Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 18th cycle. Now cycle 19!
TV Titles Cycle - So this is Cycle 20! I wanted to do something special, so here we are! Some of you may remember a while back me asking for episode titles from tv shows. I've always found that a lot of shows have great episode titles, so this is how this cycle came to be. Each story will be inspired and titled after an episode from a different show. The influence of the episode may vary from story to story, not seeking to rely completely on it ;) You'll see...
Today's Show/Title: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - Conversations With Dead People
"Conversations With Dead People"
Kurt
His 'job' on the football field wasn't too eventful… He'd go out there, kick the ball really far, and then people cheered. Eventually he had quit, so he would figure his adventures and any other associated dangers out on the field had ended as well. There were still football players, who had gone right back to treating him as they used to, save maybe for Finn, Puck, and Mike…
And then, one summer day, he'd gone and received a football to the head. He had gone to the mall that morning and he was on his way to his father's garage, to have lunch with him as he often did during the summer. He'd decided to cut across the park, taking advantage of the weather, just bearably hot for once… He really needed a parasol of some kind… Of course it would have been crushed on that day. The ball came out of nowhere; he never heard a warning of any kind. He didn't so much feel the hit either… or the fall… He was just somewhere new, all of a sudden.
'New' may not have been so accurate. It reminded him… Yes, it was his parents' room, but it was the 'old' room, the way it used to be when… when his mother was alive. The bed sheets were different… not to mention crisp and pulled, neatly over the bed. It wasn't even just the décor which had thrown him off at first. He was sitting on the ground, on the carpet, and everything above him looked so much bigger… higher… like he was…
He looked down at his hands, and he was baffled… "Why are they so…." he gasped and stopped, clearing his throat. "…. small?" he tried again, but his voice still sounded the same. "Why do I sound like a pipsqueak?" he got up on his feet and turned to look in the mirror… He froze. He looked like he was no more than seven or eight years old…
That was when he saw her, in the mirror… It wouldn't be the first time; he'd see her there sometimes, of course by the time he turned around, she…
She was there, sitting on the edge of the bed. He blinked. "Mom?"
"Hey, Bean," she smiled. He walked up to her, observed her… She'd never looked so beautiful and miraculous… He didn't want to touch her and have her fade away like always… He didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had to ask.
"You're here…" he breathed out.
"Yes," she confirmed, still smiling. He gasped.
"Am I dead?" She laughed, cupped his face.
"No, you're not dead." There was a pause, and he did have to take a beat, just warmed by her hands on his cheeks, before…
"You're not really here, are you?" Instead of answering the obvious question, she picked him up and sat him in her lap. He wrapped one arm around her. "Guess that's why I'm this way," he looked at his tiny hand. "I could never imagine myself bigger than this when I think about you, and me… We never got that chance, and it would just hurt too much…" She rested her lips to the top of his head before pressing her forehead to his as he looked up.
"You're unconscious," she revealed. "That's all I know." This made him smirk somehow, though he knew this would only last until he regained consciousness… He'd take what he got.
"Must be true; it's never been this real before…" he looked up, still mesmerized with the realness of her. "Don't care if you're real or not; you're real enough to me." This made her smile again. "If you're in my head, then you know everything I know, right?"
"Right," she nodded.
"And you're not upset with any of it?" he asked, cautious. "Of course not, you're in my head, you'll just react how I think…" She 'pondered,' but just put him on the edge of the bed with her so she could face him.
"That may be true, but deep down I think you know what my answer to that will be," she pointed out. He shrugged. "Want to know how I know that?" He looked over at her, and even as she nodded for him to look at himself, he was looking at his hands… He was himself again, and they were both crying. "You don't need to be afraid; you've always been so brave," she smiled, and he managed one, too.
"That's because of you, and Dad..."
"Seems that way," she chuckled. He paused for a beat, and she knew, too. "Think you'll be waking up soon." He knew she wasn't real, but in that moment he didn't care. She was there, she felt real… This was as close as he was going to get. He hugged her tight, and she did the same.
"I love you, Mom," he closed his eyes.
"Love you too, Bean," she squeezed a little tighter. She was going to disappear.
"Don't look… Don't look…" he whispered to himself, and…
"Kurt… Hey, wake up for me now…" He couldn't make out the voice, not even for gender.
"Mom?" he mumbled. Reality smacked him with a splitting headache. He reached to touch his head and just got more pain for his troubles. "Ow…"
"It's okay, I've got you," the voice spoke again, and now he knew…
"Dad?"
"One of the boys came to get me at the garage," he explained. "There's paramedics coming…"
"I-I'm fine," he insisted. "What happened?" he tried to sit up, but his father wouldn't let him.
"Lie still, until we know you're okay."
"Right, I can do that…" he tried not to let the sun in his eyes; his head hurt enough as it was.
The pain would go away, and it would leave a lingering joy… For a moment he couldn't quantify with time. He'd been with her… She was real because he chose for her to be, and they couldn't take it away from him. He still smelled her perfume…
THE END
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!