Saturday, July 25, 2009

Unrequited, IV

The lo mein was good, but the moo shu was better. He drained the hot and sour soup from the styrofoam container, then found Leila staring at him.

"C'mon...Let's go for a ride. You need to get out for a bit and..."

"No, Leila, I can't. I just...", interrupted Declan.

"Just what? Sit here and rot? It's been a year, Dec. It wasn't anyone's fault. Everyone has moved on. Toshi, James, Juan...even Kim. You keep wanting to blame yourself, but..."

"But what?" retorted Declan. He stared at Leila. He didn't want to pick a fight, but sometimes it was just easier.

"Okay, let's go."

"What?" exclaimed Leila.

"Now, on the bikes" teased Declan. I hope this works, he quickly planned through his mind.

The whine of the Ducati beconed Leila, and the resulting burnout only hinted at the burn that was to come.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Life Interruptus

One of my favorite lines from a particular artist goes like this:


With an iron-clad fist, I wake up and French kiss each morning...

I'd like to think that I live this way, but I probably don't much of the time. I have been working to embrace certain things more, shifting my priorities to where they should be.

Why the confessional? Well, I guess I feel guilty to a few of you readers (all eight of you) that I haven't continued my story. In all honesty, my fairly new PC is on the fritz right now and I'm on the phone talking, going into my third hour with the tech support.

So, the story is hopefully just a few days away from continuing. In the meantime, help me out here. What do you think about Declan, Moira, and Leila? Opinions?

Basically, offer your take on what's there. Or not. Either way, hopefully, I can get the "Unrequited" train back on track and rolling in a few.

Thanks for coming by and we'll be seeing you soon.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Unrequited, III

The whine of a Ducati is unmistakeable. Declan lived is a nice little neighborhood in South Austin, but what was perhaps the nicest was all the little curves and undulating hills here and there. He didn't condone reckless driving, but the course to his house from pretty much anything more than a quarter mile away was a thrilling drive.


The 696 shifted, increasing intensity. Leila was almost there, with the Chinese. His stomach growled in anticipation.

He sat next to the window, antipating Leila's route. If you looked to the west, you could see, through a patch in the limbs, the road that could lead you to Declan's house. He saw the blur of red flash through, followed by the slight pause of noise, then its eager return.

Declan's eyes were drawn to a photograph on his grandmother's antique shelf. In it, you could see Declan and Leila, wearing graduation gowns sitting astride matching red Ducati 696's. A present for our four years of hard work, Leila justified. Declan didn't need much justification; he remembered his Japanese classmates bragging about their brothers and sisters rides. The loud and gaudy paint jobs on the motorcycles always caught his eyes. Declan can always remember the day that Ren, Takumi's older brother, offered him a ride on his Suzuki Hayabusa. Money be damned, Declan didn't care that this dragon with two wheels was either stolen or paid with illicit money. The 500 horsepower beast catpured Declan into the realm of two-wheeled freedom.

Before he could realize it, Declan's typical stoicism had broken into the half-smile of old. The whine of the motorcycle faded into the whiteness of background noise, until it's abrupt absence startled Declan; Leila was here.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Unrequited, II

The flashing cursor blindly urged him to type something, but nothing was coming to Declan. At least, nothing that the recipient would understand.


He shook his head absently, picked up the iPhone and quickly responded to Leila:

Bring Chinese tonight. Lo Mein, not Chow. XXOO.

Any bystander would think that Declan was taking to his girlfriend, but Leila was a very lovely and faithful girl friend. You guys are...Pluto-nomic, is what Aunt Caitlin would say. Pretty much everyone got the gist.

As he hit send, Declan's finger brushed up against the scar along his thumb. He set the phone down and traced the scar, following it down to nearly his elbow. Declan lost count after the the cast came off how many times people queried about it. The running joke was a cat did this to him. It wasn't a lie; it was a bitter truth that Declan could not forget.

He could feel the wind whipping through his reddish locks, the arms wrapped around him, the warmth of another pressed upon his cheek, a whisper...

The keyboard suddenly leapt simultaneously along with the vintage wooden chair. It's antique hinges and springs creaked in protest, the seat swiveling round and round, no longer hindered by a seated person.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Unrequited

We accept the love we think we deserve.

Declan couldn't comprehend it for a moment. For much of his life, he had been alone. Declan's parents died in the infamous Trade Center attacks, when the second tower collapsed. He left New York to live with his next of kin in what seemed like a backwoods cesspool called Austin.

Now that he'd graduated, his plans weren't quite as clear. Declan forgot for the moment that things really were never that clear. The words remained constantly burned on the monitor as he finished up a few internet postings.

He felt the buzz in his pocket. Declan tugged out the iPhone and gave it a quick tap. Moira again, thought Declan. He loved her like a sister, because that's pretty much who she was. She lived on the ranch across the road from Uncle Finn and Aunt Caitlin. They'd taken many a rides on horseback on those late summer evenings. Declan even helped her father with hauling hay as it was. Moira was the first friendly face that he connected with, but that quickly evolved into something more.

Movie was good, dinner sucked. TTYL! I<3u

But for now, those words on the screen brought back the image of Leila. The vacuum once again clenched its iron fists around his heart.