In Other Words

Fated to die before her. I don't know why it was; why the fates had wound our tale together only to shear it every decade or so. We lived our lives, then died, then lived again. And now I wait.

Her blank gaze was like dripping acid onto the back of my neck: a constant, annoying, stingingly spiteful bitterness. I gritted my teeth and spun around. "What's your problem today?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
She smacked her lips and stared back at me. I couldn't read her face. She smoothed the front of her red-sequined dress and then combed her fingers through her bangs. Kat had cut her hair recently, and now it was about shoulder-length. She paused for a second, then uttered a single word. "What?"
I sighed and rubbed my face. "Seriously? You've been glaring at me all day." I leant against the kitchenette counter exasperatedly.
She bent forward to take off her heels, throwing them aside and stretching her toes. I averted my gaze because of the cut of her dress. She sat back on the couch and huffed.
"My problem? I have no problem. You're the one being so paranoid."
"Paranoid? I'm not paranoid! Seriously! I'm sick of this. You've been ignoring me for the past week. What'd I do to tick you off?"
Kat examined her nails.
I scoffed. "Fine. Whatever." I turned around, ignoring her now, and continued to make dinner.

---

The land stretches out into the sun. The sky is bathed in red, and the sand beneath my feet matches it. My clothes stick to my skin, but a cool breeze lowers my fever. I wipe sweat from my brow with the back of my hand, and close my eyes. When I open them, the sun has set.
The breeze turns into a cold wind, and a hand, buried beneath the sand, crawls to the surface. The hand makes way for an arm, and I bend down to dig the rest of her out and pull her out of the ground.
Kat coughs harshly, trying to force the sand from her lungs. I help her wearily stand, albeit shakily. I have my arm wrapped around her side, and she has her arm over my shoulders. She wheezes, spits, and then speaks.
"How long have you been waiting this time?"
I hum. "Not long."
She shakes the sand from her pants and we start walking East.

---

Dinner was a quiet affair. It always was, but usually we had something to say.
Kat clears her throat. "This chicken's really good." She comments to me for once.
"Thanks." I reply.
We continue eating.

---

Awaking from darkness, I gasp and choke as I make my way to the surface. Once my head is clear, I breathe in the air and try to remember what happened this time. My stomach hurts, and my back hurts. I finish crawling out and lift my shirt up to see a barely healed scar.
That explains things.
Too weak to move much, I lean my head back to stare up at the sky. The stars are out tonight, so I decide to trace patterns with my eyes and wait for Kat.

---

I curled up on the couch and buried my head in my pillow. Kat was waiting for her nails to dry- she'd painted them a neon pink.
I heaved a sigh a few minutes later. "Kat…"
She walked over to me.

---

I can see her running towards me from far away. The commander raises the gun and fires. White hot pain sears my chest and I fall backwards into the water. All the air in my lungs whooshes out as I settle into the bottom of the sea. My head becomes engulfed by the waves as I sink deeper. My gaze darkens as I choke on salt water and everything stops.

---

I groan as I crawl up from the depths of the earth again. The water in my lungs has turned to sand, and I vomit the remains up before rolling over onto my back. The warmth of the morning sun feels good on my skin.
And now I wait.
Fated to die before her: that was my mission. I don't know why it was; why the fates had wound our tale together only to shear it every decade or so. We lived our lives, then died, then lived again. Were we trying to redo something? Were we trying to make the world right? We don't know. We don't remember being younger either, as we wake in the middle and don't live much more than a decade after. We wake here when we die, then we walk in the opposite direction of the sun, and wake up again.
As I smooth my hand over the sand, I wonder if this place used to be an ocean once.

---

"My shoulders are killing me…" I grunt as I drag myself into the kitchen in the morning. Pain strikes up my back as I sit down at the table. I let out a sharp wince.
Kat sets a massive omelet down in front of me. I murmur a thanks, and start to eat.
She sits down across from me. She'd already eaten.
"When…?"
"When what?" I have eaten quickly, but now my stomach isn't liking that too much, so I sigh and start to push food around my plate.
Kat pauses. I wait for her to speak again.
"When do you think it started?" She asks me.
I set down my fork and rub my forehead. "I don't know. The earliest I can remember was…"

---

"…but what of it?"
I chuckled. "M' lady, I believe your mind blinds you to the obvious." She smiled and I brushed my lips over the back of her hand. We bowed as our goodbye and I jumped the balcony. I landed easily onto the grass below, and then ducked into the shadows.
But not far from the palace, three guards caught me. I struggled in their grasp but they knocked me over the head and I fell to the ground.
It wasn't much longer I awoke in the bowls of the dungeons. They came to get me at dawn. I was numb to my "trial", but I only closed my eyes when it came time for my execution.
Before the platform was kicked out from under me, I thought I heard a scream.
Then all flashed black.
She took my plate to the sink and began doing the dishes. I stood to help her.
"Do you remember that?" I ask her.
Kat doesn't say anything for a while.
"I remember being too late."

---

My head throbs and my vision's blurry when I drag myself out of the sand again. I have no energy once my arms are free so I close my eyes and wait for dusk. I must have slept or something, but when I opened my eyes Kat was sitting next to me. She'd pulled me the rest of the way out of the ground.
Something didn't feel quite right this time. It felt like half of my body wasn't there, but I could see it and feel it.
"What happened this time?" I asked Kat. "I don't really remember."
She brushed some sand off my cheek. "We were bombed."

---

We sat on the couch, flipping through magazines.
"I still say we refurbish an old couch. Or just a couple of chairs."
Kat sighed. "That would mean we'd have to go out and look."
"Kat, we can't just stay here and wait for something to happen. We can't just hide in here and try to avoid it. Goodness knows, something awful would happen, and to our house as well."
"No matter what, something horrible will happen. You don't think staying here will make it less of a tragedy?"
"You just said it- no matter what, we'll both die before we're forty. We can't change it."
She sighs. "I wish we could."
I say nothing.

---

The sky is spotted with stars. The moon casts a pale shadow over the desert. Kat sits beside me, resting. It hasn't been long that we've been here. I heave a sigh and kiss the top of her head. "We should get back."
"We should."
We don't really move until the sun starts to rise over the horizon. I stand and help her to her feet. We interweave our fingers and then walk on with the sun to our backs.

Author's Note

something interesting, I guess. it's probably a bit hard to follow. let me know if I need to explain something, or change something, or add something, or take something out. I know it could maybe use more editing, but I like it and wanted to at least complete it and then post it.

picture (c) AndyMumford on deviantart
http://andymumford.deviantart.com/art/Desert-Sunrise-207306740?q=boost%3Apopular%20in%3Aphotography%20red%20desert&qo=1
though in the desert in my story, the sand is a deeper red-orange color.

idea and this piece of writing (c) me, faydescape