It felt like a vast
ever-stretching expanse; and even though they knew the water eventually ended a
few kilometres down, they made sure they never saw it. Cloaked in the shadow of
the day, the setting sun and impending rain, he pulled his coat tighter around
him as he sat next-to-and-across from her.
His lips curved up
slightly, not quite a smile yet distinguishable as something. He tilted his
head to the side and took a long look at her, her features, and then her. He
stole glances at the water in between his staring. He was afraid the sun would
go down too soon, that rain would come down too early. Maybe, what with his
luck, the path underneath them would disappear and they'd find themselves
falling into the frigid post-waste, pre-nature mix.
She had her legs folded
underneath her, her skin hidden under all her clothes, save for a chance at her
neck and clavicles every time the wind blew her hair back. Sometimes, she'd
pull the scarf tighter, but she got tired and just rested her head on the arm placed against the backrest-railing. "Tommy," she looked at him.
He had wide, smiley eyes, framed by thick lashes. Adolescence had carved his face out well, and he wore it like a fawn -- always a deer caught in the
headlights, a deer caught in the sunlight.
He stretched his
expression out into a smile, "Kathy." Lit. It looked like he was a
lamp and he had been lit.
The last few drops of
sunlight danced along her stocking-clad legs, then to her fingers, then on her
hair. The wind slurred past them before she spoke, "Ruth's probably
waiting for us in the car." She pushed a smile forward, as if
begrudgingly.
He looked down first,
the click of the key in the ignition and the roar of the engine coming to life,
distant. Then he looked at her, and in that moment froze her. He froze her
against the background of a setting sun, an oncoming thunderstorm, lying back
against the bridge that kept them from sinking. He took her, her hair blowing
in the wind, her fingers delicate on her lap and on her face; her eyes fixed on
the horizon, and her mind on him.
She stood up and
started walking, her ballet flats barely making a sound against the stone
pavement. He lagged a little behind. Often he wished he had the guts to steal
her. Often she wished they both did. Their lives had spun into a weave too
intricate to unravel, and too tiring to put aside.
*unfinished*
Disclaimer: This is based on that one scene in Never Let Me Go. I just rewatched it for the nth time and I can't get it out of my head. Js.
