Sunday, February 22, 2009

Day 3

Rush. Adrenaline. Running. Running. Running. Yelling. Smiling. Over fences. Jingle. Jingle. Weights. Green and gold weights. In my pocket. A jade dragonfly beside me. A bubbling giggling feeling. Like champagne. But thats later. Running now. A man in blue behind us. A fat man, a slow man. He cant catch me, he cant catch her. We're too fast for him, too fast. Nobody can catch us. Down back alleys. Hes further and further behind, fading away. Through an open door, out the back. Shes screaming for the joy of it, jade dragonfly bouncing around her neck. The blue man is just a memory now. Running for the joy of it. For the wind through our hair. All the way to whoever would buy. Whoever had cash. Always adrenaline. Always smiles. Always champagne. Running. Running. Her beautiful face. Kissing. Making love. Life. Love. Pure life. Over fences. Through open doors. Out windows. Down skylights. Through locks, without keys. Like ghosts. Running, running, running. No one can catch us. Too fast. A shot. Blood. Blood on her hands. An intense look. Not running for joy. Straining for freedom. Not smiling. Fear. Sweat. But still running running running. Another shot. boom boom boom. More blue men. More running. Out of breath. No more running. Boom boom boom. Blood on her hands. On her face. On the dragonfly. Red dragonfly. Blood. Bullet holes in her. A broken dragonfly. Screaming for pain. Screaming. Screaming. Boom boom boom. Death. Darkness. Alone. Running. Running. A gold watch, a heavy bag. A past. Running. Running. Her screaming face.

And with that, Aaron rolled out of bed with a start. Another morning. He groaned. Another day. Again to the coffeeshop. Same day as yesterday, but the blind man was missing. On the way back, he glanced in the pawnshops windows, and froze. There was the dragonfly, the jade necklace which had haunted his dreams. It was hanging on its own, separate from the million other necklaces. He had thought that he would never see it again. He shook his head. He wasn't. The real one was broken. This was just a look a like, made in the same factory. But still, he thought. What were the chances?
It was bitterly cold outside, so Aaron walked in. It was only fitting that he buy it, that he honor the past. The clerk approached him as soon as he entered. "Ready to get that golden watch back?" he said in a sleazy salesman voice.
"No," said Aaron. He never wanted to see that watch again. "I'm actually interested in buying something else. That jade dragonfly necklace."
"Very nice, very nice," said the clerk as he went to grab it, "High quality stuff. Beautiful to behold, and will last a lifetime."
"You have no idea," said Aaron to himself.
The clerk brought it to him. It was the very same as before, down to every detail. The pricetag read 150$. It was worth it. Then another idea crossed his mind.
"Nevermind," he told the clerk, as he handed the dragonfly back. "I've got better things to buy."
Aaron stode from the pawnshop. It would be much more fitting, much more suited to her memory, he thought, if I did it the old way. If I took it the way she would have wanted me too. One more time. For her sake. Shouldn't be too hard. Just sneak in one night, snatch it, and sprint home. Just like we used to do.
He walked through the rest of the day in a dream, dully punctuated by screaming sirens. He spent hours looking over the city from the roof of Jupiter, only to have to leave because of the fire alarm. On the way out, an hysterical elderly chinese lady almost plowed him over running to an elderly chinese man. She was screaming, "Lu! Lu!" It was late in the day, and Aaron didn't feel like sticking around Lu or his girlfriend. He went back to the church, and sat in his room, thinking. He needed someone to pick the locks. He had seen the blind man with a lockpicking kit in the coffeeshop before. He could hear Father McKenzie mutter to himself as he knotted his socks alone. At some point in the darkness, Aaron fell asleep. He dreamed of jade dragonflies.

3 comments:

  1. "It had gotten up and walked away from him, and, in a type of bitter anger, he had stormed away as well." well done

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  2. 2) He is an observer of life because he doesn't want to observe his own? He takes sanctuary in an old church with a priest who worn out. Most items are connected to him. How does the coffee shop play in? Where does the money come from?

    3) The end of the last post, #3 works.

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  3. I like how you tied in the dream into reality. At first I was a little confused, but the ending tied everything together.

    What is the significance of the dragon fly and why is it made of jade? Where did the blind man go and why is he important in Thames's life?

    I really like suspense that you created towards the end of the blog.

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