The Ballad of the Four Roses; Letters to Jun(e)

Part 1

The silent brush of the wind woke me to yet another starless evening. A numbness ran through my skin and the feeling of the world was almost somewhat unfamiliar. A nostalgia of something that never happened.

            Reaching overhead, I felt the familiar shape of yet another empty bottle. I laughed a little, maybe it was the hilarity that always ensued after a lost night. Or perhaps it was the pathetic venture of looking for you at the bottom of every bottle.

Nonetheless, it was enough to send my idea of all things thoughtful to go flying out the door.

I remember that night as clear as the first time you sent my demons away while we sipped on what was left of the last few hours of our God-given liberty.

“It should always be this easy you know.”

The slurring in your voice complimented the innocence of your lips. I knew I should have left you right then and there, but something told me otherwise. To this day, I hope it was that poor b*****d people like to call Hope.

I swear, it should’ve been physically impossible to consume that much alcohol but then again people shouldn’t be allowed to look as lovely as you did that night.

“You know what would make this better?” You asked, holding another empty bottle of rum on your hands. “Something that can get the blood rushing.”

In a second, you bolted from the sidewalk we sat on and headed straight into the darkness of the early morning light, away from the party we secretly loathed. The chase didn’t last long, for I found you standing before a city unlike you’ve ever seen.

“I want to say it’s beautiful but no word can ever do this moment any justice.”

I stared at you with intentions that I should never have. With reasons that should never have broken the surface. Little did I know I was capable of betraying myself, despite all things I sought to hide from the world. Then and there, I was oblivious to how you single handedly took me away from all that I’ve ever known.

“I know,” I said, fighting every urge in my body to seal the moment with a promise. “It’s difficult to capture this, regardless how much letters you write to describe it or the endless photos one can take to make it last.”

The look in your eyes brought something out and though I can’t tell you what it truly was, my actions that followed after your laugh explained it better. I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but holding your hand overruled everything that was happening in the world. On top of a hill that made us skyline a world hell-bent on keeping everything to themselves, the climax of our story was beginning to take shape. With a kiss reflective of the city we were in.

Call it naïve or call it stupidity, but I swear on every fiber of my being; what we had was historic to our generation.

We lingered for a moment, sitting now at the edge of our sanity with dreams of children born in paradise.

“It should always be this easy Alex.” You whispered, with the taste of regret leaving your breath.  “Always.”

The words stung like first drop of a farewell but brought the excitement of the last sound of a

Hello. I knew the time was coming soon. I knew that in some other reality, the two of us made it farther than what our God allowed.

And if I had another chance to seize that moment, to have one last spark to set us afire, then with every last fragment of my soul, I would have burned this f*****g world to the ground.

Author's Note

The first of a Four part series

Reviews

[brlockwood]

Impressive way of capturing the complexity of a single moment. It's very descriptive but still ambiguous enough that the reader can project themselves into it. Nice work.