Lost Springs

Hello, this is to all of you that somehow stumbled upon my story. Please do what you can to force yourself to sit through this tale, because this is quite the story.

My name is Paul Garrison, I'm 46 years old. I currently live in Bay City, Michigan. I'm here to tell you about the happenings at Lost Springs, Wyoming. You more than likely have never heard of this town, which is reasonable. Because it is currently the smallest town in the United States, and it obtains the smallest population in America. Which I believe is one person. Until I left, the population consisted of five people.

Five people, including myself. There was Mason Garrison, my brother. Leda Price, the mayor. Devin Radley, the man that owned the town market. Marley Rose, Devin's wife. And then there was me. We were all well acquainted with each other. A strong bond. There was no hostility between us whatsoever.

Oh, by the way, I left Lost Springs about a decade ago, I'll get into details soon enough.

Leda was a fucking weird woman. She would wander the streets endlessly and sing, kick any small stones that she laid her eyes on, all of that jazz. I would usually ask her if she wanted to come in for dinner, but she would always decline. She would then giggle, then walk around my front lawn for several minutes. She did this every day. To every one's lawn.

She would gather everyone around this shed for "town meetings" I guess you could call them. She would always talk about how the farming went and ask us about how our homes are doing and how WE'RE doing and what not, and then she would just ramble on about how she aspires to see the population of Lost Springs soar. She was superfluously passionate about that subject, and I always found that odd.

Leda was also very seductive, Mason saw this as an opportunity. After town meetings Leda and Mason would always wander to the side of the shed and just talk, have a couple laughs. Leda would eventually put her hand on his arm when they were laughing to add a bit of flirtatious effect.

I remember there were times when Mason would just talk to me about Leda. Asking me what I thought of her. He even asked me one time, "Would you fuck Leda?" I found this hysterical and I just shrugged while letting out a slight chuckle.

In a small town like Lost Springs, there really isn't that many choices for recreational activity. But we did have alcohol, and we all had a couple of "those" nights. We had a lot of good times. We would all gather up in someones house, have a couple drinks, and just laugh the night away.

But just like every town meeting, whenever we would all get a bit tipsy and laugh, Leda would always just sit in the kitchen. She would sometimes shed a couple tears. We would all group up around her and ask her what was wrong, and she would just reply with,

"I just want this town to soar." or "I don't want us to be lonely anymore."

She was so passionate about having an escalating population, but we all knew there was more to Lost Springs than the number of people. The time I had at Lost Springs, I would never take back. I had a blast. Its silence was so serene, and it was just nice to be surrounded by people that you knew you could always get along with. THAT'S what made Lost Springs what it is. Or, what it WAS, that is.

One night, Leda was heard singing. She was intoxicated. She was shouting garbled lyrics of Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. I remember. I felt the pain in her voice. She was so hurt that night. Mason and I took her in, giving her water and a blanket. We then talked with her for hours until she eventually decided to hit the hay, we insisted that she stay the night in our guest room that we never use. We weren't going to let her wander off in the night again.

That night, she shook me awake. The time she went to bed was at about three in the morning, she woke me up at five in the morning. She was completely sober, or at least, that's what she seemed like. She got on top of me while "shushing" me. She glided her hands on my cheek, and set her hand on my groin.

"Help me." She says.

I remember attempting to get her off of me, she wouldn't budge, she would just grab my face and make me look her in the eyes.

"Let's make this town soar. Come on."

We had sex that night. We had sex that night and didn't talk about it ever again. Three months later, at the town meeting, she announced that she was pregnant.

This is when Lost Springs lost its damn mind.

Everyone began to cancel out the suspects, Devin denied everything when he was called out. Marley was outraged at him, which I found kind of humorous at the time. Everyone eventually found out that I was the father. I remember glancing at Mason, and he had the craziest fucking look in his eyes. He was so pissed off. I'm guessing it was because he wanted to have sex with Leda, now that I look back at it, I guess it was kind of a class A dick thing to do to your own brother.

That day at the town meeting, Leda shed a single tear while grinning from ear to ear. Everyone was silent and in awe. The only thing Leda said was,

"Every one will remember Lost Springs."

Hostility was evident. Everyone was grouchy, especially Mason. Marley and Devin would argue constantly, there's even been times where Mason would burst into their house and break it up because Devin would occasionally hit Marley. Lost Springs was losing its touch, and I wasn't happy anymore. No one was happy. Except for Leda.

