Put Your Circuts in the Sea

Andrew stayed there still trying to listen for anything peculiar, like the hum of the electricity on her skin, but nothing came to his ears, just the ringing of silence, he struck his hands into his pockets, she was gone. In those short hours with her he had found the something he was waiting for, and now it was gone. He walked slowly back towards his house, he dragged his feet, both wanting to wait there until she came back, and also wanting to spare himself the disappointment and forget her.

He looked up at the sky and saw that dawn was upon him, the corners of the sky turning pink, slowly. Everything around him seemed to have lost their beauty. What if her sudden judgment she had decided to evolve? And when she ever did come back, what if he did not recognize her? Would he spend the rest of his forever looking for her?

He collapsed on the ground; the heaving pain in his lungs was too much to keep walking. He was crying. What had this girl, woman, goddess done to him? The sharp intakes of breaths scratching the back of his throat, the tears stinging his eyes. "Phoenix."

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Phoenix could hear his voice and footsteps behind her. "Phoenix, wait." But Phoenix couldn't go back, she couldn't wait. Her feet lifted of the ground and landed on the rough branch of one of the canopy trees. She took in a deep breath, she watched as Andrew ran and stopped under her tree. She couldn't breathe in those seconds he withered beneath her. She couldn't go down, wouldn't let herself go down. She would only hurt him, she would only destroy him. She looked at him, how his chest heaved up and down, how he made this familiar noise… he was crying.

"Andrew." She whispered. She would only destroy him, she would only kill him. For Phoenix could not allow herself to touch, much less love a living being. They were merely puffs of smoke compared to her. She was an uncontrollable weapon of mass destruction. She must detach herself from him, because he had begun to sink beneath her electric skin. "Goodbye." She choked. Her eyes had begun to water, and in those few seconds, she had felt more human than she had felt in a century.

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Andrew sat in front of the fireplace, his teeth sunk down on the flesh of his lower lip. He couldn't get her out of his mind. She haunted him in his dreams. And he had begun to think that was all she ever was. What if his loneliness had gotten so extreme that it had began making illusions. And that whole night he had truly never left his hammock, and never really saw Ben drunk outside his window, never really felt that heat radiating off her skin or heard the buzz and snap of the electricity on her hand. He really had just dreamt up those chocolate eyes, her almost translucent skin, and her womanly figure. He shook his head vigorously. No. No. No. He could not have made all of it up. He saw her, he knew he did. But most of all, the proof she existed is how suddenly attached he was to her. It scared him almost but mostly somehow gave him a bit of hope that he could be happy. Andrew had been miserable and right now. His down wound spiral started after he realized his forever would be spent with the same beings he grew up with. Sure Andrew would have his best friend Ben, but he would also have Violet, Violet his first everything and the one who broke his heart by sleeping with his friend and leaving with him and eventually trying to come back. But he didn’t want her anymore, he didn’t love her anymore. But she kept coming; she kept trying to weave him back. But Andrew would not go, he would never go back.

Andrew threw more wood into the fire. It tickled his skin with it warmth, but the fire would never warm his flesh like that small piece of skin that he almost grasped. He sighed, he had found what made him happy, what would cure his loneliness. Then he remembered the lake. "The Lake?" he asked himself. Why wouldn't she be at the lake?
He busted at once again rushing towards 'his' lake. He would find her, grasp her hand and never let go. He could feel the corners of his mouth tilting upward; he was going to see her. He ran dodging the low branches, they whistled past him as he ran. He slowed down as he approached. He saw her standing there in the middle of the lake, her hair wet and sticking to her back.

"Andrew" she cooed. She extended her hand towards him. "Come here." She whispered.

Andrew smiled. She was back. "Phoenix." He entered the water bare. His skin erupting in goose bumps from the cool water.

"Come closer." She cooed again. She had lowered herself into the lake and was waiting for him dead center, where the lake went its deepest. Andrew walked towards her, submerging his waist first then slowly his torso. Fear began at the corners of his mind; it was getting harder and harder to touch the lake floor.

"Phoenix I can't." He called towards her.

"Don’t be silly," she laughed. "Come closer."

He obeyed, closer and closer till… he couldn’t breathe. His body had weighed him down and the image of Phoenix was fading, turning into smoke. "No!" his mind raced, he had to get to the surface,he had to. He swung his arms violently, kicked his legs frantically, but the surface kept getting further and further. His limbs became sore and now were beginning to slow down. His eyes begin to close and feel heavy. Blackness began to consume him entirely. His mind began to turn hazy, fuzzy edges on all his thoughts. He relaxed his limbs, time began to slow down. He was dying. "Phoenix." he thought, but this time, he couldn’t put a face to the name. His eyes closed, his mind clouded even more and suddenly, almost instantly sleep took him in her arms.

"Andrew" she sang, "Andrew" again and again, each time a bit louder and louder till she was screaming "Andrew!" shaking him and screaming, ripping him out of the sleep. "Andrew, please" a voice whispered in his ear. Her voice, it was her. "Andrew please wake up."

He wanted to open his eyes, show that he was awake or move an appendage at least. He parted his lips and when he conjured up air to speak, his throat filled with the upward gush of water. "Thank god." The voice sighed. He wanted to open his eyes, see her face. He knew it was Phoenix, but he couldn't find her face in his mind. He needed to see her, but his body was too drained, too tired to co-operate with his needs.

"Phoenix."

"Hush now."

And his body gave in to sleep.