In this episode of Song Lyric Stories, I’m tackling the last of the original suggestions of my writing partner, Matticus. It was a song I’d never heard before. It’s an… odd song. It has pop style vocals over music generally saved for Mortal Kombat movie soundtracks. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Also, I’m out of suggestions from my original post, so if anyone out there not named Matticus (you’ve already had 4 of your suggestions used!) has a line or two (or three) from a song that they’d like see turned into a short story by me, please drop them in the comments.

“I was lost and I’m still lost but I feel so much better.” Tiesto – Just Be

When he walked down the street, people had a tendency to either point and laugh at him, or move to get out of his way. He couldn’t blame them. He was aware of how haggard his appearance was. Part of his ragged state was intentional. The rest was attributed to his lack of caring. It had been a long time since he cared about anything. Every time he did, it ended in failure, pain, or both. There was a brief window when that wasn’t true, but even that came to an end.

His time in the Army had started off well. He was a good soldier. He had excelled in everything he attempted and he quickly climbed the ranks. The other soldiers took to him and gladly followed his lead. When the Army choose him to be part of a secret project, he thought it was the culmination of all his hard work. He thought he would finally leave his painful past behind.

But he didn’t.

The Army experimented on him. It didn’t go like they wanted and they labeled him a failure. The failure label hurt him. Still, h was determined to move on. He thought he would go back to his life as a normal soldier, but the Army didn’t want him around anymore. They discharged him, gave him some hush money, and sent him on his way. Dejected, he wandered around aimlessly, not knowing what he should do next.

He eventually came across a place that he thought needed his help. That time started off well too. He used what the Army had given him to save someone’s life and help the police put a criminal behind bars. Life was looking up again for just a brief moment before it all came crashing down. After someone he tried to protect died, he was labeled a failure once more.

Wandering around aimlessly since that time, he found himself in a small town, being laughed at by kids and ostracized by their parents. He stepped off the sidewalk, into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. With the money the Army had given him, he could afford a much nicer meal. The fight he’d have with the restaurant staff over seating someone dressed as shabby as him wasn’t worth it, though. Just as he opened the door to go inside, he heard a woman scream from behind him. His head snapped to the side and he saw a man in the parking lot who was trying to rob a woman as she was getting into her car.

“Let her go,” he demanded as he stepped away from the door and down off curb.

“Go get your dollar menu meal, you hobo, and mind your business,” the robber returned.

“Let her go,” he repeated, taking a couple more steps toward them. “Now!”

The robber loosed his grip on the woman’s arm and pulled a knife from his pocket. “I was just looking for a little money, but it looks like I found some fun too.”

Instead of being intimidated by his opponent having a weapon, he smiled. The robber wasn’t expecting that. The robber also wasn’t expecting him to reach inside his tattered shirt and grab his own nipple. “Whoa! Wait. What are you doing?” the robber asked with some trepidation in his voice. He slowly twisted the nipple. “What the…”

The robber never got a chance to finish the question. In one quick, fluid motion, he ripped his nipple off and threw it sidearm like a Frisbee. It covered the distance between them in a flash, striking the robber in the middle of his forehead. The knife hit the ground as the robber wobbled and tried to stay on his feet. In the end, it didn’t matter. He had followed his thrown nipple, closing to melee range and landed a combination of punches that put the robber on his backside. With practiced ease, he flipped the robber onto his stomach and tied his hands together with the zip ties he began carrying with him when he thought he was going to be a city’s superhero. He actually forgot he still carried them until then.

“Thank you!”

He turned to see the woman had walked up to him. Her phone was in her hand and he knew that she had just called the police. Answering their questions was going to be a hassle that he didn’t want to deal with. “You’re welcome,” he said with a nod before starting to walk away.

“Wait! You’re not staying?”

“Not today, ma’am.”

“What am I supposed to tell the cops?”

“Tell them the truth.” He smiled. “Tell them DICO saved you.”

“Who?”

He ignored her question and turned his walk into a jog. The smile was still on his face. His future may still be unclear, but if he could save someone, like he just did, every once in a while, it might not be that bad.