Disclaimer: I don't own the song Swing Life Away by Rise Against or the characters but I own the plot :) yaya me!
Swing Life Away
Tears were sliding down her pale face as her hair whipped around her in the wind. Jude Harrison sniffled a bit and placed her shaking hand on the gravestone in front of her.
"Why'd you have to go?" She asked softly as she traced the engraved rose and guitar on the stone before hugging herself against the cold.
-Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up, am I still your charm or am I just bad luck, are we getting closer or are we just getting more lost-
Jude hummed the bars of a song before sniffilng again. "Why'd you leave me?" She asked agian, a bit more anger visible in her voice while she slid her gloves on. "Why'd you disappear?" She knelt down and put her covered hand on the stone before deciding the gloves needed to come off. She'd become ancy that way since the death..the murder...the unsolved murder. The gloves were off now and that is when she revealed the inch deep cuts on her left wrist. It'd been so hard to admit that they were gone, that they weren't coming back and it had taken all her strength to keep going.
-I'll show you mine if you show me yours first, lets compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse, lets unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words.-
The wind was picking up as Jude knelt there on the cold hard ground in front of the gravestnoe. "Why did you quit?" She asked the stone, staring at the wilting roses that had been placed there only a few short hours ago. "Why'd you let them do this to you?" She wanted answers and no one, not her, not her family or friends, not the police, no one had any answers to who or why or what or anything else that mattered. All they had was a cause of death. And that in itself made Jude shudder relentlessly.
-We live on front porches and swing life away, we get by just fine here on minimum wage, if love was a labor I'd slave til the end, I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand.-
Clamping her hand over her mouth the tears fell down swiftly, leaving trails along her dirty cheeks. Jude hadn't managed to find a shower in days let alone anything else to make herself cleaner. She was in a pair of ripped jeans, a winter jacket, tennis shoes and her hair was just down and everywhere. Her face was wearing make up she'd thrown on to look presentable at the funeral. But they wouldn't of cared, they'd just of held her hand and said,it's alright I forgive you. Jude hummed some more of the words to the song before standing once again to stare down at the gravestone so cold and lifeless before her.
-I've been here so long I think that it's time to move, the winters so cold summers over too soon, let's pack up our bags and settle down where palm trees grow.-
Her hair once again whipped around her face as she tried to comprehend what she was supposed to do now. So many losses in less than a year. The little black dress in her closet meant for funerals never got any use because the funerals she attended were too dear to her to wear just anything like that. She had to be her.So many losses. She'd just sat back and watched her life swing past her while she dreamt of far off places and getting away from the too cold winter, stuff that was happening around her. Not the people, just the things. She regretted that now as she stared at this loss in particular for this one was surpassing the others.
-I've got some friends, some that I hardly know but we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world, We chase these days down with talks of the places that we'll go.-
Nothing at thsi moment couldn't console Jude. Nothing. No one. Nothing was going to fix the now ripped and shattered heart that to her dismay still continued to beat within her chest while they were cold and dead in the lifeless heartless ground. Jude felt warm fresh tears welling in her eyes and her hands flew to whipe them away immediatly. Without a second thought she glared helplessly at the gravestone and lifted her foot. "WHY DID YOU GIVE UP!" She cried and her foot came at the stone with a hard swift kick and although it affected the stone naught it somewhat made her feel better for a second as she continued to kick at the stone. For it felt no pain.
-We live on front porches and swing life away, we get by just fine here on minimum wage, if love was a labor I'd slave to the end, I won't cross these streets til you hold my hand.-
The tears were flowing freely and her foot was throbbing as Jude stopped kicking and put her head on her hands on the stone. Sobbing to no one in particular, because now no one was around to hear her scream or cry or beg. She was alone. Her mother and father and step parents if that's what you called them had died long ago in a car accident with the four of them in the cab. Family was apt obviously to not be around. Everyone was dead or had abandoned her long ago.
-I'll show you mine if you show me yours first, lets compare scars I tell you whose is worse, let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words.-
Jude stood up, snifled and whiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks. Revealing a plain pale face. She had no desire to go on. She just wanted to stare down at the headstone forever because it was all that was left. All that was left of them, their memory.
-We live on front porches and swing life away we get by just fine here on minimum wage, if love was a labor I'd slave til the end. I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand.-
Kicking a clump of dirt in a direction she had no awareness of she reached in to her pocket and found the guitar pic. On the pic was a picture of the two of them togeher, playing a guitar when they'd first met. On the other side engraved was the day they'd admitted they'd fallen. She kissed the pic carefully and sadly and placed it on the stone. "You may not be able to take this, but atleast I can say I gave it."
-Swing Life Away-
She smiled at the memory of the two of them as each memory flooded her mind quickly. Shaking her head she kissed her fingers and pressed it against the pic that was now on the stone. "I hate you for giving up, but I love you." She said quietly and turned to walk away
-Swing Life Away-
The newspaper said murder...everyone knew it was suicide. Because no one knew what drove the two apart. They only knew it ripped him to shreds.And he gave up, he quit, he cut his wrists and died. And that was the part that would haunt Jude for the rest of her life. Because she really loved him.
-Swing Life Away-
Tom Quincy
Beloved Friend
Loved Musician/Producer
We'll Miss You,You Idiot
Nov 11, 2005
-Swing Life Away-
AN: I wrote this off the top ofmy head, if you listen to the song it fits the mood pretty good! No joke! Review!
MrISS
