We're not so different, you and I
Twin palms facing each other
Rosy breaths mingling,
drifting up into the darkness above us.
He loved watching her. Obsessively, compulsively, jealously. There really was no cure for it. Simply put, she fascinated him – there was something about the way she existed that was intriguing.
Two halves of a whole
Facing;
standing so close
Safely tucked away in the shadow of a shady building, his eyes followed her every move as she gracefully extended a slender hand towards a pile of oranges. There was something about that hand that spoke to him. Rough, calloused fingers groping the sides of the golden fruit ; squeezing carefully, testing it for firmness as –
Without warning, she unsheathed her katana. The blade fell in a graceful arc, slicing tendon from bone, bone from flesh, and flesh from body. The loose head of a man wobbled, perching on the edge of oblivion. It fell in a splash of red. Macabre flowers bloomed darkly from its gaping mouth. The thick smell of fresh blood was achingly familiar. He suppressed the urge to vomit. Seconds passed by slowly. His lips lifted up in a way that was both cheerless and joyful. Any minute now…
Then,
Then,
Then,
Chaos!
It was as if a dam had broken. The screams of the people drowned out the natural sounds of the nearby forest. They scattered in random directions like angry ants on a frying pan. No one cared when a young boy faltered, tripped, then fell in the confusion. Without hesitation, he elbowed his way through the hysterical crowd. Grabbing roughly, he flung the child onto his shoulder and pushed his way back into the safety of a nearby building.
The child's upper lip trembled as he struggled to convey his thanks.
"Mister…th-thank you." That was all he managed before he broke down in tears. When the boy wiped his eyes dry, his savior was gone.
The man felt strangely nostalgic as he walked calmly away from the blood and the confusion and the head with the vacant, staring eyes.
In the end, we both fade into black and white
two lonely figures standing on the horizon,
forgotten silhouettes on the edge of the world
He wanted to meet her – so, so badly – someday, any day. But for now, as the sky continues to rain blood,
he
remains
her
shadow.