Through Their Eyes.
2: Andrew.
It's a funny thing, love. Most people didn't really believe in what Natasha and I had together. Being hundreds of miles apart didn't help ward those doubtful projections onto our love. What makes it funny in my eyes, is how people always tended to think of us in the present, but I always thought of our eternal future.
I had just trekked those hundreds of miles to see her for the third time. Butterflies really didn't quite describe what was going on inside my stomach. It was more like a flock of bats bumping around, flapping those wings with powerful strokes, blindly fluttering about. I had arrived at her house that day, and if the suspense of the long drive weren't enough, I had to wait for her bus to arrive, and relinquish her to me.
I imagined her a thousand times over, running up to me so I could hold her in my arms, and lay the first of many kisses upon her lips, with a mutual love so strong, it could make a diamond jealous. I sat there in her front yard, seated on the lush spring grass, and grinned like an idiot as I thought about the miracle of what we'd both waited for so long to happen, and how it had arrived. It was only for spring break, and it broke my heart knowing I'd be leaving her again, but I knew that the time we did get together would mean more than the world to the both of us.
As I sat there I thought about our young love, how poetic it was, and with the spring as well. Seduced by the warm sun, I chuckled to myself as I jokingly made fun of my own literary-type mind. It was at that precise moment I was snapped back into reality, as my phone vibrated against my leg, leaving me mystified as to who could be calling. Ironically enough, it was the girl who I hadn't been able to get my mind off all day.
"Hello?" I answered, wondering to myself what was going on.
"Andrew, I don't know what's happening... But can you come get me?"
"Of course!" I replied, although at the same time a wave of worry swept away my childish euphoria.
"Thanks," she replied, in a tone that seemed ominous, "I love you."
"I love you too, Natasha." I said back. A few seconds later I heard the click of her hanging up the phone.
I climbed into my dad's SUV, which I'd managed to borrow and entered Peotone High School into my GPS. In no time, I was off to retrieve my loved one. As I neared the high school, confusion entered my mind, as I saw various large vans of black and white with government markings on their sides. "Oh my god!" I said aloud to myself. Natasha hadn't really told me anything about this over the phone. As I managed to find a place to park, I hurried over to the main entrance of the school, only to be confronted by a trapped off door, filled with men in strange looking suits that some disease control place would wear, and then I made the connection. It was the CDC. I waited behind other people who were just as mystified as I about the whole situation, as each one was examined by the men in the suits. At long last, I was allowed to go in.
There she stood, the most beautiful girl in the world, my Natasha. She looked a bit anxious, but I thought to myself, who wouldn't be? She caught sight of me as well, and we hurried toward each other. I took her into my arms, an held her tight, feeling a sense as if everything had been alleviated from me. I can't recall how long we stood there taking solace in each other's embrace, but to me it could have easily been hours. We simultaneously let up a bit, as if we knew what the other was thinking.
"What's going on?" I remembered where we were and what strange events were transpiring.
"I don't know.. I just want to go home now."
"Okay." I replied.
We stepped into my car, and we were headed back to spend our wonderful hiatus together.
"I'm so glad we're finally together." I said, breaking the thick silence that had seemed only to increase pressure with every passed second.
"I know," she said, smiling "I've missed you so much."
Part of me wanted to kiss her so badly, but I figured it wasn't worth a fiery death by car crash, sacrificing a million potential kisses in the future. "We get a whole week together." I was more than excited, euphoria seemed to have drawn that smile on my face with permanent ink. I drove on, entering the rural part of the trip back to her house. Part of me wanted to turn on the radio, to have music to accompany my perfect reality, but I inwardly chuckled at the thought of tension it would probably create, given our different musical tastes.
As I drove on, we both witnessed the strangest sight either of us probably had in a long time. Walking slowly in the opposite road was a man. It wasn't the fact that he was walking in the road that made it strange, but how he walked. As we approached closer to him, I slowed down, as if he were a carnival attraction people stopped to stare at. He walked sluggishly, arms drooping down as if they were boneless sacks of water, and his back hunched over slightly, but noticeably. He was facing the way we were driving, so we couldn't see his face right away. Neither of us said a word, we were both entranced by what we were witnessing.
Slowly we passed him, staring. He didn't turn his head to look at us, rather, he kept slowly walking awkwardly forward with his arms dangling by his sides. I'm not sure she saw the same thing I had, when I had decided to step on the gas, instantly accelerating us forward, in turn slamming our heads into the headrests. His face had looked as if somebody ran a lawn mower over it. Chunks of flesh, including the lower right part of his jaw, were missing, accented by black edges of dead skin. Clear view showed insects crawling in and out through his mouth, and a gaping hole in his cheek. Slash marks across his face also leaked blood like a plentiful stream, yet he just kept walking. Neither of us spoke, and my euphoria was completely masked by that strange and ominous feeling I got from seeing him and the horrifying shock I received from seeing that face, the horrible face. Before I knew it, we were at her house. We were free to spend as much time as we possibly could with each other, and this quickly brought the euphoria back to overtake me once more. Neither of us spoke of the man, and in my mind I prayed she hadn't seen.
