There she was. Just sitting there in the cafe, waiting for you to sit down beside her and give her a kiss like always. Her long, black hair was in a side ponytail, tied with a red bow. She always did it differently, and you loved it. She didn't have any makeup on, she never did. She always told you makeup was wrong, and unnatural. Still, she helped you put on your face paint. No matter what she thought, she wouldn't take away something you love. That's just how amazing she is. Your name is Kurloz, and Meulin is your girlfriend.
You take a few deep breaths and walk towards her. Though you see her everyday, it's still something that makes you nervous. She's so perfect, sweet, caring, beautiful, and you're a freak. Your hair never agreed with you, it stood up in every direction and never fell down. Your limbs were long and skinny, making it awkward when you do everyday tasks. And you got nightmares. Bad nightmares, so bad they would make you wake up screaming. It was eerie when you screamed, and it terrified you. The only talent you had was music. You could sing and play guitar better than anyone, and Meulin loved that. She could listen to you sing all day. Then you sat beside her, and all thoughts left your head except for one: Meulin is going to be my wife.
"Hey Kurloz!" she said, giving you a hug. You hugged her back as usual.
"Hey Meuls!" You gave her a quick peck on the lips and took a sip of her coffee. You saw her cross her arms, then giggle. She could never stay mad at you. You began spreading some papers on the table. They were all your sheet music, new songs not yet heard. She immediately picked one of them up and began reading it. Her eyes glittered with joy, another thing you loved about her. She looked up at you and smiled wide.
"Kurloz, this is fantastic! Sing it for me! Please?" She stuck out her bottom lip and gave you the most adorable look in the world. You gave in, cleared your throat and began to sing:
"Sometimes I try to find
A way to connect the lines,
Figure out what the picture is
Without losing my mind
"And it's hard to make sense
When your world turns upside down
Hold onto the walls
To keep from falling to the ground"
You stopped singing and opened your eyes. Meulin was staring at you, jaw dropped. She always loved your songs, but she never reacted like this.
"Kurloz, that was amazing! How do you think of your songs?" You just shrugged. Whenever you made a song, you didn't know if it was good or bad until you were done. You just wrote and wrote until your hand was sore, and then you read it and sang it. Before you could say anything, Meulin leaned in and kissed you, slow and long. When she pulled away, the most beautiful expression you've ever seen was on her face. Pure joy. Then you had a thought.
"Hey, do you wanna go somewhere?" you asked. "There's this beautiful park I want to show you,"
"Sure!" And then you both stood up and left.
You were walking hand in hand, making jokes, stealing kisses and enjoying each other. Then you arrived at the park, and she stopped talking and just stared started staring. The sun was setting and it cast shadows over everything perfectly.
"Kurloz… this is beautiful…" And it was. There was a hill, with bushes and flowers, bees buzzing around them. There was one tree, a beautiful tree, with large green leaves and small pink fragrant flowers.
Meulin was running to the tree before you noticed, and she beckoned you over. You walked to her and sat, leaning back against the tree as she sat on your lap. She was so light, sometimes you worried if you hugged her too tight she would break, or if you didn't hug her tight enough she would float away. You kissed her then, not wanting to waste anytime you had with her.
It seemed like an hour before you stopped kissing, and the moon was out. The shine glittered with so many stars it felt like a dream. Meulin was lying down on your chest and you were leaning against the tree. Your initials were carved on the tree in a heart: K.M + M.L. You felt your eyes closing as your fingers fingered the carving, and you both slowly fell asleep.
And then the nightmare started. It was dark, you were lying against the tree, but in front of you a scene was happening, accompanied by your song.
Sometimes I try to find…
A tall, muscular figure was walking slowly, almost stalking something- someone. A new figure came out, with hair like yours, holding a bow.
A way to connect the lines…
The one with a bow started yelling, but the taller one didn't seem to mind. Actually, he was smiling!
Figure out what the picture is…
The one with the bow drew back the string and shot, getting the tall one in the knee and making him kneel. The bow was then snapped in half.
Without losing my mind…
The one with the bow took the string and… No, no! You didn't want to see that! You tried to look away, but the picture followed you, and you saw the tall one fall down dead.
And it's hard to make sense…
The scene changes. A young girl is going through a narrow tunnel, looking through grates in it.
