Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to Joan of Arcadia.
The concept, characters and show are all property of Barbara Hall and
CBS. Bless her heart for creating such a great show! The music from No
Angel is the property of Dido, as are the titles of those songs. I
wrote the drabbles around these titles. Please don't sue me. ;)
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Author's Notes:
The Dido challenge required authors to write drabbles centered around
songs from any of her cds. Mine, as the titles reflect, were centered
around songs from Dido's No Angel cd and are about a variety of
characters from the show, including the bit players (i.e. Beth, Carl
Rove and Glynis). I tried to create drabbles that reflected both the
message behind a particular song as well as situations that resonate in
each character's lives.
I hope you enjoy them all (or, at least, most) ;),
Everwood2003
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Title: Here With Me
"I cannot be until you're resting here with me."
The day that she's released from the hospital, Joan finds it difficult to concentrate
on what the doctors are saying to her.
Something about taking medication twice a day and she'll be just like she used to be.
She doesn't know what that means, exactly, but figures that her brothers probably
won't have any reason to tease her about being cursed with permanent PMS.
Her eyes sweep over every inch of the room and a wave of nostalgia hits her as
she is reminded, with painful clarity, that the only person who can give her peace of
mind has abandoned her.
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Title: Hunter
" For the crown you've placed upon my head feels too heavy now."
It's quite odd, she muses, how looking at yourself in the mirror can feel so foreign
and bizarre.
Every time she studies the smoky eyes and ruby red lips that belong to the stranger in
the mirror, Glynis can't help but wonder if she isn't Alice caught on the wrong side of the
glass.
But, amidst the confusion and uncertainty, she admits that it's better than being the
gawky, pathetic girl who used to cry herself to sleep every night wishing that God had
found it in his heart to make her beautiful.
Even if it means not having Luke by her side.
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Title: Don't Think of Me
"And it's too late and it's too bad, don't think of me."
She loves Kevin.
It's as simple as that, even though nothing could be further from the truth.
But there it is.
She stands before him, eyes full of bitter tears, and recounts every detail of his
betrayal even as she clings to a small sliver of hope that it's all just a horrible
misunderstanding.
He just shrugs his shoulders and turns to his group of friends, announcing that
she's turned into excess baggage. He doesn't even have the decency to look her in
the face when he says that it's over.
Anger burns in her chest and Beth prays that he never lives to regret this day
because, as far as she's concerned, there's no turning back.
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Title: My Lover's Gone
"My lover's gone,
I know that kiss will be my last.
As much as Carl tries to keep the memories at bay, he can't help but dwell
on days past when Elizabeth's presence was a constant in his life.
Every once in awhile he dreams that she is with him, her head resting on the
crook of his neck only to awaken and find that the spot next to him is just as
empty as it has been for the past three years.
But somehow, he finds solace in his son's presence and clings to the knowledge that there is
still a soul in this world who needs him as much as he does her.
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Title: Thank You
"Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life."
For as long as he can remember, his life has been all sorts of chaos and misery.
One tragedy followed another and, before he knew it, he'd found that he'd closed
himself off to the world, so much so that he had no idea how to make his way back.
His meeting Jane, he figures, is no coincidence and, though he's not quite sure if he's
ready to admit that God intervened in some way, he finds it amazing that she came to
him when he needed her the most.
Her mere presence has a calming effect on him and Adam feels an increasing sense
of gratitude ever time he is near her.
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Title: Honestly OK
" But I'm so lonely I don't even want to be with myself anymore."
Joan watches the people she loves come and go, tries to smile for them even as
they treat her like a fragile piece of china.
They try to help, try to make her feel as "normal" as they can without making it
seem as if they ever thought she was crazy.
But she knows better.
She catches the weary glances they send each other, hears the troubled whispers
in her parents' bedroom about how they'd "do anything to get the old Joan back."
And she thinks that maybe they know something that she doesn't because she
feels more fragmented and out of place than she ever has in her life.
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Title: Slide
"The rings around your eyes they don't hide, that you need to get some rest."
For all that she used to complain about Joan being so flighty and scatterbrained,
Helen finds that she prefers those things a hundred times over to the hopelessness
and desolation that has left her child so broken and detached.
She feels a growing sense of desperation with each passing day as she struggles
to reach a daughter who refuses to let anyone in.
Sometimes, she lies awake at night wondering if losing one child was not enough,
if she might be paying penance for some sin she committed in the past.
Oftentimes, she wishes that she could go back to a time when her arms were
enough to do away with her children's sorrows.
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Title: I'm No Angel
" I know I'm not perfect but I can smile."
And I hope that you see this heart behind my tired eyes."
"Grace!"
He's a pretty good runner, for a geek, and soon enough he's walking beside her,
his stride matching hers.
"I thought that maybe, you know, we could do something now that our intentions
have been made clear ---"
"Look, geek, I don't know what you're---"
"It's Luke."
His voice is barely above a whisper, but his eyes are filled with a steely resolve
she's never seen before.
"That's my name. Not geek or dog-boy or any other appellation you or my
siblings happen to create. If we're going to do this, then you're going to have to
learn my name."
And with that, he walks off, leaving her to wonder if they aren't more similar
than she'd like to admit.
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Title: Take My Hand
" Take your time and if I'm lying to you,
I know you'll find that you believe me, you believe me."
"You're upset with me, aren't you, Joan?"
The young man, hands shoved into the pockets of a familiar curdoroy jacket,
is just as handsome as she remembers Him to be.
And just as infuriating.
"Yeah, well, pardon me if I don't put out the welcome mat."
She rises from the park bench and turns her back to Him, her hands clenched
at her sides.
"Don't you remember, Joan? I'm everywhere. Whether or not you can see or
hear me, I am always present."
His words do not soothe her an she wonders if there will ever come a time
when she will trust Him again.