lungs filled with sweetness;

A Story by SHAN

again, not a story, there's no real category. enjoy!

The room was scarce except for a gun that sat in the middle and the two souls that faced the other, one made of pure evil and the other made of something unknown, something kind yet menacing. The unidentified soul was wrapped in chains, chains that refused to move against her writhing body and the other one stood across the room with his eyes glued to the iron bounds. However, the room was not silent.

Two hearts, beating like fire, and one voice draped in pain, fury, and curiosity.

“HOW DO YOU FEEL NO SHAME AND NO REMORSE FOR THE TOXICITY THAT YOUR LIPS BEAR, THE POISON THAT YOUR WORDS FILL MY VEINS WITH? HOW DO YOU NOT FEEL SORRY FOR THE WOUNDS YOU BESTOW, THE WOUNDS THAT WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE THERE BUT YOU PLACED WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT? HOW DO YOU NOT FEEL A S H A M E D OF WHO YOU A R E?”

Her words left her lips like bullets, her tongue a gun, and her mind put into poetry. He stood and he watched and there was no telling if he listened.

“WERE YOU E V E R ONCE SOMETHING PURE? HAVE YOU ALWAYS HAD YOUR HEART LACED WITH HATRED? WHY ARE ALL OF YOUR MEMORIES SET ON FIRE, WHY IS EVERY SINGLE STEP YOU TAKE FOLLOWED BY A PATH OF ACHE AND HURT? W H Y?”

Her eyes couldn’t bear to meet his, afraid of the oceans she would face. Afraid of the tsunamis that surrounded his pupils.

“THESE WORDS ARE FOR Y O U. THEY ARE TO BE ETCHED INTO

Y O U R MIND. I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE WORD I SAY TO YOU AND I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER EACH TIME YOU LEFT SOMETHING PERMANENT ON SOMEONE WHO DIDN’T DESERVE IT. MAYBE I DID, MAYBE MY ANONYMITY IS CONFUSED WITH SOMETHING GOOD RATHER THAN SOMETHING EVIL BUT I WILL N E V E R BE Y O U. I WILL NEVER COMMIT YOUR CRIMES BUT I WILL ACCEPT THE RAISING GUNS BECAUSE I HAVE N O T H I N G LEFT. NOTHING BUT H A T E. BECAUSE OF Y O U.”

Finally, between her heaving breaths and her struggles to free herself, she raised her head to face him. She raised her head and with trembling, broken lips, she created her own freedom within words. She created peace within a speech.

“THERE IS A FIRE WITHIN ME THAT MUST DIE BUT I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO KILL IT. I WILL NOT ALLOW Y O U. YOU HAVE MADE ME INTO A POISON, INTO SOMETHING DEADLY AND UNFRIENDLY BUT I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE ANY LONGER. IF I AM TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE, THEN YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR TURNING ME INTO THIS. I SHALL NEVER KNOW WHAT I AM BUT I WILL KNOW THAT I DID NOT GIVE IN AND THAT, THAT IS THE TRUE PEACE ONE MAKES WITH ONESELF.”

The chains fell to the ground at her feet, surrounding her legs like snakes, and she stood still. She stood tall. With echoing steps, she made her path to the gun as he was frozen in his spot, sure he had finished her off. She was meant to give up. Her fingers wrapped around the weapon and felt comfortable. They felt made for it.

“We all have our fates and our destinies but we are not all meant to fulfill them. I refuse to fall prey to the predatory fate you have sent after me. I refuse to fall for y o u any longer.”

A bang ricocheted off of the walls of the room and a soul fell to the ground, the room growing dim from the loss of energy. Silence once again engulfed the four walls as anonymity allowed the dark to surround her.

“Never again.”