//Can you believe seven + more chapters of this have to be written? I really have to speed up the updates.
Come November, I'm going to be busy with a NaNoWriMo project, so I want to finish as much of this as possible before then. Since midterms will be done this week, I just might be able to do so. Updates a-hoy!//
What Shadows Hide: Conversations
Though the deal might have seemed spontaneous, Jack had actually planned very well. It was a half-day at school for reasons unknown, perhaps due to teacher conferences and the still shaky post-war society, and right after classes Jack was leading the way down to a semi-hidden area of the park.
"My parents expect me home for lunch," Ralph said coldly.
Jack looked back at him, raising one eyebrow. "Surely they can get along without you for a day. Didn't you tell them you would be spending time with a close friend?"
Ralph didn't answer. Jack grinned and climbed down a small ledge next to the creek. The trees didn't provide much cover and the boys would be visible to anyone walking by who wasn't completely caught up in his own thoughts, which seemed to confuse Ralph. This wasn't the ideal place for what he had thought Jack had in mind, Jack knew.
"Sit down," Jack invited, making himself comfortable on one of the rocks piling up at the side of the little creek. "Stay awhile."
Ralph sat down gingerly, two large rocks between himself and his captor. "Now what?" he asked, his voice filled with suspicion.
Jack waited for Ralph to get fidgety before answering. "What's your favorite color?"
"What?!" Ralph jumped up and stared at Jack with wild, angry eyes. "What the hell are you-"
"Just answer the question," Jack said in a weary tone. He leaned back and smiled winsomely at Ralph. "Mine's black."
"Why are you asking me this?" Ralph said with forced calm, sitting back down and glaring with all his strength. Jack simply looked back with no expression on his face, waiting patiently.
The staring match lasted for maybe a minute, when Ralph finally hissed, "Blue."
"Now that wasn't so difficult, was it?" Jack asked. "Why blue? I would think you would've had enough of that on our island, surrounded by the ocean day and night-"
"Shut up." Ralph brought his knees up, hugging them to his chest and closing his eyes. He suddenly appeared sad and lonely, and Jack might have watched him like that for a while if he hadn't been keenly aware of the time limit on this little venture.
Jack persisted. "Why blue, Ralph?"
"I don't know."
"Think of a reason, then. Tell me something."
Ralph sighed. "Blue's calm."
"That's hardly an explanation. Why do you say it's calm?" Jack asked.
"What are you trying to pull?" Ralph suddenly shouted, kicking his legs out and breathing loud and deep. "What kind of game is this? You have your whole blasted week; why are you wasting time?!"
"I'm not wasting time, Ralph," Jack said quietly. He leaned forward, looking up at Ralph through his eyelashes. "This is what I want to know. All you have to do is answer my questions; that's all I want."
Ralph's breath was still irregular and he looked as if he would start shouting again at any moment. "What are you up to?" he asked again, his voice shuddery and cold.
"Why do you like the color blue?"
Ralph shut his eyes against the sparkle of his angry tears. "It makes me feel calm. It reminds me of a clear sky and bright sunshine, it reminds me of summer and being young and innocent. It reminds me…"
"It reminds you of before the island?" Jack ventured, filing this information away in his mind.
"Yes."
"Is there anything you miss about the island?" Jack asked, still watching him intently. Ralph remained silent for a while, lost in his own thoughts.
"You want a serious answer?" he finally croaked, flinching at the hoarse sound of his voice.
"Why else would I ask?"
Ralph opened one gray-blue eye to look at him. "I miss the first few days, when everyone thought it was just a game, when we all thought that life was a game and we were all-"
He stopped abruptly, but Jack knew what he had been about to say and didn't press him. Instead, he asked, "Did you put all the blame on me?"
For a long, long moment, there was no answer. Then Ralph stood up, his expression closed and angry.
"Goodbye, Jack."
Then he was gone.
And Jack smiled.
If he had blamed me, and me alone, then he would have said so without hesitation. He would have thrown it in my face more than happily.
But he couldn't. He blames himself. Maybe he had blamed me once, but now…
Jack watched the play of sunlight on water, staring into the tiny creek as if it held the answers to any and all questions a person might ever have.
But what does that say about him? That he takes responsibility for things out of his control? That he knows what it is to regret? Those are just… just incidental. There's something else there.
Jack reached out, slow and languid, to touch the water sparkling just in front of him. He watched with blank eyes as the reflection of the sun was shattered even further, diamonds scattered over water.
He values innocence far more than even civilization, though he hides in that now. He would rather go back to being a child than grow up. He wants to be innocent rather than wise.
It was something to think about. Jack stood up, pleased. He'd done well for day one.
//Review if you like, flame if you have to, blink in confusion if you just don't get it.//