::thankfulness::& TEMPERANCE [luke]
Aug 9, 2012 23:24:01 GMT -5
Post by cyrus on Aug 9, 2012 23:24:01 GMT -5
Naif Malloc
Narration
Thoughts
Other’s speech
What I Say
Exclamations
I’d been pretty badly bruised from my days out of district eight. I’m still smarting from the fight
There was rain the first few days, and I spent my time dodging down alleyways and finding places with awnings to stay dry. Passersby here didn’t contribute much to the sad looking urchin[/color] fund, so I took to eating the few supplies I’d collected along the way. I’d trained myself not to get too hungry. My exposed rib bones and lack of stomach growling were a good indication of my success. There was one hunger I couldn’t shake, though—one that needed to be fed. It didn’t take me too long to figure out the one that would give it to me, an older guy that wanted a good time for him and his friend. They’d been careers, so their bodies were only as worn as the work they’d been forced to endure for the twenty years after their last reaping. It wasn’t so bad. They were gentler with me than others have been, wanting me to enjoy myself as though it were something I truly wanted.[/color] They’d even let me stay in their bed until morning, in their tiny little room with blue curtains.
I spent the morning finding my way to the beach, down toward the docks where the ships came in and men were in a constant state of motion. They hurried up to load and unload things from the decks, yelling to one another, and me inching my way around and down toward where the sand met the waves below the boardwalk. It was mostly rock and brown dirty sand—not the white that had been in your games. The water was dirty, too, a much darker color than the blue that had made the kraken’s teeth so clear. The water that had let your blood pool so clearly.[/color] Suddenly I want to get away from here, away from the boats, and away from people. I set out along the beach, walking, walking, walking until I’m under another set of tall wooden legs, a group of pillars that hold up a boardwalk above.
I slip between the rocks and dive into the ocean, letting my whole body get swallowed up in the surf. The salt splashes into my mouth and I cough it out before diving down underneath again. And I brush against the sand; I feel the sand between my toes and grab the wet grains in my hands before rushing out of the surface again. I shiver and shake at the briskness of the water, the sun catching my eyes as it sets, the wind picking up, and another day comes to the end. I watch the colors swirl around my face, the voices in my head humming a familiar childhood tune. The morphling swishes through my veins and lifts me up toward the sun, it lets me fly through the water and see the horizon. I’m up so high now, no heaviness, no emptiness, just the vastness of the ocean where I can be insignificant.
It’s about now that I expect you. You come back to me so frequently now, if only in instants. Sometimes to speak to me, sometimes to touch me, sometimes to help me fall asleep. But you’re not here, you’re not here and I dive below the waves to search for you there. My eyes burn and I find nothing, only coming to the surface again to cough out another fit of salt water. And I walk along the rocks, cutting up my feet, as I search for you along the shore. It’s been such a perfect little day I want to end it with you. I want to share it with you, if only for just a second. I laugh as I hear you whisper my name, Na…,[/color] the pet name you have for me. I rush along and wind around the wooden beams, only to stop dead in my tracks. And there you are, Cyrus. There you f—king are. Cheeks slashed, welts all over your skin, blood pouring out of your mouth. And I cry out, pushing away from you, running back toward the water, tripping over the rocks and crashing down hard. The sky swirls overhead, and a bit of salt water splashes back into my face.
“Is anyone here? Does anyone need help?” I cradle my arm against my chest and reach up with the other to feel my head. The blood is still coming down from an inch or so above my eye, and I let out a little murmur. More of it has dried on the side of my face, and when I try to roll onto my side I cry out again in pain. My vision blurs and I hunch forward again. I’m going to f—king die because of my own clumsiness.[/color] But it’s not that, really that would have killed me. It’s the shakes I have coming down, the freezing cold I begin to feel as my wet clothes cling to my body. I give it one last try before rolling over onto my back, letting out another yelp.
“Here… I’m here… please…” I don’t know if I’m loud enough, with the waves crashing so close by, but I look over to see the boy getting closer. It’s darker now, and I reach to grab a rock, both for protection and to make noise. I clack it against the others, my hand slow and shaky. But it could be enough. “Please… I’m over here…” I mutter again before throwing the rock in his direction. I’d do anything to get away from here, right now, anything he wanted.[/color]
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