Random Stories and Missing Plots

Inside My Mind

"Please, just stop... trying."

Her words waltzed off of her lips and into the crisp winter air, floating away in a cloud of mist. He had expected those words to be sharp, tainted; instead, they were soft. But they still stung, like poison oozing from an open wound. Smooth, yet dangerous.

"But," he began to stand, "I don't understand." Not bothering to dust off his knees, he faced her with dignity. "You asked me for this. You asked me to do this for you." He reached for her shoulder, but she shied away.

"Not like this," she said, shaking her head. "I didn't mean for you to take it this far. I didn't think you would be so... devoted, to me." She spoke slowly, choosing her words as if a wrong one would kill the man who stood before her.

He, in turn, stared at her. "Of course I would. I love you." He turned to the forest around him, confronting the trees, allowing them to be the witnesses of his declaration. The trees didn't mind, of course; they had seen this a thousand times. "Did you hear me?" He shouted to the heavens. "I love Amber!"

"Garret, please. Don't do this. We can't be together."

He whirled around and dutifully marched back to her. "No, we can!" He protested. "I did this for you so we could be together!"

"You know they'll look for you now." She interrupted what might have become a speech. "They'll be hunting for you. That's why I can't be with you. You'd have to die before you'd be safe."

"Then I'll die. I'll die if that's what I have to do."

She smiled sadly at him. "No one would kill you."

He looked around for some other excuse, some other thing to make her understand. Finding nothing, he lost hope. He knelt once more, sinking back towards the frozen ground. There is no way to change her mind. She is lost to me.

The idea came suddenly. It grabbed his mind and turned, twisting and writhing, pushing through the crowds of thoughts until it came to the front of the line. The idea took control, erupting out of his mouth and eyes and into the world. It was so simple.

"Then I'll do it. Myself. I'll take my life if that means I can spend the rest of it with you."

Her eyes widened. "No, that's not what--" Words clumsily fell out of her mouth at the sight of this man unveiling a knife that they both knew had been there. "Don't do that!"

He raised the bloody knife to his chest. The tip, poised angelically over his heart.

"I get it now." His words were syrupy, as if he spoke in a haze. "This is the only way!"

"No! Stop that!" She lunged at him, taking his face between her hands. For a moment, everything was calm. Garret stared at her.

The life slowly leaked from his eyes, much like the poison that he was expecting. The knife he had wielded fell into the snow, unfulfilled in its intentions. His skin grew gray and cold, and his breathing ceased. Amber released him, and he fell over. Dead. His last words thundered through her ears.

This is the only way!

She sat silently in the snow for a mere minute. Then, she began her work. Carefully, she repositioned his body in the snow, making him look as peaceful as possible. Of course. She had made another mistake. She was not to enjoy the comforts of human touch. His voice joined the countless others dancing in her head.

"We were so close," she whispered, more to them than to herself.

She rose from Garret's side, dusted herself off, and began to reposition the bodies of everyone he had killed to set her free.