The Collar

Chipita sees a couple of front office staff workers and his mom. She was biting down on her thumb, which was a sign that she was stressed. She notices him coming over to her and tries to stop biting her thumb.

“Hey, baby!” She greets him with an enthusiastic tone.

“Hey, mom,” Chipita says as the both of them walk out the front door together.

“So, why am I getting checked out?” Chipita asks as the door closes in behind them.

His mother smiles at him. It was one of those smiles that makes you fearful. One that you knew was fake, but you didn’t know why it was.

“Have you ate yet?” His mom questions, completely ignoring the question.

“I haven’t, but can you answer my question, please?” Chipata demands.

They near his mom’s minivan and together they get in. His mom looks at Chipita with her seafoam green eyes. She was hiding something, and he knew that for certain.

“I got you something to eat.” She says as she hands him a paper bag. Chipita takes the bag and looks inside it. There was a burger, some fries, and a black and white box. Chipita pulls the box out. It was a small box, with half the box being black and the other being white. Chipita wondered what was inside, but the realization hit them when they saw a shiny word pastie engraved on the front of the box.

“No way! It finally came in!” Chipita exclaims as they frantically open the box.

The box pops open and a note flies out. The note flutters onto his lap and Chipita picks it up. He reads the crimson print on the pale paper. Chipita looks up at his mom, anger written all over his face.

“They couldn’t get me a different pastie?!” His mom begins to bite down on her thumb.

“They say that this is the most recent and only one they could get for you.”

“That’s bullshit!” Chipita hisses, balling up the note. He stares down at the collar in the box. This is what everyone over the age of eighteen must wear till they are dead. It was the pastie collar. Pasties are just your former past life that is only seeable through the collar. They were made to help their next life in whatever challenges lay for them. Chipita wouldn’t mind wearing it if his pastie wasn’t such a jerk. He tried it out for a week and couldn’t handle it anymore.

Chipita’s mom looks to her left, most likely communicating with her pastie, then turns to look at Chipita.

“Look, I tried fighting with them about this, however, they said that they can’t do anything about this. You just gotta fight through it, honey.”

Chipita glares at the collar. The silver skull hanging off of it glistens in the sunlight as if the pastie was trying to say something.

“I’m not trying to say you should wear it now, but you may wanna try it out once we get home.”

“I already tried it out mom. I am not wearing it again. I don’t care if it’s against the law, the law can suck it.”

His mother sighs. She starts the car and begins the ride home. Chipita gives out a big puff of air as he pulls out his phone. This car ride wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Chipita looks up from their phone. They had arrived home quicker than expected. He opens the door and gets out. He turns to get his bag and the box. He knows he should just burn it or give it to someone, but that would be against the law. It’s also against the law to not wear it. Once your assigned yours, you are given ten days to request another pastie. Chipita already used those ten days up, so now he is expected to wear it once it comes in. Meaning that he has to start wearing it from today on.

Chipita sighs. He storms to the front door. Opening the wooden door, Chipita was greeted by his pet cat, Minky. Minky meows at him, rubbing their body on their pants.

“Not now Minky,” Chipita growls as he steps over Minky.

He quickly goes up the stairs and to the left. He opens the door to his room and slings his bag on the floor. He walks over to his desk and lays the collar there then goes to his bed and flops on it. He turns on his phone and types in the password. His friend has texted him.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” Charlie texted him. Chipita groans and types back.

“Not too good. Just got back the same lame-ass pastie.” He texts.

A few moments went by and Chipita got another text.

“You mean that one that was a complete ass?”

“Yup.”

“Didn’t you request a different one?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t know what to say. You know by law you have to wear it.”

Chipita rolls his eyes.

“Wow, what a great idea.” He murmurs to himself as he turns off his phone.

He looks at the ceiling, bored out his mind. He looks over at his desk, where the collar is laid. He expected something totally strange to happen, such as the collar calling to him. Anything to give him an excuse to get rid of it. He rolled his eyes. He needed to stop thinking something magical will happen to change his life all the time. It is a waste of time and energy to think something unnatural will happen.

Chipita turns over on his side. He curls up into a ball and closes his eyes. His breathing slows as he falls into a deep sleep. All the while, someone was watching over him like a hawk. Their piercing green eyes never left the still body of Chipita.