Valentine's cousin

This week's story is called Valentine's cousin and is based on the idea of what else could be hidden behind the red roses and chocolate celebration. 

                                                            Valentine’s cousin:

It had been a nice evening he would give her that much credit. As they walked side by side, hands entwined, through the winter-wilderness he could at least appreciate that tonight might turn out to be a good memory for him, something that he could hide at the back of his mind and recall glimpses of on a rainy day. Julia was the perfect candidate for a future wife and only the knowledge of what would become her later this evening pushed away that sweet pink feeling of her being “the one.” He hoped that it was just the Valentine’s mood that was tugging at his heart. Julia was smart, fairly pretty but not high maintenance like some of the others had been and most importantly she adored him. Of course he knew that this would eventually be her downfall but she would never be aware of this until it was too late. He had met her through a friend of a friend after suggesting to various people that it might be time for him to start dating again. Most of them agreed that he deserved it after being left at the alter on Valentines the year before. Of course they didn’t know the whole truth of things and he preferred that it stayed that way. The last couple of months he and Julia had grown very close and the public opinion seemed to be that they were made for each-other. She would look at him over the coffee cup or while she thought he wasn’t looking with eyes full of love that would only make his heart sink even further. He would never love her back but of course she didn’t know this. The years of doing this had taught him how best to lie and he prided himself with the fact that he could deceive even the best judge of character.

He sensed that the creature was near them now growing impatient as the clock drew closer to midnight and it had still not fed. Jared didn’t quite know why he wanted to delay the inevitable, maybe he was consciously living on a hope that they could somehow shake off the creature that lurked in the shadows or maybe it was the general feel of the season. Deep down inside he knew there was no putting it off any longer.

Julia squeezed his hand as if she was aware that his thoughts were on longer occupied with her.

“Do you want to call a cab and go home when we get to my place?”

He shook his head in the darkness between them. He wanted to feel her skin against his one last time before it was too late. Drawing her close he kissed her passionately. When they broke apart he noticed her white teeth in the pale moonlight as she grinned.

“Alright cowboy, let’s get home then.”

Again he nodded and she grabbed his behind with a giggle. Behind them yellow eyes followed the scene with great interest. The creature had been hot on their heels all night waiting for the right moment to pounce. It licked its black lips as it felt the passion rising between the man and the woman. Oh yes this man knew what the creature liked best. It followed them through the landscape and back into the city on the other side of the park. It knew where the woman lived, it had watched them and seen how the love between them had grown deliciously rich. It felt the confusion of the male who was unsure of how their deal was meant to play out. But it would remind him tonight that he was far off from paying his debt and the creature was very unwilling to let such a good servant good that easily.

Jared had lost any sense of where the creature had gone and again he felt that flicker of hope that maybe this time he would be left alone. Julia lived in the posh area of town on the other side of the park. If things had been different maybe he could have lived here too someday, but that dream was too farfetched to take any hold in reality.

They both knew how this night would play out although he was the only one with the knowledge of how it would end. First they would share half a bottle of wine while Julia snuggled up against him, then they would start exploring and finally they would end up in her bedroom. Julia would make sure that her dress was folded neatly over a chair or put back in the closet. She liked things to be done in a certain order and knew that it was teasing when she could withhold that most intimate moment a bit longer. When they made love she would quietly give herself over to being under someone else’s control   for a little while.  Patiently she would lie there waiting to be pleasured by him enjoying the feeling of his weight on hers. He knew this was the only time she would ever lose control over anything in her life and he understood the importance of her own little sacred ritual.

Maybe she felt some of the urgency that had been riding him all night but something between them changed the moment they stepped through her front door. Maybe she felt the presence of the creature as something driving her wild to the point that she couldn’t control her actions. As he closed the door behind them her hand found his belt and she kissed him hard and demanding. In no time she had managed to undress them both and thrown their clothes in a messy pile on the floor. He felt urges that could not be pushed away surge through him as she pushed him down on the couch. For a little while he could forget himself and his troubles in their lovemaking but he was cruelly interrupted in his bliss when the creaking sound from the window announced that the creature was present. He saw the yellow eyes growing wide with pleasure at the scene it had arrived to. Slowly and slithering it came nearer the couch and Jared felt the cold stench of its breath drawing nearer. Julia was too engaged in her own pleasure to sense anything. The creature slowly licked her shoulder as if it wanted to savor the flavor of her as some sort of perverse memory. Closing his eyes Jared tried not to imagine what it was doing to her but the images in his mind were probably far worse than anything he would see tonight. As he opened his eyes he gasped slightly at the sight of the creature’s hands now moving up and down the body of the oblivious woman who seemed to become more passionate with every touch.

