The Corrs
In Mineral Town was a farm, just off of the mountains, resonably far from the Main Street and town circle .. it was quiet, and you could always hear the birds chirping in the morning...
I see a home in a quiet place
Maria smiled up at him, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. She felt so carefree, the smile lingering as she watched their child run giggling by them, laughing a little herself as he hugged her close...
I see myself in a strong embrace
She'd never felt safer than when she was with him. She remembered how, when they were younger, he'd always fought off those who dared bully her.
I feel protection from the human race
God, her life had become so perfect since Jack have her the blue feather. Her husband was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
It's not parental.
Maria sighed as she opened her eyes, shaking her head as she reached for her glasses. It was time for work.
But it's a fantasy, not a reality
"Honey, are you all right?" The mother's concerned eye fell upon her daughter as she started for the door, pausing at the words.
With a sad kind of smile, Maria turned, nodding once. "Yes, Mother. I'm perfectly fine. I have to go to work now."
Maria sighed as she went into the library, sinking down into her seat. She was always worrying everyone with her current depressive state...
And it's no, no, no good for me
She shook her head, getting up to dust the books. Jack probably didn't have a clue how she felt about him -- he'd never really made any moves on her. But she still couldn't get over him.
You have no idea
Suddenly, the door opened, and the shy librarian turned automatically. "Hi, may I help ----- .. .. you .. ? .."
Her eyes went wide and she blushed deeply. Jack had come here again... he always visited her.
"Hi, Maria. How're you?"
Oh, he was painfully casual! Looking at the floor so that the light from the flourescent over-head lamps reflected on her glasses and hid her deep brown eyes. "I .. I'm fine. How ab - ab... how about you, Jack?"
He gave her one of those stunning smiles and shrugged lightly, his thumbs in his belt loops. "Can't complain. Hey, Maria... You know, you're a close friend of mine, and I wanted to ask you something."
Brown eyes widened, glistening in the white light. Did he care for her ... ?!
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
She quivered, lower lip trembling so uncontrollably that she could barely stop it without biting down. She felt like back when they were young... " Hey, Marii-chan! When we get big, like Mommy and Daddy, you should live with me! "
" Eeeeh ?! Huh ? Really, Jack-kun? "
" Yes! You're my bery best friend, Marii-chan!"
The blush on her cheeks only deepened. She felt so weak, vulnerable, and young...
I'm feeling like a child
Vulnerability
"Y.. yes, Jack?" He was still so casual, smiling aso handsomely as he stepped closer, standing beside her, mere inches away. She couldn't stop trembling, hands shaking like one diseased.
Her mind was clouded; she could think of nothing and no one else.
I am shaking like a leaf when you move beside me
And you're all that I see
"Karen and I are getting married! Will you come to my wedding?!"
But it's no good for me
Maria couldn't help thinking that she should have known. He always danced with Karen, he'd even asked her for advice on what to give Karen for her birthday... Thinking about it, Karen's personality was much more suited to Jack's tastes. She was outgoing, fun-loving, and open... Karen knew who she was and what she wanted, not at all like shy, depressive, no-self-confidence book-worm Maria. All Maria knew was that she was in love with Jack.
But it still made her cry, thinking that Karen was there, in that spot Maria had always dreamt of.
You have a home
In a quiet place
And someone else feels your strong embrace
She could just see it.
Jack holding Karen's hand, Jack pressing Karen close to him, Jack kissing Karen, Jack making love to Karen, Karen having Jack's babies, Jack protecting Karen...
Maria folded her arms on the desk and sobbed.
She is protected and she needs no chase
" Marii-chan, I love you! "
" Huuuh ?! J - Jack-kun, you're teasing me.. ! "
" I'm not ! You're my very best friend, Marii-chan, and I love you ! "
Tears fell harder.
And do you love her?
A shuddering sigh .. no, Maria, you're smarter than this. You're not the type to just start crying .. ! .. Maria, don't be a big baby. There are other men.
Well, she supposed that was true .. but who, really ? The doctor was mad for Elli, Cliff was too reckless for her taste, Kai was never the type for her, Rick was unmoving in his devotion to Karen, Gray secretly longed for Popuri, Jack was marrying Karen .. ..
She suddenly blinked. Rick .. Rick would be so hurt by this. She quietly got up, hanging a "Lunch break" sign on the door of the library, and sauntering away in the direction of the Poultry Farm once she'd locked it.
Rick was there, standing in the yard, looking silently down at a chicken and petting it with an expression that reflected shock and pain beyond anything but Maria's own. A small step was taken towards him, toungue sliding over her lips before they stuttered his name. "R.. Rick.."
"..Yes, Maria, I heard."
Rick closed his eyes once more, thoughts of Karen running through his brain.
" Rick-chan! Why are you crying?! I was looking all over for you! "
" *Sniff..* .. eh .. ? Oh .. it's you .. go away, Karen-chan. "
" Huuuh ?! What did I ever do to you, Rick-chan !? "
" You like Jack-kun better ! He's your best friend, not me! I heard you tell him so ! "
" Ugh ! Rick-chan, don't be empty headed.. " He remembered the feeling of her small, child's arms slipping around him, and her soft cheek resting against his shoulder.. he could still almost smell the strawberry shampoo in her luxurious brown hair. " Jack-chan is a good friend.. a best friend. But you're my favourite, Rick-chan. Only you. "
Karen .. when did you stop loving me?, he thought. I can't understand you at all...
