Author´s note: This is a short story I wrote a few months ago. I´ve now reworked it, so please enjoy! Warning: Dark.
The boy was visibly nervous. And so was the girl. They were both trying to hide it, but it wasn´t hard to notice a shiver run through their hands or every now and then. They were curious, but also worried about what would happen - none of them had ever attended an even anything like this. They walked on top of a wooden floor, towards a pavilion, crowded with a bunch of other humans. It was roofed by the leaves of a plant, delicately intertwined with a wooden framework that held it in place. The night was dark, but mild. Not warm enough to explain the few pearls of salty sweat forming on the boy´s forehead - and not cold enough to explain his shivering. "It´s going to be fine", he whispered. It was hard to tell whether he was trying to help the girl calm down or whether he was attempting to reassure himself. As they reached the crowd, the boy turned to face the girl, swallowing in unease. He let go of her left hand and grabbed her right one. Then he placed his right hand on her back. She rested her left hand upon his right shoulder. A slow piano melody sounded from the stage. One after another, other instruments began joining in. The boy looked into the girl´s eyes. Then he nodded. At once, their bodies began moving. The boy started counting quietly: "One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three." After a while, the girl leaned towards the boy, paused her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Not long after, the boy did the same. Forgetting the world around them, they danced and dreamt together, letting their minds escape into a much simpler, far more joyful world. Every once in a while, they bumped into another couple, but it didn´t matter. That was nothing that couldn´t be excused with a shy smile. Their initial nervousness faded. As the evening went on, the music changed and with it, the dances. The boy and the girl never paused, dancing restlessly while many others were soon exhausted and sat down. As the moon slowly crept over the starry sky, the dance floor emptied until the two were the only couple that was still dancing. But it didn´t matter to them. They were floating on top of the clouds together, not caring about what happened on the ground. When the orchestra finally stopped playing, dawn was not far away. The boy and the girl were still caught in their embrace. When they ultimately parted, the boy knelt down in front of the girl. He bowed his head. Then, quietly, he whispered "I love you." At first, the girl didn´t answer. Instead, she knelt down too and moved her head forward until her lips touched his ear. "I love you too." After a few seconds, she offered the boy her hand. The boy took it, stood up and as the first sunrays broke through the night, the two turned around and walked away.
When they were gone, Jack felt a hole in his chest. He had spent the whole night creeping around, watching the people. Waiting for someone to notice him. Pretending that it could happen. Would happen. Someday. If he just tried hard enough. Latching onto that childish, naive hope like a shipwrecked would latch onto a piece of wood. Telling himself over and over again that he just needed to be more patient. Now that he was alone once more, he allowed himself to break down. He could feel his insides slowly leaking out until there was nothing left inside him. No lungs left to breathe. No muscles left to move. No heart left to feel. He lay like that for a long time, curled up in a vain attempt to save the slightest bit - maybe just a single emotion, a single glint of hope, anything that could be enough to give him a reason to live on - from spilling onto the cold, unforgiving, rocky ground. But it was futile. As the sun rose higher, people moved past him. Nobody noticed him. Nobody pointed a finger at him. He wouldn´t have minded being pointed at. Be it by a mother, telling her children to stay away from that homeless person or by some youngsters making fun of him. Everything was better than being utterly ignored. So many people wanted to be left alone, and they sure had their reasons for it. But Jack craved the opposite. There was nothing he wished for more than for to be noticed. But his wish wasn´t granted, and so he was left lying on the ground, a broken, tender figure. He lay among others. The ground was littered with motionless bodies like his. There were so many of them, so many who felt this emptiness inside, whose everything had leaked out through cracks too small for others to see. Only those who were like them, who were fractured too ever noticed them. But they were all too weak, too fragile to try and offer help another of their kind. They knew that in the very moment somebody touched those frail shells that encased what was left of them, these shells would shatter, irretrievably burying their tiny load under a pile of broken shards. They couldn´t do anything but wait, hope, pray - beg - for somebody stronger to find them. And perhaps, some of them would one day become lucky. Some of them would find a savior. But too many others wouldn´t.
Author´s note: Hope you enjoyed - Feel free to review! Also note I will start posting my next major story, 'Astronaut' during the next few days!