymore, so I'll start from the very beginning, and work my way up to my present dilemma. Oh, and I'll forewarn you, I'm not going to spare any details… And this story does involve love, relationships, and, you guessed it, sex.

Well, you're not stupid, are you? You'd probably figured that initially, when I went on monologuing like an overly dramatic dork…

Ok, so we've made all the mental preparations… You sure you're ready to hear about this? It's kind of unbelievable… And I don't mean that word in the context of 'amazing'. No, I mean you're NOT going to believe some of the stuff I'm going to tell you. Seriously, I sparsely believe some of it myself. You still want to know? Man, you are curious…

Just to let you know, you'll be sitting here for a while. You sure you don't have something better to do?

Hmm?

Erh, yes, I'm sorry… I do have a tendency to drag things out. An old habit of mine…

Alright, then. Ahem.

It all started about a year ago…

End Prologue