| Schadenfreude
Posted: 5/14/2008 1:05:23 PM | Sam found an email from his exwife, Julie, waiting for him. It read:
The car brokedown and I need some money to get it fixed. Can you help me??? I will pay you back as soon as I can. Thanx!!!!
Sam scratched at a mild itch on the back of his neck, right where the barber nicked him during his last hair cut. It was more of a burn, actually, from the clippers being pressed to hard against the skin, and was almost healed up
Sam and Julie had been divorced for only seven months and Julie still felt that she had every right to come to him with her problems, particularly financial ones. The fellow she was dating now was currently (and chronically, it seemed) unemployed, so he could be of no help. Sam didn't want to "loan" her anymore money, but he still had sympathy for her and knew that, without her car, she would have no way to get to work and would likely lose the house that Sam had agreed to let her keep, as well as other misfortunes.
Part of Sam delighted in the notion of Julie's misfortunes as he was still hurt by the end of their relationship. Almost seven years of marriage, only the first three or four being pleasant. They never had children and, in the end, simply ran out of things to talk about.
Sam reminded himself he had no reason to be bitter. He had wanted the divorce as much as she had. In the end, it seemed all they were doing was paying bills and sharing a house. There was no joy, no intimacy, no love left in their relationship. It had become stale and neither of them could find a reason to stay together.
So that was that.
Sam decided he would call her later, and would loan her the money she needed, but for now, she could wait. It occured to him that she had to wonder when it would be that Sam would finally say "no" to her and, having to wait for his response, might make her wonder if today was that day.
Somewhere in the office, someone had a radio on and Sam could hear bits and pieces of a radio talk show where they were discussing the current fire ant problem the state was having.
Seems the population of fire ants had grown well beyond predicted numbers and was estamated to be five times the norm for this time of year. Also, they had become very aggressive, more so than usual. The ants would leave their nests and travel out long distances getting into homes and vehicles.
It seemed the fire ants were even responsible for two deaths thus far: Both of the deaths due to a fire caused when fire ants got into the electrical system of a mobile home in Albany.
Sam leaned back in his chair for a moment and fantasized about large ants marching down the street, turning over cars, breaking into homes and ransacking them. The ants in Sam's mind were the size of men, and walked upright, with steady determination and ruthlessness.
The Ants were unmerciful and seemed to take joy in terrorizing the human populace, killing, injuring, wounding, destroying all in their path. In one instance, a particularly hateful little boy was held down by some of these giant ants and burned to death as another ant focused the light on the sun on him through a giant magnifying glass.
Sam envisioned the Ants tearing at the foundations of his workplace, seeking to bring all five stories down to them instead of going up to inflict pain and torture on the inhabitants of the building...
Sam was brought out of his revilery by the shrill voice of Gloria, the office manager, informing the radio listener that his radio was too loud and that he needed to listen to it with headphones or turn it off completely. Sam glanced over to see Gloria, satisfied with enforcing order in her surroundings, waddling away, gigantic buttchecks causing the material of her cheap polyester pants to strain to the limit.
Deciding it best to look busy some more before taking lunch, Sam allowed himself to wonder how many real fire ants it would take to consume Gloria and how long it would take them. | |
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