Leda would wander the streets, rubbing her belly, walking into my house uninvited from time to time. She would hold on to me like any other girlfriend or wife would do to her partner, but I had no interest in her. I wasn't infatuated like she was.

Before I get into the insanity of everything, I would like to discuss one night. She was seven months pregnant at the time. I had to explain to her that I wasn't in love with her, but I would help her take care of the child. She didn't like that.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about? That night, you just took advantage of me? Is that it?"

I denied her statement instantly, and I just told her that I was confused at the time.

"If you don't love me, then you don't love this child. HOW IS THIS TOWN SUPPOSED TO GROW IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME?"

She was sobbing.

"WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?"

This is where things got terrifying. She grabbed a kitchen knife and began to slide it across her stomach. Threatening that she would ram it into her stomach if I didn't tell her I loved her.

"TELL ME YOU LOVE ME. NOW. I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THIS BABY IF YOU DON'T TELL ME YOU LOVE ME."

Mason ran into the kitchen. He was stunned. I held my arm in front of him to prevent him from moving any further. I tried my best to get her to put the knife down so we could talk, but she just kept screaming at me. She wouldn't stop screaming.

I told her I loved her. I had to. She dropped the knife and she fell into my arms, we both collapsed to the kitchen floor. She was sobbing. I was scared.

Now, this is where Lost Springs crumbled.

Her water broke. She was ready. We all set her on the bed and she gave birth. The baby was beautiful. I let Leda hold her, but Leda suddenly gave a look of disappointment.

"Oh. She- she's beautiful."

Tears began to stream down her face. She never smiled. We were all happy, we were all to caught up in each other to notice Leda's pain. Her pain that she would eventually expose to the town of Lost Springs. Her pain that this town will never forget.

Two nights later. She sits on the couch. Staring at the baby. She didn't take her eyes off of that baby. I walk up to her and sit down next to her, I remember asking her,

"Well, pretty exciting eh?"

She slowly turned to me and said,

"She's hideous."

My heart dropped. You know that feeling when you discover something so tragic that the inside of your stomach just erupts? That's what I felt.

I gave her a suprised look and asked her what was wrong.

"She's fucking disgusting. She will never make me proud."

I began to rest my hand on her shoulder, she slapped it away.

"She's fucking disgusting."

The baby began to cry. She picked it up, and walked out the front door. I began to slowly walk behind her. Telling her to come back inside. Telling her to calm down. She would not stop walking. I remember hearing her grumble to herself. Talking to herself. Talking to the baby.

"Who will want you? How will you breed? No one will ever want you. This town will grow."

She walked up to everyone's porch and began pounding on the doors.

"TOWN MEETING EVERYONE! TOWN MEETING! EVERYONE TO THE SHED. NOW!"

Everyone gathered and took their seats. She was holding the baby, Leda's face was red. I remember calling out to her.

"Leda-"

"Shut the fuck up and sit down this is a town meeting. You WILL listen to me."

I slowly took my seat.

"NOW. This is Cynthia. She is number six."

Marley called out to her,

"Leda. What is this about? Calm down."

"Shut up you cunt, I'm talking. This is a town meeting. I have something to say."

Marley wiped her eyes and payed close attention to her.

"THIS is Cynthia. She is number six. She is my daughter. She is Paul's daughter."

She paused and looked at me, then giggled.

"I wanted this town to grow. I wanted to see this town soar. She was the key, I knew she was. She was going to be the most beautiful creature anyone has ever laid eyes on. She will never make me proud."

She slowly began to loose her grip on the baby, repositioning it. It was sobbing. She began to dangle it from its feet.

"This is Cynthia. She is number six."

She whipped the baby at the shed. Swinging and whacking its form at the wall of the shed with full force. Its blood curdling cries and screams. I heard her skull crack. I was in shock. Everyone jumped out of their seats, everyone charged at Leda. She began swinging the baby at the ground. Flinging its limp body onto the ground. It was no longer making sound.

I ran to my car. And drove away. I said goodbye to nobody. I don't know what happened to Marley, or Devin, or Mason.

I do know that Leda is still alive. She still runs Lost Springs.

Thank you all. I'm going to have a cup of coffee then hit the hay.