Sunday, March 1, 2015

Excerpt. Original work.

John sat down in a large armchair slightly turned towards the fireplace. Opposite him was Frank, encouched in his own armchair. Frank observed his face and found it bland, full of disappointment.

"Is there something on your mind?"

No reaction. John kept staring at the fire, bright reflection of the fire danced in his still eyes.

"John?" Frank insisted. This sparked a reaction in John. His eyes widened, and he inhaled slowly.

"When all of it began, when I was thrown in the middle of it, I knew the fight would be all uphill. I knew I needed friends to survive. I just never imagined...."

"...that they would be so ordinary?"

John looked at Frank. The firm gaze was all the confirmation Frank needed.

"You thought you would go a journey. Travel the world, meet exciting people, have fun."

"Not fun." Frank interrupted.

"An expression. You thought it would be a tale worth telling. You wanted it to be like an adventure story. You wanted your friends to be cogs in a machine of your devising. For them to be weak alone, but unstoppable with you. You think you are a hero just because you are a victim."

"**** you."

Frank smirked. He didn't want to, he wanted to keep a straight face to seem more erudite. He wanted John to take him seriously, he just couldn't stop himself from enjoying John's reaction. He himself usually showed little emotion, so much greater was the joy to create some in others.

"Reality is tough. There are no knights in shining armour, no damsels in distress, no bard spies to help you and no dragons to be slayed. When you meet a person, you meet just a person."

John redirected his gaze back towards the fire. He seemed even sadder than when he first sat down.

"What use are they? They can hardly do anything I can't. None of them matter, all they do is go places I cannot go. Ofcourse I wanted more."

John was becoming more and more agitated. Frank knew that if he was going to make his point, he'd have to do it quickly.

"You like the fire? People are like that fire. They all look the same, but the more you find, the more you realize you've never seen identical fires. The differences are small, subtle, but they are there. You just need to look closer. You'll find that some fires burn noticeably brighter."

John looked at Frank again. "You know, I'll never like your little speeches. Too much allegory."
He started to stand from his seat.

"But you'll always listen to what I say."
Frank gave a little smile and nod at John. He on the other hand walked away in silence.


"You know your allegory breaks down at candles?" asked Lisa, standing in the doorway.

"I know. He does not have to."

"Am I one of those bright flames?"

"The brightest I've met. I felt your warmth the moment you walked into earshot."

Lisa smiled, but nobody could see it in the dark doorway. She knew he had given an answer, but not the answer either of them had wanted.

"What makes a person a brighter flame than others?" asked Lisa as she walked closer to the fireplace.

"You remember how we met? It wasn't a good start. What surprised me was how badly I wanted it to be."

"Maybe there is hope for you yet." She smiled again, and left the room, leaving Frank to stew with his thoughts, and the fire.


No comments:

Post a Comment