I had just trekked those hundreds of miles to see her for the third time. Butterflies really didn't quite describe what was going on inside my stomach. It was more like a flock of bats bumping around, flapping those wings with powerful strokes, blindly fluttering about. I had arrived at her house that day, and if the suspense of the long drive weren't enough, I had to wait for her bus to arrive, and relinquish her to me.
I imagined her a thousand times over, running up to me so I could hold her in my arms, and lay the first of many kisses upon her lips, with a mutual love so strong, it could make a diamond jealous. I sat there in her front yard, seated on the lush spring grass, and grinned like an idiot as I thought about the miracle of what we'd both waited for so long to happen, and how it had arrived. It was only for spring break, and it broke my heart knowing I'd be leaving her again, but I knew that the time we did get together would mean more than the world to the both of us.
As I sat there I thought about our young love, how poetic it was, and with the spring as well. Seduced by the warm sun, I chuckled to myself as I jokingly made fun of my own literary-type mind. It was at that precise moment I was snapped back into reality, as my phone vibrated against my leg, leaving me mystified as to who could be calling. Ironically enough, it was the girl who I hadn't been able to get my mind off all day.
"Hello?" I answered, wondering to myself what was going on.
"Andrew, I don't know what's happening... But can you come get me?"
"Of course!" I replied, although at the same time a wave of worry swept away my childish euphoria.
"Thanks," she replied, in a tone that seemed ominous, "I love you."
"I love you too, Natasha." I said back. A few seconds later I heard the click of her hanging up the phone.
I climbed into my dad's SUV, which I'd managed to borrow and entered Peotone High School into my GPS. In no time, I was off to retrieve my loved one. As I neared the high school, confusion entered my mind, as I saw various large vans of black and white with government markings on their sides. "Oh my god!" I said aloud to myself. Natasha hadn't really told me anything about this over the phone. As I managed to find a place to park, I hurried over to the main entrance of the school, only to be confronted by a trapped off door, filled with men in strange looking suits that some disease control place would wear, and then I made the connection. It was the CDC. I waited behind other people who were just as mystified as I about the whole situation, as each one was examined by the men in the suits. At long last, I was allowed to go in.
There she stood, the most beautiful girl in the world, my Natasha. She looked a bit anxious, but I thought to myself, who wouldn't be? She caught sight of me as well, and we hurried toward each other. I took her into my arms, an held her tight, feeling a sense as if everything had been alleviated from me. I can't recall how long we stood there taking solace in each other's embrace, but to me it could have easily been hours. We simultaneously let up a bit, as if we knew what the other was thinking.
"What's going on?" I remembered where we were and what strange events were transpiring.
"I don't know.. I just want to go home now."
"Okay." I replied.
We stepped into my car, and we were headed back to spend our wonderful hiatus together.
"I'm so glad we're finally together." I said, breaking the thick silence that had seemed only to increase pressure with every passed second.
"I know," she said, smiling "I've missed you so much."
Part of me wanted to kiss her so badly, but I figured it wasn't worth a fiery death by car crash, sacrificing a million potential kisses in the future. "We get a whole week together." I was more than excited, euphoria seemed to have drawn that smile on my face with permanent ink. I drove on, entering the rural part of the trip back to her house. Part of me wanted to turn on the radio, to have music to accompany my perfect reality, but I inwardly chuckled at the thought of tension it would probably create, given our different musical tastes.
As I drove on, we both witnessed the strangest sight either of us probably had in a long time. Walking slowly in the opposite road was a man. It wasn't the fact that he was walking in the road that made it strange, but how he walked. As we approached closer to him, I slowed down, as if he were a carnival attraction people stopped to stare at. He walked sluggishly, arms drooping down as if they were boneless sacks of water, and his back hunched over slightly, but noticeably. He was facing the way we were driving, so we couldn't see his face right away. Neither of us said a word, we were both entranced by what we were witnessing.
Slowly we passed him, staring. He didn't turn his head to look at us, rather, he kept slowly walking awkwardly forward with his arms dangling by his sides. I'm not sure she saw the same thing I had, when I had decided to step on the gas, instantly accelerating us forward, in turn slamming our heads into the headrests. His face had looked as if somebody ran a lawn mower over it. Chunks of flesh, including the lower right part of his jaw, were missing, accented by black edges of dead skin. Clear view showed insects crawling in and out through his mouth, and a gaping hole in his cheek. Slash marks across his face also leaked blood like a plentiful stream, yet he just kept walking. Neither of us spoke, and my euphoria was completely masked by that strange and ominous feeling I got from seeing him and the horrifying shock I received from seeing that face, the horrible face. Before I knew it, we were at her house. We were free to spend as much time as we possibly could with each other, and this quickly brought the euphoria back to overtake me once more. Neither of us spoke of the man, and in my mind I prayed she hadn't seen.