He took his happiness and pulled it out of himself. It felt like a sneeze coming out his middle. He rolled it up in his hands, just as tight as could be. It glowed with a gentle pulse that beat in time with his heart.
He handed it to her. It was hers to keep.
She ate it to keep it close forever. It dissolved into her until her veins pulsed with the light and the joy that he gave her. Their pulses alternated so that there was never a moment when either was still.
She took her sadness and pulled it out of herself. It felt like a band aid getting ripped off. She wadded it up and shoved it at him. He caught it and carefully rolled it out and smoothed it. He wrapped it around himself until it covered him and absorbed into his skin. Whenever he bumped into something, whenever someone touched him, whenever he fell down, flakes of sadness rolled off of him like snow. They were black to see and purple to touch and they got onto everything and wouldn't come off.
She was happy. He was sad.
They both wanted it that way.
I really like the bit about happiness. "Their pulses alternated so that there was never a moment when either was still."
ReplyDeleteWhy does he want to be sad?
The flakes of sadness remind me of Captain Hook's blood.
Psst! Hey, hey Robby! You aren't alone anymore! See, Brooke is here.
ReplyDeleteI really, really, really like this.
Thanks. I really liked that thought too. I wanted to say that they were in sync like in ELandIC by Jonathan Safran Foer, but . . .
ReplyDeletePulses out of sync is better, I think.
Oh, and yeah. WELCOME BACK, BROOKE.
Janelle, thanks for the compliment.
Golly! I was only gone for like two days. By goodness.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like the pulses out of sync, because they are in sync because of them. I guess that's why he wants to be sad . . . because she wants to be happy? Will they ever alternate?
(I like your story, I just ask because I wouldn't like to wrap up in sadness, or give some one sadness to wrap up in.)
Two days is like two years en su universe. Two years of hot scorching desert sand blowing into eyes.
ReplyDeleteI guess he's sad because I've been there, and I can relate. I guess he's sad because men (in general) have fewer emotional turmoils than women and are supposed to be the solid rock in shifting sand. I guess he's sad because he won't allow anything good to happen to him (that's not specifically personal testimony, but it still comes from the heart).
ReplyDeleteWe still need Ashlee and Alyssa.
I like both descriptions, though the sad one made me feel sad for the guy. He deserves to be happy as well. That girl needs to give her sadness to God, not her boyfriend, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good descriptions.
We got Ashlee. :-)
ReplyDeleteThere is much to think about here.
I think guys and girls are both emotionally turmoil-y sometimes, but they handle it a bit differently. I like Ashlee's conclusion.
Yeah, that's definitely true. But how often do humans do the optimum/correct thing?
ReplyDeleteHow often do humans even know what that is?
ReplyDeleteI suppose that makes sense, Robby. I just don't fully understand it. But that's ok.
ReplyDeleteI think humans usually have a pretty good, though very basic, idea of what the correct thing to do is. I think it's the how that trips us.
So whose fault is that?
ReplyDeleteOurs. Well, our race, anyway. Adam and Eve and whatnot.
ReplyDeleteYeah. But it's no good pointing fingers anymore, because we're already in so deep.
ReplyDeleteSo what CAN we point? A walking stick?
ReplyDeleteThank you. For walking stick.
ReplyDeleteYou should take it like a symbol of the friendship between you, me, and . . . something. Maybe your husband? That would be weird.
ReplyDeleteAlso troubling: Captcha said "regicide."
Whose husband? Why do we need to point?
ReplyDeleteIt's from Drunk History: Fredrick Douglass
ReplyDeleteOk. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry Brooke. I never remember to explain things.
ReplyDeleterobby's description is quite accurate of what a 'good man' is. if a guy truly loves a girl, he will gladly accept sadness so she can be happy. (picture the scene from Beauty and the Beast, where he lets Belle go to her father, believing that he'll never see her again and will live his life as a Beast.)
ReplyDeleteHuh. See, I think so too! But girls (whose word I accept) don't. So . . . perhaps a moderation is in order?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. It reminded me of what Christ did.
ReplyDelete