Trying hard to not focus on the hands of the creature which now moved into a cold embrace with both its claw-like hands over her heart, Jared made the mistake of looking into her eyes. He had made this mistake before with another woman and the sight had haunted him for months. But once he had locked his eyes into Julia’s the little part of him which was curious to when the moment occurred couldn’t quite look away. He watched in horror as the loving light in her eyes slowly diminished and turned first into confusion and then indifference as she rode him harder. With a last sigh she let go of their love and closed her eyes while their bodies exploded in pleasure for the last time together. A single tear ran down the side of his face as he turned away from her knowing that it was over. He felt the effect of another part of his debt being paid off with a staggering pain in his chest as if a piece of his heart was left behind with her.

After this Valentine’s cousin would only require another 95 goodbyes of him. 95 times his heart would break a little and then we would be left to die alone forever excluded from both heaven and hell having lived out both in multiple life-times on earth.  

First week of the Litgraphy project

This story is inspired by the following picture.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/rabbich/Landscapes/_MG_0261.jpg

A for Alexander:

As the blur of classical music rang through-out the large concrete building Alexander watched as his mother stuffed random artifacts from around the house into a large fabric suitcase. He was yet too young to understand that in Soviet Ukraine classical music meant that a great tragedy had occurred. He had overheard his father and mother whispering this morning before his father had hastily donned the extra layer of clothes that was supposed to help him against fighting whatever big monsters had come out of the hole of the giant explosions. With tears streaming down her cheeks his mother had assured him that his father would beat the scary monsters. Their frightened whispers had spoken of rocks falling from the skies and men whose faces were burning off. Alexander was worried that this monster might be too much for his father to beat. He had heard stories about great dragons that swallowed men whole and sent streams of fire into the air, but never anything like this. Alexander didn’t know what the citizens of Pripyat had done to acquire this wrath from a dragon, he only knew that it had made the grown-ups talk in hushed voices and he and the other children had been kept inside all day. At first his mother had attempted to make it fun for him playing games and cooking his favorite meal, but as the classical music had taken over everything in the radio she had spent more time talking to the other women in the building that entertaining him. Alexander had drawn several fine pictures of his father fighting the dragon and his mother had hastily put them on the wall not commenting on the general performance of his artistic flow as she usually did.

He heard her moving around in the other room praying and crying while she dropped things into the large suitcase. If he was very quiet he might be able to slip out and take a walk around the garden. Normally the older boys would hang out around the benches in the back and Alexander never went there unless accompanied by his mother and a laundry basket. They would shout weird words at his mother but as always she would calmly smile and nod going about her business. Quietly and without closing the metal door behind him he slipped into the hallway and leaped down the staircase taking the steps a couple at a time. As he went down he noticed that some of the apartments had open doors. He found this quite odd as the women of Pripyat were normally afraid of things going missing if they left them unguarded.  Continuing down the staircase he passed the door of his best friend Nikolai. This door was closed and Alexander recognized the same classical music coming from under the door. It was as if everyone in the building was sitting around and waiting for something reassuring to come out of the radio while brave men like his father fought the dragon. Alexander was sure that when he grew up he would be a brave dragon slayer like his father, at the age of 8 he was almost as tall as his mother and probably also stronger than her but she was a woman and didn’t quite count. Alexander wanted to be a giant man like his father, strong country stock as his mother always said just before she got that gleam of love in her eye that was only reserved for her husband.

Outside Alexander allowed himself to breathe deeply taking in the cool spring air. There was a sickly smell in the air like rotten fish and it was almost as if he could feel the dragon’s fire prickling on his skin. He walked to the back and sat down on the benches that for once were empty. Only a crumbled up packet of cheap American cigarettes and half a bottle of vodka showed that someone had been here recently. The metal stands that normally held vast amounts of washing were also empty as if no one had ever used them.

Alexander felt a shiver run down his spine as the world around him suddenly seemed so large and empty. He imagined a time where the whole town would be empty of people, no more singing in the garden when the men came home from work, no more smell of food served by loving mothers and wives. He imagined a time where only ghosts would roam the town of Pripayat and could almost feel their presence here in the hazy sunlight. Even now at the precious age of eight he knew that something had changed something that would turn his world upside down. Right there in the center of his being he knew that he would never see his father again even if he did not quite comprehend why this was. He fell to the ground hugging himself. He felt the dreams of hundreds of people shatter and that from this day onwards he would no longer be allowed to play again, he would be an adult and responsible for his mother.

A loud sound like a fork scraping a plate brought him back to reality. Through the cracked window of the building he heard the many radios change from classical music to a loud droning voice repeating again and again that the citizens of Pripyat where to pack their most important belongings as they would be removed from town shortly. He heard women screaming and children crying.

When his mother found him shortly after he was screaming for his father to return although he knew he would never see him again. As the bus took them away Alexander’s outbursts had died down to a weak state of sobbing, his voice coarse with screaming. It was of course only later when the medal arrived that he knew for sure that the dragon had won the fight.