Dances With Petals

Chapter 2: Dances with Petals.

Sitting in his Dad’s favorite pub with his Dad’s completely wasted friends going on about how close they all were to him as if it was some sad competition to see who knew him best never did much for Brooke’s heart. Occasionally a somewhat-inspired old man or woman of which Brooke vaguely knew would approach him and give him their own version of the “be strong” treatment, obviously delusively thinking they were the first to do so.

“Brooke, mate, you know …” An aged man would begin – “You know your Dad was a great feller … a great feller! And he wouldn’t want to see you upset like you are, because you’re upset, and trust me”, He would put his hand on Brooke’s shoulder, “I know these things; sadness is second nature to somebody like me”. The ale-laden breath would rot in the atmosphere. A brief moment of non-mutual consent would pass before a hiccup was sounded, and the conversation abandoned. And so was the general theme of the night.

Brooke scanned the area for particularly drunken people he should avoid, and made a path in his head leading to the exit. He really didn’t have the nerve left for much more of it. Stealthily, he slipped out of the pub and waded his way through the hordes of men outside, and into the deep, secluded abyss of the forest.
The night was thick with darkness and the sky was completely clear. Trees formed vein-like structures in the air blocking out the moonlight and leaves cluttered the floor ahead of him. His house was not far from here. He heaved his feet through the dead leaves as he made his way along the dusty footpath.

The warmth from the inn had left him and the blunt, red aura of the fireplaces was fading through the branches behind him. The night was void of warmth and of feeling, and the noise from the inn had been drowned completely in the abyssal darkness of the forest. The crunching of leaves was the only thing that told Brooke that he was still on the pathway.

Walking into the darkness was calming, there was nobody here, and all was well. Brooke sat down on the wooden fence enclosing the pathway between the grassy embankments and trees and observed the sky through the cobwebs of branches. Every so often the figure of a bat could be seen silently swooping from tree to tree. And there, Brooke welcomed the darkness, and he allowed himself to fall into a deep sleep.

∆

‘You know, the eyes are windows to the soul?’
Brooke startled and woke up, shocked and dismayed for somebody had found him here lying on the ground like a tramp. Things felt eerily more real than they had before, red petals danced about the pair of feet in front of him.
He made to get up, but instead, the person sat down next to him and said.
‘And I can see straight through yours.’
The voice was lashed with empathy.
Brooke felt a sense of euphoria in his stomach as he looked up. The girl’s face was in shadow, yet her wide eyes sparkled with happiness.
‘You should be happy I found you here, you could have been eaten by wild bears.’ Her voice was soft and quiet.

Brooke’s mind was swimming as he surveyed the face in front of him; the long, thick hair was hanging softly in the breeze around her waist. Now his eyes were adjusting to the darkness again, he could almost make out her face.
‘You’re … are you the girl from the … well I saw somebody earlier and …’ Brooke’s stammers were broken by the laughter.
‘Really?’ She said in mock-interest. ‘Well are you planning on lying here forever?’
‘I never really planned much actually, I just kind of felt tired.’

She lied down next to him and surveyed the stars. She was wearing school clothes, her face was clear now in the moonlight. She had creamy white skin and freckles about her cute button-nose. Her lips were cherry-red matching her cherry-red hair swept gracefully around her small and petite figure. She was the most entrancingly beautiful person Brooke had ever laid eyes upon. She seemed to glow with an aura not of this world. What was almost as alarming as her beauty was the fact that she had taken to this very odd situation very naturally.

‘Well actually I was wondering why you were occupying my favorite part of the forest,’ she said, ‘Because I thought it was hidden well amongst the trees, and had hoped that nobody would find it.’
She was smiling. Brooke turned away with great reluctance as he realized he had been staring at her face for a solid minute straight. He noticed that the ground was actually blooming with flowers and fallen petals, rather than what he earlier thought were dead leaves. It truly was beautiful; there was a clear view of the sky. As if to match the mood, the stars were dancing with one another in their reds and blues and yellows. There were pink and red petals falling from above onto the ground around them both. It felt magical, yet so utterly real.

‘I guess I can let you share it for a while then?’ She never moved her head, yet kept smiling to herself.
‘Thanks,’ Said Brooke, completely aware that he could have said a trillion more original and interesting things and felt like an idiot. He had just been found asleep in the forest by the most beautiful person he had ever seen and he felt like a complete moron.
She just laughed gently and observed the sky again. The sound of her laughter reaped havoc in Brooke’s chest as the sensation of butterflies grew to levels Brooke hadn’t experienced before.
He laughed also, and shortly they were both laughing almost uncontrollably together, it felt natural.

‘I don’t blame you for being dazed; if somebody found me in a forest by myself, asleep, I’d run. You obviously have less shame.’ She laughed gently again, but as Brooke looked once more, her smile faded into nothing. She was deep in thought. He looked away again.
‘Do you even know who I am?’ He said.
‘Do I need to know you to help you?’
She said it as if it meant nothing but the notion struck Brooke as if he had been hit in the stomach.

‘I don’t need help …’ He said, ‘Why do you think I need help?’
‘You’re lying on the forest floor in the middle of nowhere, you’re a psychopath’ she turned to look at him.
‘So are you,’ He said. Impressed with the first witty thing he had said he smiled again.
Petals were falling all around him, it was beautiful, he thought.
‘I’m “helping” though, aren’t I?’ she said, still deep inside her mind.
A silence followed. It was not in the slightest uncomfortable. Brooke closed his eyes, he was tired.
She walked away and he fell back asleep.