by: bj
in sum: he wants to make her taste the salt of his tears.
label: bright. implied bright/colin. the ubiquitous colin/amy.
rating: pg13.
sissies: "the unveiling."
legalities: don't own, don't sue.
i say: the abbott dinner scene from "the unveiling." it was all about bright. you could see it in his face.
you say: all comments appreciated, answered, and archived. allcanadiangirl@lycos.com.
the wound
Bright knows when she sits down that it's about Colin.
Bright is not hearing Amy's anger, he is hearing her tell Colin how much she missed him. He looks at his mother, she looks back with her mouth half-open. She shrugs. Amy purses her lips at their father and he hears her kiss Colin.
Bright holds the knife so tightly he thinks it will either bend or break. He thinks he must bend or break. She says Colin's name and he hears himself saying it, far away, a long time ago. He looks at his father.
"Pass the salt, please," his father says. Bright puts his fork down, he can't let go of the knife, he's about to reach for the shaker when Amy grabs it.
She sprinkles a blanket of salt over her food. "I'm using it," she says.
Bright rolls his eyes.
"When you're done, then," his father says.
"I'll never be done," she says, her voice spiteful and poisonous as sodium.
There is a place, in the middle of his stomach, that he never knew was torn. He's only just realising the wound. It is gaping now, he imagines it has been bleeding for months, and she is pouring salt into it. She will never be done.
"What if I want the salt?" Bright asks. He wants to rub it in her eyes. He wants to watch her cry.
She doesn't know. She gives him a look. He shrugs. It's a legitimate question. Amy makes a growling face but no noise and turns back to their father.
She keeps at it, she pushes and pushes and finally she pulls back. She jumps up and starts shouting. Something about confidences and betrayal.
Bright wants to laugh. He wants to tell her at least she can confide. At least she has something to betray.
Bright wants to pull her down, press her to the floor and tell her every word he's been swallowing for the last five years. He wants to hold her shoulders as she stands and he wants to tell her how lucky she is. He wants to slap her and make her taste the salt of his tears.
Finally she storms away in her best form, his mother shouts after her, she leaves a pocket of air in the room. He breathes into it.
He tastes chlorine and touches his stomach, feeling the sting.
End.