You're a mystery
You are the heart of intrigue
But you're no good, no, no good for me
Three weeks later, Rick and Maria found themselves at their lovers' weddings, out of sheer respect and devotion, and a will not to disappoint them. They looked on at Jack and Karen, each longing only for that one person.. Eyes both closed in something of a wince as they could hear the words, "You may kiss the bride."
Jack's lips met Karen's, and Maria wanted to scream, wanted to sob.. she felt like every atom of her being was being ripped one by one from her, like she was slowly being demolished. And oh, oh, if only she were .. .. .. ! .. Anything was better than this pain ..
Karen blushed, and her lips responded fully to her new husband's. Rick's teeth sank into his lower lip to stop its trembling, hands balled into such tight fists that his trimmed fingernails dug into his palms and drew blood. Oh, but that pain was pleasure in comparison to what he felt to see another man standing there .. holding his Karen. Kissing his Karen. Karen, what happened to us?
As the two walked down the aisle, they spared a glance, and perhaps a smiling wave for those two good friends of theirs who had always been to them so devoted ...
Maria wanted to tear her eyes out, just to make it stop. Even though he was standing there with his arm wrapped securely, protectively around his new wife's waist, even though his mouth was smudged with Karen's wine-coloured lipstick ... even though she knew he would never, never be hers, she still felt like she was floating when he looked at her.
You have no idea
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
Rick could see nothing in this Karen except for his old, beloved Karen-chan.. that young girl who had held him and told him he was her only one, the girl who had loved him and wanted to protect him and be protected by him. They'd had an understanding, hadn't they? They'd understood that they would be together, hadn't they?
I'm feeling like a child
Vulnerability
I am shaking like a leaf if you move beside me
Couldn't Jack see ?! Couldn't Karen see ?! Maria had eyes only for him.. no one else in the room cared at all for her, nor she for them. Rick had eyes only for her.. no one else in the room cared at all for him, nor he for them. Why did they marry eachother? Couldn't everything have been so much simpler if they'd stuck to what they'd decided when they were children? Maria had clung to that fantasy, that dream of she and her childhood lover being together for nearly twelve years, now, and Rick had been holding onto it for far longer... Couldn't it just be the way it was supposed to? Popuri making Gray blush with affection, Rick in love with Karen, Maria in love with Jack, Elli in love with the doctor's son -- or rather, now, the doctor -- Anne being the tomboyish one who would love noone? Couldn't it be that way anymore? It hurt this way.
And you're all that I see
But it's no good for me
No, it's no good for me...
Yeah, no good for me...
Three years later, Maria smiled sadly down at her daughter Cherry, shaking her head as she ran a motherly hand through her red hair.. She and Rick had married. What else were they to do? Both were eternally shattered souls, they'd never love again..
She remembered the way Jack and Karen had looked at them when they heard the news. Neither ever suspected them to be interested in eachother; but they'd been so happy when they saw what a pleasant marriage the two had.
What they didn't see was at night, when Rick and Maria crawled into bed, closed their eyes, and did what married couples did .. there was no way they heard how Rick cried out Karen's name, and how Maria pleasured herself by pretending it was Jack penetrating her.
They were both pretending.. A soft laugh to herself, shaking her head. "Hm.. ? Oh, it's nothing, Cherry.."
It's a make-believe, you have no idea
Every now and then, Karen would come by the poulty farm to buy chicken feed for their several chickens.. sometimes she brought the children -- Karen and Jack were the proud parents of three -- to play with little Cherry, who had already taken a deep affection for James, their oldest boy.
But no matter the details.. .. even after three years of being married to Maria, and three years of suffering, knowing that Karen would definately never, ever be his, Rick's heart still skipped a beat, he still trembled and nearly spilled the seed he poured for her, just because she was Karen.
" Rick-chan, you know what .. ? I think I'm in love with you. "
" WHAAAAT ?! K - Karen-chan .. !! Don't joke like that !! "
" I'm not joking ! Rick-chan, when we grow up, give me the blue feather. "
" .. .. you talk like you know you'll love me forever. "
He was stung by the memory of her radiant smile. " Only because I do. "
Karen.. really.. where did we go wrong?
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
I'm feeling like a child
Vulnerability
I am shaking like a leaf if you move close to me
And you're all that I see
But it's no good for me, just no good, no good
While Rick was perfectly content to sit and pine for the one he'd never have, Maria had been quiet lately.. and now that Cherry was playing with Gray and Popuri's daughter, Mint, and Rick was working with the chickens, she was free to wander up to the top of the mountain.. she could see the clouds around her. She could looked down blankly off the peak .. and walked off.
Through the clouds
When you're looking at me
" Jack-kun .. you know .. sometimes it hurts a lot, to be all alone. "
" Does it, Marii-chan .. .. ? "
" Yes .. .. I sometimes want to die. "
I'm feeling like a child
Vulnerability
She looked around .. she could see everything from where she was falling. Jack working on the farm.. her knees grew weak even now, to see him. She could see him turn his head .. she swore she could see his eyes grow wide, wider than ever before. Do you understand now, Jack .. ? ..
I am shaking like a leaf if you move close to me
And you're all that I see
That day, at six-twenty PM, Maria's life was ended with a sickening splat as she hit the ground at the base of Mother's Peak.
But it's no good for me.