When your world turns upside down…
The young girl looks through a grate and grimaces. What did she see? Then you see it; blood, everywhere. Blue blood. What the hell? The girl jumps through the grate, something was obviously wrong.
Hold onto the walls… The music was slowing
The boy: the one with the bow, caught the girl as she was mid air. He grabbed her wrist and… What was he doing? He threw the girl down after cutting his face with her… Her claws?
To keep from falling to the ground…
The boy grabs a red striped club and… Why were you seeing this! You closed your eyes, but the scene stayed on through your eyelids. He swung the club again and again, drawing green blood. Wait, green? This wasn't right. Then you noticed… all the children had horns! And grey skin… and yellow eyes? This was the weirdest dream you had ever had! And then you started to scream.
You were awoken by Meulin's voice. "Kurloz! Wake up! Kurloz, you're hurting me! It was just a dream Kurl-" The yelling finally stopped. You opened your eyes quickly and saw Meulin curled in a ball; hands hold her ears and a grimace on her face. You shut your mouth, you were still screaming. Your throat was bloody and raw but the sound still came out. The scream didn't stop for 10 minutes. When it did, you ran to Meulin's side.
"Meulin! Oh my god Meulin I don't know what happened. Are you all right? Meulin? Meulin answer me. Meulin!" You were yelling. It hurt your torn throat, but you had to make sure Meulin was all right. She looked up at you and blinked. She then made the saddest face you've ever seen. When she spoke, her voice was weird and uneven, like she wasn't controlling it.
"Kurloz! Oh no, Kurloz, you lost your amazing voice!" You looked at her confused. You could still talk, it hurt, but it was talking. Then she put her hands down and you saw her ears. Blood was rushing out of them and you dabbed it with your sleeve.
"Oh no… What have I done? Meulin, what have I done!" You started crying. She looked at you confused, then looked at her bloody hands. Her face got pale, and she looked you in the eyes.
"What happened to me Kurloz? Why can't I hear myself speak?" You couldn't say anything. You could only cry, and cry, and cry. She cried with you, and you hugged each other, comforting one another.
You got home that day late at night; you had been at the hospital all day with Meulin. The doctors told you that Meulin will never hear again, but he gave you a prescription to heal your throat.
"This isn't fair!" You yelled. "I should be the one to never speak again, she should be able to hear! This is all my fault!"
You looked at yourself if your bathroom mirror, tears smearing your day old face paint. You grabbed a pill, and then stopped. I should be the one to never speak again… You ran to your bedroom and grabbed the black thread and needle Meulin left last time she was over. She was sewing a patch onto your skeleton sweater. She was always so helpful.
You shook yourself out of your thought and ran back to the mirror. You threaded the needle and began. You thought about taking a painkiller, but you realised you deserved the pain. The needle plunged through your bottom lip, staining the thread red as it went through your skin. The first few stiches hurt, but then it went numb. When you were done, you tied the string tight and looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were puffy and red, face paint wet and smudging everywhere. The paint around your mouth was red and dripping, and your lips were chapped. Now you really looked like a corpse, skull face paint, skeleton sweater and jeans, and stitched lips.
You went on the computer. "1 NEW MESSAGE" it beamed, as if everything was all right. The message was from Meulin. It said:
We need to talk. Meet me at the tree.
You washed your face and smacked yourself a few times. You knew what you did was wrong. You shouldn't have done this to yourself. But at that moment, you were too engulfed by self-loathing to undo the mess you just sewed onto your face. You tried to open your mouth, but the stitches were too tight. Perfect. You began walking to the park, scared of what Meulin would think.
When you arrived at the park, Meulin was facing away from you, towards the sunset. The beautiful sunset you watched when… when it happened. You tried to call out to her, forgetting about your lips, and a muffled sound came out. She turned around and ran towards you, screaming.
"Kurloz! What have you done? Your beautiful voice! You'll never sing again!" You just looked at her with a frown that hurt your stitches and ripped at your lips. She was crying, and there was nothing you could do about it. But then she smiled and kissed you.
"Its alright baby, its alright… I forgive you for hurting me. And for hurting yourself. Now, just hug me for a minute,"
And you did. And it felt good. And in that moment, all thoughts left your head except for one: Meulin is going to be my wife.