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On The Edge
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On The Edge |
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pharon Member
since 1999-11-13
Posts 251alabama |
"This is our kingdom!" Liddy screamed into the night. She watched as her breath drifted away, fading a few feet above her into the star filled sky. Liddy and her friend were on the hood of ‘Hobbes,' her ’69 retro-orange Mustang. Her friend called it her get away car; she called it her floating castle. "Look at them, perfect and pure white against such a piercing darkness," Liddy said, gazing up at the stars. "They are my knights, my noble knights, warding off my dragons." Liddy always referred to her world as if it were one big fairy tale, full of castles and kingdoms, knights and dragons. The majority of her time was spent in this alternate reality. In this world, every princess had a prince charming; every dragon defeated by a noble knight in shining armor. There was no such thing as a bad ending, evil never won and no dragon was left un-slain. In this world, everyone lived happily ever after. "You don’t have dragons, Liddy, not tonight" her friend reassured her, hugging her close. Her friend always tried to comfort Liddy, tried to be her ‘prince,’ but Liddy could not be comforted. She didn’t need a prince, she had had enough of them, what she wanted was a knight. Liddy pulled away as an unwarranted anger stirred within her. She looked into her friend's eyes and the anger died. Liddy knew her friend was only trying to comfort her, to understand her, not knowing that this is what she needed least. Liddy didn’t want another person to ‘understand’ her! "I always have dragons," she whispered, her breath hardly escaping her . Then she said, softer still, "You are my dragon!" Liddy turned her head from the wondering look on her friends face, "…don’t ask…" she thought to herself. She didn’t want to talk about it, she just wanted to be held. She wanted to fade into her happy ever after world, where her knights were keeping tight watch over her. Her friend and her lay there on the hood of her car for a long time, not saying anything, but just holding each other. Finally, after quite some time her friend asked, "Are we going home tonight?" There was a silence, then Liddy sighed, sitting up, and replied, "I’m not." Not knowing what she meant by this her friend asked, "Am I?" There was another pause, this time more deliberate. Liddy just stared into the sky. Her friend knew what this meant and, before climbing off the hood of the car, gave Liddy a kiss on the cheek. "Will I see you tomorrow then?" The friend asked. "I don’t know yet, OK?" Liddy just wanted to be alone now. Why wasn’t her friend gone yet? "I love you," her friend said, looking up at Liddy. "Hmmm…" was all Liddy said, without taking her eyes from the sky. She heard the cranking and then steady hum of the engine as her friend started the car. Then Liddy heard the gravel grind beneath the weathered tires of her friend's car as it pulled out onto the road. Now she could take her eyes off of the sky and she looked out in front of her. She and her friend came here often. It was ‘their spot.’ It was nothing special really, just a cliff that looked over the ocean. It was beautiful at night though! Liddy often came here by herself, to clear her mind. She would climb on the hood of her ‘floating castle’ and sit for hours, listening to the waves crash against the rocky shore below and sit beneath the stars, her knights. Here she was protected from the dragons. Sometimes, Liddy almost resented her friend for coming with her. Some nights, like tonight, she just needed to be alone with her knights, because even they couldn’t ward off that dragon that relentlessly taunted her. Liddy looked up for the safety of her stars, her knights, but she couldn’t see anything! When had the sky had time to cloud over?!? Why were her knights hiding from her?!? Didn’t they know she needed them?!? She closed her eyes and counted to ten, when she opened her eyes there were still no knights in sight. Suddenly Liddy felt a crisp chill and shivered as the icy breeze brushed against her now tear streaked face. She tried to fight them, these unexpected, uninvited, salty intruders that stained her cheeks. Her fight was in vain, they weren’t going away this time. She began to rock. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. She tried to envision being in the comfort of her world, in her castle, with her knights keeping away the dragons. She finally opened her eyes and looked up, in hopes that she might see her knights shining down at her. They were no where in sight! Liddy could feel the world around her closing in. She started to panic. The sky was so dark now, that everywhere around her was black. She climbed off the hood of her car, slowly, carefully, until her feet reached the ground. She tried to get her bearings strait. Was it really this dark out or was she playing tricks on her mind again? She started to walk forward, towards the sound of the waves. The sound of the water beating against the rock was oddly comforting to her; she felt drawn to it! She heard a twig snap. She turned to look for what had caused the noise and saw an eerie glow in the distance. Her breathing got quicker and heavier as the mysterious glow got closer. "Are those eyes?? Could they be the eyes of my dragons, finally coming to get me??" She looked desperately towards the sky. "If only I could see one knight, just one, I’d know I’ll be safe!" She turned again to see if the eyes were still coming towards her...they were! Liddy started to run. Only, she had lost where she was and now began running towards the earth’s end. Beneath her the rocks were breaking each wave that dared approach them. She looked frantically to the left and to the right. If only she could see some form of a knight!! She looked behind her again and the eyes were gaining on her. "Is that it’s icy breath I feel on my neck?" As she turned to run forward, she began to lose her footing. "Where did the ground go?? Can the dragon take even that from me??" She looked up once more, in desperation, and above her shone one solitary star, a single noble knight. She stopped and stood, fixed in her position, not daring to move, lest her knight go back in hiding. In the background she heard something slam, she feared to much to look behind her. Then she felt hands pulling her back, she started to scream, but nothing came out. Then, she heard the voice of her understanding friend. She turned to look and was blinded by the headlights of the friends car. Gazing upward she saw the sky start to clear. Then her eyes traveled down, toward the ocean, and she saw exactly where she stood. On the edge. |
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| © Copyright 2000 maria g robinson - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
I don't yell quite like Christopher does, but I have to ditto his thoughts... I certainly enjoyed this... Karilea If I whisper, will you listen?... I would rather be silent and write, than speak loudly and be bound. KRJ |
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