I’m on the roof, the constellation of street lights and advertising signs gradually losing its brilliance to the sunrise. The sky is every shade of bruise, the volume turning up on the traffic, down on birdsong.
“What do you say?”
He’s been silent so long, I almost forgot he’s sitting beside me. But he’s always known when to whisper, when to roar.
My throat is dry and I wonder if we’ve been here mere hours or whether he made the world turn slower, just for me.
“All of it?” I say.
I can smell him, the sun and the city heat peeling scent from his body, sending it into the world.
“All of it,” he says.
I reach for what I’m about to give up, but feel nothing. Who knows what it is to have a soul until it’s lost.
With my last breath I say, “I’ll take it.”
***
Written for What Pegman Saw, the prompt that uses Google Street View as its starting point. This week we’re in Xinhua, China. See here to join in.
There’s so much unsaid darkness here. Love that.
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And your know I love it too, Bill! Thanks so much. Sorry I’m not reading much at the moment – up to my ears in red roses for Valentine’s Day. Be back properly at the weekend. Have a good week
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Ugh of course! The ups and downs of the floral business! Good Lordy…
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Or the other side now, thankfully. Crazy times
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Something to get our thoughts turning? And it does. More than one question left unanswered… indeed, not even asked. So beautifully written.
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Thank you so much. I just think, if the devil offered you the beauty of creation – the oceans, the stars, the forests – it would be a string person who’d turn him down! Thanks for reading Crispina
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Hmm. 🙂
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Wow! Love the subtlety here, so much conveyed through sensory cues. Hints about who this other is and then that killer line about not knowing what it is to have a soul until it’s lost. Skirting around the edges, you have somehow gotten deeper into the situation than if you’d said it all straight out.
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Aw, thanks so much Joy. I really appreciate that. Still working on the subtlety but hopefully getting there. Be hard to turn down the world, though, wouldn’t it? Thanks for the kind comment
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Oooh, brrrr! What a subtle, understated chiller. Wonderful descriptions and such clever building of the emotional tension. And I agree with Joy – the line about not knowing what it is to have a soul until it’s lost is a killer! This would make a super start to a novel about someone who lived a life dedicated entirely to their own gratification.
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So many great phrases – every shade of bruise / made the world turn slower – rich descriptive language that paint an atmospheric picture. Excellent scene Lynn.
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Thanks so much, Iain. Love the sky when it’s all those, don’t you? You see paintings of it and it looks exaggerated, but it’s amazing. Thanks for reading
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What an atmospheric piece, Lynn. Loved it.
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Thanks so much Matthew. Glad you liked it
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