Um, ::scuffs toe on the ground:: It's not exactly chapter 17. Sorry. I got writer's block all the sudden and this is one of my many lame attempts to free myself of it so I can post the dumb new chapter. It will be up soon. I promise. So anyway, a drabble that I wrote in a fit of boredom. I wrote it with Marco and Dylan in mind but since there are no names it could really be about anyone.

What's it like up there? Is the weather nice?

I wonder sometimes.

Do you get dizzy from the height? I would. How'd you get up there anyway?

Have you ever thought what it would be like to just leap off the heights of their expectations and lose yourself in the fall, feel the freedom flowing in your hair, eyes closed shut from all the disappointed faces?

To just let go and be free?

Yes. I wonder sometimes. Does the air get thin up there? Or is that you holding your breath...just to see if you're still alive?

I wonder...why I watch from so far away. Wonder why I never walk up and take the pen from your hand or steal away the textbook. Why I don't do anything to wipe away the caged look you always wear.

I wonder why I let you continue rising...rising in their expectations.

Because as much as you might wish...you can't fly. One day you'll step too near the edge....and you'll fall. But there will be no freedom to lift you up...only the resounding crack as you hit rock bottom.

I wonder sometimes why you even care so much. What kind of affections comes from placing you in a tower so far above the clouds? It's like placing a bird of paradise in a cage. I wonder why I haven't opened the door yet. I watch as your wings lose their color inside your gilded cage...and yet I stand so far away.

I wonder when I started to love you. Was it the night you passed out at the party, too tired from late night studying to even stand upright? Was it the time I first noticed the dark bruises under your eyes and the trembling in your hands?

Yes. I definitely wonder sometimes. But perhaps that's all it is. Wondering...with no answers on the horizon. Perhaps there are no whys or reasons...just a touch of hope to keep me wondering.

So that's what I'll do. I'll sit here and wonder. Because...in the end....who else is doing this tragic occupation? Your parents? Your friends?

Sometimes I wonder.

Sometimes I wonder if you know that I'll be there for you when you fall.

I'll catch you, you know?

I'll patch up your broken wings, and try to ignore the dull color they now shine. I'll turn around away from you and break down the heights of expectation before you.

We'll stand there together on that fateful day, tears in our eyes, and watch as the tower that tethered you falls to the ground.

And later, when you finally become accustomed to your earth bound legs, you'll turn your gaze towards me.

And you'll wonder.....you'll wonder how long I've been wondering about you.

Um, review please? I feed off of them.