Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:18:55 +1100
From: spyro_ryder@warpmail.net
Subject: A Night to Remember

I'm sitting in a chair.  On my couch to be exact.  Reading a book, 'The
Evolution of Language'.  It's a very boring book, kind of like my life as
of late, but it is for my university coursework so I must persevere.  My
eyes start to get tired so I decide to rest them for a while and go for a
walk in the outside world.  It's dark out, it being sometime around 9 PM,
but I'll do anything so long as it'll keep the boredom away.

I close and lock the door to my dull and lifeless flat as I leave.  It
wasn't always dull and lifeless.  Like my life my flat was once a lively
place filled with energy and happiness.  Back then I had Lewis and my life
felt complete.  But now I have neither completeness nor Lewis, who went to
the other side of the country with his new boyfriend.  Now there is only me
and an empty flat.

My feet carried me to the local park which, on a night like tonight where
the moon is full and the stars are out, is a beautiful place to visit.
Lewis and I used to come here a lot and just admire the beauty on display.
Meandering through the trees and bushes and memories of a better time I
start to feel better than I have in a long time.  The emptiness and
loneliness that I had felt began to lessen slightly and I felt less
fractured, less unstable.  I see a rabbit dart out across the green and I
smile slightly for what feels like the first time in ages.

The park is filled with lots of nightlife of which some of the more
prominent are the fireflies.

Flying here and there and everywhere their little tails winking at you
from behind the trees and bushes and from across the park.  Following them
I marvel at how beautiful they are and at the simplicity of their lives.
They fly around lighting up their little tails in the hope of finding a
mate.  If only my life were so simple.

I suddenly stop as I come round a bend in the path to be confronted with
something not 5 meters in front of me.  It's the old fountain in the middle
of the park lit up like it usually is.

But tonight there was a difference.  Tonight there was a person there
sitting on the raised edge with their feet dangling in.  A male person.
Someone with a shock of mousy brown hair.  His head was hung down as if in
sadness.  The fireflies seemed to mass between us, as if telling me to go
over and comfort him.  And so I did just that.

I walked over to the fountain and sat next to him, though I did sit the
opposite way with my feet planted on terra firma.  He didn't seem to even
acknowledge my presence but just continued staring down into the water.
Now up close I could make out the rest of his features, such as his cute
little button nose or his freckly, pale skin or his green eyes.  Or the
emotion of immense sadness layered over them all.

How long we sat there like that, him staring at nothing, me carefully
watching him, I do not know, but when I saw a tear roll down his cheek I
acted.  I took him into my arms and hugged him close as the tears started
to flow and his body shook with his silent sobs.  I held him as he cried
and cried, just being a kind and understanding soul as he let out what ever
had made him so unimaginably sad.  And I continued to sit there with him
while he calmed down and eventually fell asleep in my arms.  Only then did
I move as I picked him and carried him to my flat which, for the first time
in a long time, seemed inviting.  I laid him down into my bed and softly
closed the bedroom door.  Tonight is a night to sleep on the couch.

**********

"Hurry UP Hamish, they'll be here any second," I hear Bradlee call as I put
the finishing touches on the roast I was cooking.  In the time since that
fateful night Bradlee and I have grow closer and closer.  We were both in
pain and we both healed the other.  His eyes almost shine with happiness
and my life, like my rejuvenated flat, is filled once again with energy and
excitement.  Just then the doorbell rings and so I head out to get the
door.

Bradlee gets there at almost the same time I do and so together we answer
the door to our guests.


Story by SpyroRyder ¸ 2012


_______________________________________________________


So there it is, a slight mood swing and 1 and a half hours of writing later
a there you have it, my first piece of presentable flash fiction.  I hope
you enjoyed it because I certainly enjoyed writing it.  I'm also close to
finishing one of my other writing projects so if you can wait ~2 weeks then
there will be another, quite a bit longer tale for you to feast you mind
on.

Please give commentary about the story, whether you liked it or not and
other constructive criticism is all welcome.  You can send me an email at
spyro_ryder@warpmail.net .  I'm also on Facebook if you readers would like
to friend me: http://www.facebook.com/spyro.ryder .  Anyway I hope you
enjoyed it enough to check out more of my work when I get around to posting
it.