Status: I've recently revamped this story a bit, so please start over if you've been reading. A lot of it has just been recycled, but I've changed major plot lines, so please take the minute to reread
Ecclesiastes
Heads Will Roll
This is a link to the song that comes up later.
I grab onto the harp and rest it on my lap. I look up at all the new faces then focus back on the wild, handsome boy, trapped in the arms of a much larger man. I gently pull back the strings, one at a time, from my itching fingertips. I shiver at the whimsical sound they all make and then refocus my tired eyes on the wide, desperate eyes of the handsome, pale boy. He locks eyes with me and starts to calm down as I figure a tune to play. I start to tap my foot against the cement of the patio to set a consistent background sound. “Feeling my way through the daaarkness/Guided by a beating heaaart./I caan’t tell where the jooouurney will end,/But I know where to staaaart…”
I can see the hands of the larger man start to loosen while the handsome boy softens and settles down.
“They tell me IIIII’m too yooouuung to understand/They say I’m caught up in a dreeeeeaam./Well life will pAAss me by if I don’t ooOoopen up my eyyyyes/Well that’s fine by meeee…”
The older man who handed the harp to Allison slowly walks forward, as if approaching a recently freed lion from years angrily pacing in a cage.
I tap my foot harder and faster against the cement, “So waaake me up when it’s aaall ooovver/When I’m wIIIser and I’m older/All this tiiiime I was fiiinding myyyself/And IIII didn’t knooow I was loooost…”
I continue playing and start to dance just a bit to the tune. I close my eyes and move my torso and head around for a while before looking back up at everyone. The handsome boy slowly slides down the body of the larger guy loosely holding him. He drops to his knees and slides his hands up his neck and into his hair while his eyes become glossy and his mouth droops open.
“I tried caarryying the weeaaeeeight of the woorrrld/But I only have two haaaaands/Hope I get the chance to traaaavel the world/But I don’t haaave any plaaaanns…”
The handsome boy starts to walk on his knees toward me, and no one stops him.
“Wish that I could stay foooreeeever this young/Not afraid to close my eyes…”
Once again, he stops at my feet and kneels and stares up at me as if to worship.
“Life’s a game made for eeeeverrryooone/And love is the prize.”
He stares up at me like a lost child in a store finding their parents after hours of searching.
“So waaake me up when it’s aaall ooovver/When I’m wIIIser and I’m older/All this tiiiime I was fiiinding myyyself/And IIII didn’t knooow I was loooost…”
I lean down toward him and he leans up toward me. I go to press my full, wet lips, against his thin, chapped ones, but the older man who gave Allison the harp gently tugs him away from me. This time, the handsome boy doesn’t fight or try to wiggle free, but rather, calmly accepts this fate of separation. The larger, slightly older guy from before grips the shoulders of the handsome boy while the older man walks up to me with wide eyes and a furrowing brow. I don’t really care for this, so I lie down and hang my shoulders over the length side edge of the metal chair. “I didn’t know I was loooooost! I didn’t know I was looAAAooost! I didn’t know – I didn’t know I was lost…”
He grips the top and bottom of the harp and tugs it away from me. I get pulled up with it, but the force of a second tug rips it from my hands, stopping my tune, stopping my singing, and stopping the handsome boy’s kneeling toward me.
Everything is quiet. I lean my right side against the back of the chair and enjoy the cool metal bringing me back from reality and from my intense high. I can no longer feel my teeth or all the rubs and slight pricks against my skin, but I’m definitely still too tired to really engage what the hell is happening. As if Allison can tell exactly what I’m feeling and wondering, she looks at the older man, who is now holding the harp to his chest, and asks, “So what does this all mean?”
He stares at me, cocks his head to the side, and grins. “It means that Lydia isn’t your only interesting friend.”
I grab onto the harp and rest it on my lap. I look up at all the new faces then focus back on the wild, handsome boy, trapped in the arms of a much larger man. I gently pull back the strings, one at a time, from my itching fingertips. I shiver at the whimsical sound they all make and then refocus my tired eyes on the wide, desperate eyes of the handsome, pale boy. He locks eyes with me and starts to calm down as I figure a tune to play. I start to tap my foot against the cement of the patio to set a consistent background sound. “Feeling my way through the daaarkness/Guided by a beating heaaart./I caan’t tell where the jooouurney will end,/But I know where to staaaart…”
I can see the hands of the larger man start to loosen while the handsome boy softens and settles down.
“They tell me IIIII’m too yooouuung to understand/They say I’m caught up in a dreeeeeaam./Well life will pAAss me by if I don’t ooOoopen up my eyyyyes/Well that’s fine by meeee…”
The older man who handed the harp to Allison slowly walks forward, as if approaching a recently freed lion from years angrily pacing in a cage.
I tap my foot harder and faster against the cement, “So waaake me up when it’s aaall ooovver/When I’m wIIIser and I’m older/All this tiiiime I was fiiinding myyyself/And IIII didn’t knooow I was loooost…”
I continue playing and start to dance just a bit to the tune. I close my eyes and move my torso and head around for a while before looking back up at everyone. The handsome boy slowly slides down the body of the larger guy loosely holding him. He drops to his knees and slides his hands up his neck and into his hair while his eyes become glossy and his mouth droops open.
“I tried caarryying the weeaaeeeight of the woorrrld/But I only have two haaaaands/Hope I get the chance to traaaavel the world/But I don’t haaave any plaaaanns…”
The handsome boy starts to walk on his knees toward me, and no one stops him.
“Wish that I could stay foooreeeever this young/Not afraid to close my eyes…”
Once again, he stops at my feet and kneels and stares up at me as if to worship.
“Life’s a game made for eeeeverrryooone/And love is the prize.”
He stares up at me like a lost child in a store finding their parents after hours of searching.
“So waaake me up when it’s aaall ooovver/When I’m wIIIser and I’m older/All this tiiiime I was fiiinding myyyself/And IIII didn’t knooow I was loooost…”
I lean down toward him and he leans up toward me. I go to press my full, wet lips, against his thin, chapped ones, but the older man who gave Allison the harp gently tugs him away from me. This time, the handsome boy doesn’t fight or try to wiggle free, but rather, calmly accepts this fate of separation. The larger, slightly older guy from before grips the shoulders of the handsome boy while the older man walks up to me with wide eyes and a furrowing brow. I don’t really care for this, so I lie down and hang my shoulders over the length side edge of the metal chair. “I didn’t know I was loooooost! I didn’t know I was looAAAooost! I didn’t know – I didn’t know I was lost…”
He grips the top and bottom of the harp and tugs it away from me. I get pulled up with it, but the force of a second tug rips it from my hands, stopping my tune, stopping my singing, and stopping the handsome boy’s kneeling toward me.
Everything is quiet. I lean my right side against the back of the chair and enjoy the cool metal bringing me back from reality and from my intense high. I can no longer feel my teeth or all the rubs and slight pricks against my skin, but I’m definitely still too tired to really engage what the hell is happening. As if Allison can tell exactly what I’m feeling and wondering, she looks at the older man, who is now holding the harp to his chest, and asks, “So what does this all mean?”
He stares at me, cocks his head to the side, and grins. “It means that Lydia isn’t your only interesting friend.”
♠ ♠ ♠
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