Hey all! It's been a few months! Anyway, this is just a quick oneshot I wrote up to help me get back into writing, ahaha. This is definitely darker than my usual stuff, but Akdong Musician just released their debut album, Play, and one of their title songs, Melted, seemed perfect for basing a oneshot off of. I strongly reccomend listening to it while reading this. Thanks for reading!
He grabbed her arm and spun her around "Where do you think you're going? I still had more to say!" She flinched and and tried to break free of his iron grasp, but he held on tighter to her delicate arm "Are you even listening to me? Idiot!" As he yanked her towards him, her eyes flashed and she wrenched her arm away. "You promised!" She spat, fists clenching " You promised me we'd never be like them!"
The anger faded from his eyes and was replaced with a longing she did not recognize "you're right. I did, didn't I?" She nodded, feeling her own anger fade into a mournful sadness.
A little girl ran from the kitchen and dove under her blankets to hide from the chaotic screaming of her parents and the crashes and clangs as pots and dishes were thrown. The fighting went into the early hours of the next morning, and things were never the same. In the following years, the girl's parents became strangers, drifting further and further apart, speaking to each other only when they needed to. It was if they had been turned to ice.
"Geez" he whispered, "I'm so sorry." He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed "listen, I think some time apart would be best for both of us, okay?" She picked at her fingernails "yeah, sure. Whatever you say"
He turned and started towards his car "we'll talk later, I'll see you then." And without waiting for a response, he started the car and sped off down the road. She watched him helplessly, waiting for the tears to come. She knew this scene all too well. He was gone.
"I can't do this anymore." A man stood in the doorway with a suitcase "my taxi will be here shortly." He knelt and hugged the little girl, but it was the hug of a stranger; the hug of a man who was already frozen. He released the girl quickly, despite her protests, and tipped his cap to the woman who watched the scene blankly. The trio stood there, the little girl sobbing and grabbing her father, the man and woman shifitng awkwardly, as if they couldn't wait for the taxi to arrive.
When the taxi horn finally sounded, the two adults seemed almost relieved. The man nodded once more, and stepped out the door, never looking back as he loaded himself into the taxi. The woman turned away from the door and headed into the kitchen to begin dinner. The girl was left at the door, watching as her father rode off in that taxi and wondering how the two people who seemed to love each other the most had become so cold.
The tears never came. She felt nothing. No more anger, no more sadness, no joy at his absence, no mourning, nothing. She was her mother. She was doomed to repeat history. Doomed, yet she would never understand why. What happened to adults that caused them to grow so cold? Children were warmth and optimism and love. Adults were merely ice. Feeling nothing, loving nothing.
The little girl grew into her own self, her own woman, and she was happy. She met a boy who loved her, inside and out, a boy who whispered beautiful things in her ear and whose laugh warmed her very core, a boy who promised they would never grow cold, not like her parents. She thought maybe he could melt the ice she feared would spread within her. Yet even as she grew older, a part of her remained a little girl, crying out, screaming the same question over and over again
Why are they so cold?
Note: This wasn't originally written for Muffy, but as I wrote it, it seemed more and more like it was about her and her constant struggles. And soon all I could see was Muffy asking this same question. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and feel free to drop me a review!
~ Foundations of Stone