Elise Martin – 9Db
Short Story Challenge
"What kept you?" The Angel detaches himself from the tree. He walks in loping strides towards me, throwing an arm around my square-ish shoulders. "I'm sure your mother must have been upset about a bit more than your jaunt into the city." He grins down at me, pushing me forwards. I remain silent, not wanting to tell Danaos anything.
"Nothing," I lie. I've become quite good at it over time. My best friend doesn't notice my fib. "Mother just found another reason to yell at me." I add, in the oppressing silence. Dan looks down, brown eyes assessing me. I love the colour of them, they reminded me of a delicacy that Father brought home once from his trip across the Ocean. Chocolate.
It had a distinctive bitter taste and it smelt rich and warm. When melted with honey and goats milk, it made a delicious drink. It has always been my favourite, though it is extremely hard to find, since trees that carry the chocolatl –as the people there call it- beans don't grow here. We've tried to grow them here, but it isn't tropical enough and the salt attacks plants.
We walk along the silent coast, wind making the folds of my tunic flap at my sides. I ignore the air blowing my hair to the side, out of my face. The brown locks float behind me like threads of rusty copper; brown but shiny. The moonlight falls upon my skin, making it even more white than it usually is. The milky skin seems perfect, not a freckle in sight. How deceptive the moon can be. Half of her face is hidden. The other half is turned to her brother the sun, his illuminating presence giving her the power to shine over us.
The water laps at our feet, cold seeps into my skin. I welcome it with pleasure, feeling better after this burning day. The night seemed like the solace to our sweltering days. And if it got too cold at night, you pulled your friend over and got them to share their body heat as you intermingled, tongues pressed, limbs interlocked and moans over the soft sound of crashing waves.
I had no such intentions with Dan, he was my childhood friend. Even though our relationship had turned that way for eight months, even though we shared beautiful moments with our mouths together and our arms close to the other, we never continued to treat each other like lovers. It was better that way. When we had been together, everything felt strained, as though a simple wrong gesture could shatter everything. Now, there's nothing holding us back, we can be as weird as we want, the other would still be here. Dan grins at me, as though guessing what I'm thinking. "You want to come to the Circle?" He asks, tentative. "I'm sure they'll love you."
"Descendants." It's not even a question. Dan has a hard time fitting in with the normal people. Not only he has to hide his wings, but they reprimand him for his playfulness. My friend smiles and holds out his hand. I gladly take it, enjoying as the warmth of his fingers seeps up my arm and into my frozen heart. It melts a little more every time someone does something sweet, but I'm afraid that it will be a long time before the casket of crystal water disappears completely from around my heart and it starts beating again.
We advance into the forest, the dark welcomes me with open arms, folding its long fingers around my body, encasing me in an unbreakable hug. We stay in the dim light forest for a while, trampling the leaves who have died. This is the start of fall. Fall. How short it has been since last fall, I cannot believe it is already here again. It's like a promise of cool breezes after storms of heat. It's like the threat of overhanging grey, swirling clouds in a usually aquamarine blue sky.
The fear dissipates with the sound of music, the sight of fire, the smell of good food and drink and the heat of the bonfire and bodies that surround it. Dan pulls me through the last round of tight trees, fingers griping mine tighter, as though I were about to disappear.
"I'm still here." I whisper in the crook of his ear. Relief spreads across his handsome features. His eyes find mine, seeing me properly for the first time in two years. "I won't leave you again." The power of words is a great thing, when you know how to handle them, manipulate them. I twisted them into a meaning he wanted to hear. I twisted it away from the truth. The power of lying is also great.