Rejoice
She sits on the rungs, knees pulled up to her chest. A curtain of hair is drawn across her face so you can't see the features, but you know her eyes read sadness, longing, regret. You've known her eyes for a long, long time. The flickering oil lamp causes shadows of light to sprint along the sides of the tent, and they illuminate her crying skin. It's paler than usual. You are surprised to feel an urge to touch that pale skin, to graze it with yours, even though you already belong to the one with the fire atop her head. But for this moment you extinguish the fire-girl and focus on this one.
Her neck is bent over with the elegance of a hedgehog, unnaturally curved in a U shape. Her collarbones protrude ever-so-slightly through her thin cotton sweater, and her breasts move correspondingly to her inhales and exhales. From where you sit, you can tell she needs a shoulder to cry on...fingers to dance with.
From the aged radio comes the crackled tune of a song. You stand up slowly and amble over to her, and she tilts her face up to you. Crestfallen, brown eyes meet anticipating green ones and a spark whistles through your hollow body. Ever since your lips parted those of the fire-girl, you've felt empty, lonely, and those feelings are mirrored in her eyes, too. The locket dangles around her neck.
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O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
O children
Rejoice, rejoice
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He looms over you, towering, comforting. His eyes read, This is someone who is forlorn, who needs some condolence, who could use a hand to hold. This is someone who needs you. Wordlessly, he offers you your hand, and you accept it without thought. You've passed the point of desperation by now, anyway.
His fingers trot across your collar and meet at the small hairs on the nape of your neck, fumbling with the clasp. You feel the locket being lifted away and suddenly the world feels twenty pounds lighter. You are surprised to see him toss it on the lower bunk rather than attach it around his own neck, but you don't mind. You could both use a break from it at this point, anyway.
He now takes both of your hands in his, and smiles gently, pulling you with him to the center of the tent. You rock back and forth in time to the music and he twirls you around. You think of the fire-headed one and feel sorrow, but with each beat the sorrow ebbs slightly. You begin to relax. You begin to smile. You begin to forget that the flames in your heart had ever been there at all.
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We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal dear
It's round about, it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings
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The notes walk out and arrange themselves around you and her, around your pulsating forms, creating a circle, a safe haven, far away from the forest and the fires. All your worries seem smaller as you dip her down, watching her hair caress the floor before bringing her back up to you. You feel light, light as air, as you drift together in the middle of the notes. At peace, for once.
As the song dies down, she places her head on your shoulder and you sway back and forth, the notes around you dissipating with each second. You don't feel as hollow anymore; on the contrary, it feels like she's filled you up a little, filled you with some golden liquid and you feel alive again. But it's not enough.
You think to yourself that it's worth it. Just one night, just one shot, just one kiss. It wouldn't hurt anybody...and the fire-girl and the fire-boy would never find out. So you take a step back and look into her deep brown orbs, reflecting the trust you feel. You cradle her face in your hands before lowering your face down to hers. She closes the small space between you with her lips, and the hollowness departs.
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O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
O children
Rejoice, rejoice
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You feel his mouth moving against yours, the rhythmic pull-and-release motion soothing you. The bridge of his glasses is cutting into your nose but you don't mind. His tongue traces your lips lightly, mapping, exploring, learning. You allow him to take you completely with his mouth as he moves down the length of your jaw, across your neck, down to the base of your throat, before joining your lips once more.
It feels good, you want to admit. It feels so, so good...He holds your slender frame against his broad, strong one, enclosing you with his arms, in a warm, safe embrace. He pulls away and smiles at you again, the same loving, gentle smile, and you smile back.
Later, as you lie with your back pressed against his torso, listening to his soft, rumbling breath, you hear a noise. Like a choir, maybe. Angels singing. So you listen.
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O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
O children
Rejoice, rejoice
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The hollow feeling is gone.