SUMMARY: He can't help but go through this, every time he has to visit.
A/N: Ah, so long yes? Well, I'm sorry, for what it's worth, and hope the quality hasn't worsened from when I last posted. We're really entering the final stretch now. Can you tell me what you think is happening? Who you think this character is? Oh, and the other half of the listed characters finally appears, if you were wondering. Hope you enjoy!
Too, thanks to reviewers! ;D
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Five
Realization
He finds himself stuck in another bout of rain, the seventh day, muttering curses (completely certain curses) with careful watch over his surroundings as he clutches a tattered umbrella close and over his head. He can't afford to get a cold with only this as his last day in the city. Tomorrow, he leaves to go back home.
And today is the day he will find it.
The rain beats softly against his umbrella, beating against every surface, and emphasizing the fact that he is, in fact, alone in this desolate scene. Everyone is safe at home or somewhere rainless, and he is out here with a purpose yet to be defined.
It's a rather lonely purpose (the one that hasn't yet been born), but he will take what he can get.
However, he can't help but think of this country as mercurial, one minute this way, and then the other way that: a mix of people, weather, and interests that mix like a whirlpool and make irregularity normal, everyday fare. Because of this, he can't see the rain lasting longer than a moment, longer than it perhaps needs to, and soon enough, this is proven true.
The sun shines then, breaking away from the embrace of heavy clouds, and the streets disappear quickly under footsteps and lives. He is in the middle of a mass of humanity that acts as if it had never left home. A sudden scene change so natural, he almost cannot help but fall into it and become a part of its natural ease. He is sure that if he ever looked, a niche would be there, waiting and beckoning like his favorite song on the radio.
He feels warm (as if there is someone hugging him), and folds up his umbrella, beginning to walk towards the other end of the block, his steps feeling brighter with every inch traveled.
His book feels heavy in his front pocket, its verse a record of his thoughts and a bundle of something he thinks has been building for this solitary week of not the present, but something else. Something that is there, but not.
His footsteps quicken in their pace as he glides through the mass like he's waltzing, and makes it to the end of the street, or something like it (because you can't really tell much about the truth of this place, as layered as it is). And he is feeling lighter and lighter, almost to the point of impossibility but he moves forward until another block is passed and he's right where he wants to be.
He's at a square, one of several in this city that beats, shivers, and lives like a heart, and at the end of his line of sight is gold. Gold that is not gold, but gold.
There is a face attached, he sees as he comes closer (he feels so light and uncertain now, and the voices that don't speak are growing louder), blue eyes and a certain light that makes them seem shining. The other is smiling, a goldenfieldsbeautytruthseeyou smile that has him respond in kind. He doesn't think he's ever really felt this way before. Really…he feels like he is remembering something, but the way it encompasses him is terrifying in how it doesn't scare him.
Something else grows in him, the sequel to what led to the creation of the story in the book he will not—would not offer to the world for all its wealth. And it is strong, growing stronger as he feels lighter, and he wonders if this is—
He really, for some reason, wants to show the shining stranger his book (what he wrote that night before, pouring everything into the little book that became something more, that is now for this single, solitary moment), and tell him about everything he's seen and felt and maybe find out why he's in a city with only the future in mind when all he wants is it and the past too…He is so excited that he begins to run, run towards the person with the shining smile until it seems that they will collide, and…
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He runs right through him.
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A/N: Yes. You read that right.