Ice and Fire
.001 Hampshire Shores - Quinn
Ice:
The pebbles were cold beneath his slim feet. His shoes lay discarded a few paces behind him. The tides washed up the shore like a heartbeat, leaving a trail of dirt in its wake. The wind was howling around him, blowing his hair into his eyes. He reached up and dragged the sandy blonde fringe behind his ears; looking out to the icy gray waters.
Quinn’s usually warm brown eyes were lacking in passion as they looked out at the writhing mass of water. The corners of his eyes were no longer creased with pleasure. The sides of his mouth had not been pulled into a smile for months. He continued to watch the sea, whilst the pit in his chest filled with deeper despair.
The chill from the stones sent a shiver rippling through Quinn’s body. He automatically slipped his hands underneath his armpits. A little warmth spread to his fingertips, yet the cold emptiness within his body, chilled him inside out. His chest felt like an endless hole. It began at his heart: The vital muscle had long ago been torn out viciously; a frozen space filled the dormant cavity behind his ribcage. His lungs were two large shovels placed, conveniently, at the edge of a sand pile; each breath filled the spades a little more, until it became so hard to breath, Quinn debated giving up completely. The whole area of his torso was an empty space, a plummeting area that went through to the core of the earth.
He hadn’t been happy since he moved to England. Wanting to escape the ghosts of high school, Quinn had left Utah and fled to Hampshire. He had tried in vain to immerse himself in busy college life; yet the haunting dissatisfaction with life stopped him from doing so.
Quinn’s depressive reverie was broken by screams. Somewhere within him, a curiosity sparked. However, the sluggish mood that had enveloped his body meant his head did not turn until the screams grew louder. His cold eyes registered that the fun fair had started up for the day. Even in January, the bitterest month of winter, Hayling Island fun fair would run every day. Quinn had caught the ferry to Hayling to seperate himself with Hampshire life; he had forgotten that Saturday was the most popular day for families to visit the island's gem of an attraction.
A curious emotion ran through Quinn as he noticed the Ferris wheel. It could be something close to a smile, as he remembered the fair that visited Orem when Quinn was just a young boy. He had ridden the Ferris wheel until the dusk, when the fair had closed. That night he leant out of his bedroom window and watched the blinking lights of the Ferris wheel, high above the Orem skyline; a monstrous metal structure, drastically inapt to the natural charm of his beloved state.
An icy pain at his toes brought him back from his nostalgia. Quinn glanced down and sighed deeply as he noticed the tide had reached his feet. He shuffled back a pace, the rocks hitting each other with that organic sound of rubble. Aware of the screams of the fun fair again, he turned and looked once more at the Ferris wheel.
The pebbles were cold beneath his slim feet. His shoes lay discarded a few paces behind him. The tides washed up the shore like a heartbeat, leaving a trail of dirt in its wake. The wind was howling around him, blowing his hair into his eyes. He reached up and dragged the sandy blonde fringe behind his ears; looking out to the icy gray waters.
Quinn’s usually warm brown eyes were lacking in passion as they looked out at the writhing mass of water. The corners of his eyes were no longer creased with pleasure. The sides of his mouth had not been pulled into a smile for months. He continued to watch the sea, whilst the pit in his chest filled with deeper despair.
The chill from the stones sent a shiver rippling through Quinn’s body. He automatically slipped his hands underneath his armpits. A little warmth spread to his fingertips, yet the cold emptiness within his body, chilled him inside out. His chest felt like an endless hole. It began at his heart: The vital muscle had long ago been torn out viciously; a frozen space filled the dormant cavity behind his ribcage. His lungs were two large shovels placed, conveniently, at the edge of a sand pile; each breath filled the spades a little more, until it became so hard to breath, Quinn debated giving up completely. The whole area of his torso was an empty space, a plummeting area that went through to the core of the earth.
He hadn’t been happy since he moved to England. Wanting to escape the ghosts of high school, Quinn had left Utah and fled to Hampshire. He had tried in vain to immerse himself in busy college life; yet the haunting dissatisfaction with life stopped him from doing so.
Quinn’s depressive reverie was broken by screams. Somewhere within him, a curiosity sparked. However, the sluggish mood that had enveloped his body meant his head did not turn until the screams grew louder. His cold eyes registered that the fun fair had started up for the day. Even in January, the bitterest month of winter, Hayling Island fun fair would run every day. Quinn had caught the ferry to Hayling to seperate himself with Hampshire life; he had forgotten that Saturday was the most popular day for families to visit the island's gem of an attraction.
A curious emotion ran through Quinn as he noticed the Ferris wheel. It could be something close to a smile, as he remembered the fair that visited Orem when Quinn was just a young boy. He had ridden the Ferris wheel until the dusk, when the fair had closed. That night he leant out of his bedroom window and watched the blinking lights of the Ferris wheel, high above the Orem skyline; a monstrous metal structure, drastically inapt to the natural charm of his beloved state.
An icy pain at his toes brought him back from his nostalgia. Quinn glanced down and sighed deeply as he noticed the tide had reached his feet. He shuffled back a pace, the rocks hitting each other with that organic sound of rubble. Aware of the screams of the fun fair again, he turned and looked once more at the Ferris wheel.
♠ ♠ ♠
New fan fiction set to Smashin Pumpkins' challenge. I have lots of ideas just bursting to come out. Feedback would be lovely.[Second post, I screwed up the tenses at the end, thankyou TesticleSoup for pointing that out.]