Campfire - Chapter 1

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Campfire

_1_

She sits quietly.
He lies quietly.
Her classmates are sleeping in surrounding tents.
She is alone in the night.
His classmates are sleeping around him.
He is the only one awake.
The dying flame is flickering, illuminating her still face.
The unrelenting darkness is hemming in, shadowing his still face.
The leaves are rustling, sounding blatant in the tranquillity.
The even breathing is reverberating, sounding blatant in the tranquillity.
She sits there.
Staring at the fire.
He lies there.
Staring at the top of the tent.
Unmoving
Waiting
Silent…

~o~

She is a vibrant girl, popular even.
High, melodious voice, adroit guitar-playing fingers and a witty, sarcastic sense of humour.
She is almost impossible to ignore.
A paragon of aptitude and amicability.
He is an ordinary boy, bland even.
Nerdy appearance, average mind and a cannot-be-more-plain personality.
He is almost invisible in a crown.
A pedestrian no one bothers to look at.
But…
She has secrets.
He has dreams.
The tears she sheds at night.
The screams she muffles in her pillows.
The pressure of being “perfect”.
The feeling of loss and loneliness.
The sketches he makes everyday.
The wonders he wants to build.
The passion for creation.
The ambition to be great.
They crush her.
They empower him.

~o~

He comes.
She comes.
She doesn’t understand at first.
He cannot help looking at her.
They orbit two different cycles.
They are the Sun and a nameless asteroid.
They shouldn’t have met.
He will burn coming to close.

~o~

The silence drags on.
They remain quiet.
The fire has stopped burning.
The wind has stopped blowing.
The night air is no longer chilly and the sky is no longer a dark purpleish blue.
The Sun is up.
Golden light is streaming down from white clouds.
The night has ended.

They stay.

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