Arthur edged a dirty grey curtain back, just enough to see down the front garden path. Still no sign of his friend for the last thirteen years, the very friend that always listened when Arthur needed to sound off. Today was another of those days, much like any other day.

Arthur sighed as he released the curtain.
"He'll be here soon," he thought, as he began to slowly pace the living room of his two bedroom home.
It was a simple house. Some would say too simple. Not that Arthur would ever hear them. No one ever spoke to him, or came around. He liked it that way. Arthur had lived there since the end of the war. Now a frail man in his early seventies, the home reflected his state of mind......sparse.

The living room was empty save for old newspaper pages scattered randomly across the floor. This was as close to a carpet that this room had ever seen. There was no TV, no pictures, not even furniture, apart from two plastic chairs placed by the window on each side of the room facing each other.

Distracted by his own pacing, and mindless random thinking, Arthur hadn't heard the front door open. He never locked it. No one liked to visit and there was nothing to steal, even valueble memories had long since left.

Seconds later the living room door edged open and in walked his friend. There was no time for a greeting of any kind before Arthur began:

"Oh there you are, Sit down, sit down, it's good to see you old chum!"

His friend sat, with no time to react any form of acknowledgement before the usual weekly rant began.
"They think I'm mad Harry, all of them do. They all think I'm mad. They want to take me away, and why I ask you, why?" Arthur posed the question, but no one would get time to answer. He was away again.

"Every week some bloke from the council tries to get me out of here and into some home, but why would I go, I'm the sane one, I'm the one making sense. If anything I'm more prepared than anyone. If a war breaks out, if we get invaded by surprise, who do you think will be ready? Me, thats who. Why do you think there's no furniture, no carpets, no luxuries, no anything? I'll tell you why, it's less for the enemy to destroy. I don't even bother with a TV and radio. If they're going to do it, I don't don't need to be hearing about it. I'm already prepared!"

Arthur began pacing up and down the living room, the louder and more vocal his speech became, the quicker he moved.

"They also think I'm a liability to the neighbourhood because of the bomb shelter in the garden. Two years it took me to put that up, all them years ago. It's got a mattress and light in there, a radiator and enough tinned food to last a month. I'm ready. I'm prepared, my friend. They won't get me. They think I'm mad, but who'll be the mad one when the bombs fall and I'm safely tucked away in the garden, and nothing worth losing in the house? I'm not bloody mad, but they won't have it."

He stopped for a second, sighed and looked at the ground. A sense of calm seeming to sweep over him.
"Thats what I love about you Harry, everyone else wants to put me away, lock me up, but you're always here. You always listen, you don't judge me, you don't give me a hard time, you accept me and understand me. Friends like you are one in a billion, you really are," Arthur said as he looked up at Harry.

"You don't think I'm mad do you Harry? You'd tell me honestly if you thought I was, wouldn't you?"

Harry didn't get chance to answer.

"You don't have to say anything Harry, because I know you don't."

Arthur turned to face his friend. "Thanks for being a great friend." Arthur smiled. There was silence for a few seconds. Arthur soon broke it.

"Now go and get your lead and ball from the kitchen and lets get you out for a walk."

Harry the thirteen year old Jack Russell woofed his acknowledgement before heading for the kitchen........

ADAPTED FROM THE SHORT STORY SCREENPLAY 'I'm Not Mad' by Wyatt Van Wendels

Want to comment on this Short Stories? Sign up to Edit Red and you will be able to comment on Short Stories and get access to: Upload your own stories and poems, get readers and their feedback, promote your work...