"All
right, Mr. Hippo," I smiled toward him. "Do your thing. And
then, you'll give me five minutes with the delinquent, here."
Jared
stared at me, confusion written across his face. "I'm not sure,"
he said slowly, "if I understand what just happened."
I
looked askance at him. "You need me to explain to you your own
love song?"
He
spread his hands.
"You
sang the challenge to me. Mark was just a distraction." I looked
down at his mangled body, feeling despicable. "He always was.
And he got into the middle of something much bigger than he should
have. But I wasn't strong enough to walk away. I'd clung to him for a
long time, and he's a good person."
"You
wouldn't choose anyone less," Jared said.
"The
song woke me up. But since I wouldn't listen to myself, I had to
listen to the roses." I smiled sadly. "The challenge used
them to make me see the truth about myself."
"Not
the truth about me?" Jared asked, trying to chuckle.
"In
order to see the truth in anyone else, you have to see it in
yourself, first," I said softly. "Your haiku about the rose
petals was when I knew, but I still didn't believe. Not even with the
roses. The souls, they had to tell me."
"You
must believe."
I
nodded. "When I closed my mind to your miracles, I blinded
myself to all of them. I saw only the pain. But my mom got better. My
cat had five extra years. And Mark..." I gazed down at him and
didn't know how I could ever make up for this. "He gave me his
sun."
"I'm
happy that you're happy," Jared said carefully. His smile looked
forced.
He
crouched beside Mark, and placing his hand on his forehead, raised
his brown eyes to mine. I smiled at him assuringly.
A
furrow cinched his eyebrows, and I watched as Mark's body healed. The
punctures grew pink, then white, then melted into his skin like
they'd never appeared. His chest inhaled, and he groaned. And then
his gray eyes blinked.
"Med?"
he asked.
Jared's
footsteps crunched away through the foliage.
"Hey,
Sunshine," I said. "We have to get you cleaned up."
Mark
rose to his elbows and the smile I loved so much crooked his face.
But it looked pensive. "I didn't know you cared so little."
He
always could see clearly.
My
own smile faltered. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
He
shook his head. "You warned me but I was so positive of my
position. I didn't listen."
"I
needed you," I said, desperate for him to understand.
"But
you don't now."
How
could I lie to someone I cared so much for? "I had to learn how
to believe in miracles again," I said. "You were one, for
me."
He
stood up and gazed at his arms, the streaks of blood and dirt
covering his skin and the holes riddling his clothing. Pain crossed
his features as he remembered. "They felt like you," he
said.
"I'm
sorry," I said again, helplessly.
"I
think, Medea, that you owe me." He walked past me without
touching me, and stooped at Scat's stone. He picked up the posie and
shredded it.
In
the distance, Scat yowled.
I
closed my eyes, and believed. Then I began to write a love song.
THE END
___
I hope you enjoyed the story! If you didn't get a chance to read the whole thing, follow the links at the bottom. And leave comments! Tell me if you liked it, hated it, what you think will happen next between Jared, Med and Mark. Life never quite resolves how you think it will, providing more opportunities for further stories... and romance. :)
With special thanks to Suzanne Warr for providing her blog hop and inspiring the topic--you rock, girl.
Beautiful ending--poignant, and true to the story! Nicely done, my friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you tons for reading and for being so positive all the way through--it means so much to me. :)
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