A/N: I saw this movie last week, and completely feel in love with the story and with the characters. I am currently in the process of reading the story, as well.
This is intended to be the start of a series of vignettes chronicling pieces of time in the lives of Jack and Ennis, together and apart.
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Moments
The sun rose slowly over the mountain, casting its light over the landscape. The morning dew shone, the river sparkled, and the soft wind whispered through the valleys. An idyllic landscape that most would revel in, but it was all naught to Jack Twist.
This was his favorite time each day, not because of the marvels of nature, but because it was just one quiet moment in which he could close his eyes and be with Ennis. There were no worries for the briefest time. At this early hour, no one cared whether they were men or women, working or not. Love was love, nothing more, nothing less.
Who would've thought? he mused. To be searching for something your whole life, only to find it in the last place I would have expected…
"Jack?"
Ennis murmured the name sleepily as he nestled even closer.
"Yeah? You awake, Ennis?"
"No," he mumbled, not wanting to leave the peace and the warmth, either.
Jack smiled at this and stroked his hair. "Me neither."
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A little while later, when the sun was too bright for the lovers to pretend that it was still night, Ennis looked up and raised his voice again. "Jack?"
"Yeah, Ennis?"
"Do ya ever wonder why?"
"Why what?"
"Why… why this." He gestured furtively at their surroundings, unsure of how to put into words their relationship.
"Yeah," Jack responded, knowing exactly what he meant. Though he was usually far better with words than Ennis, he had yet to come up with suitable ones for this, either. "I wonder about it everyday."
"Well, have ya… Have ya come up with any answers?"
"No. Ya know what, Ennis? I don't reckon there is one. Like you said, there ain't no reins on this one. No reasons. Neither of us has ever been down this path before."
"And where does this path end, Jack?"
This gave Jack pause. They had carefully avoided this train of thought up to this point. He racked his brain for a good answer, or at least a decent-sounding one. "I… I don't rightly know, Ennis."
"And that's it?"
"What's it?"
"We're walkin' down a path and, hell, we don't even know where it's going to."
"I guess so," Jack returned miserably. He had a sudden glimpse of what his life would be like without Ennis here, like this. He saw himself attending to the daily chores and the sheep, only to return to a cold, lonely tent. And the mornings… Those would be even less bearable, now that he knew what their potential was... Unconsciously, he tightened his arms around Ennis.
Ennis turned his head so that he was looking into Jack's eyes. He seemed taken aback by the sudden melancholy that he saw there. "Aw, shit, Jack. You know I couldn't leave even if there were signposts marking this as the path to the devil himself."
Jack gave him a long look. He was deeply touched, despite his best effort to remain stoic. "You sure about that, cowboy?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, back to your usual level of wordiness, eh?"
Ennis chuckled and turned his head, resting it once again on Jack's chest.
The phrase I love you ran through Jack's mind, but that was one thing that even he would never say. Love was the feeling that ran between him, the thing that made them both stay regardless of the consequence. There was no need for it to be spoken.
He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he would soon have to rise and go about this day as he did every other one. There were repairs to be made, food to be cooked, and an endless amount of sheep to be watched.
Nevertheless, there was something about those mornings. Something special that he had previously believed to be unattainable. And yet… here it was.
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Short, I know, but it's just the beginning. Please review and let me know if you'd be interested in more.
Also, if you want to talk about the movie, stories, or characters, feel free to post in my new forum! It should be up shortly under Forums - Movies -Brokeback Mountain.