Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2015 21:29:14 GMT
Not feeling lonely, I just like being alone
A crisp wind hissed through the still-warm autumn air. Leaves in shades of crimson and gold fluttered against a cerulean sky. Some clung stubbornly to their branches while others twirled reluctantly to the ground. Ultimately, all were separated from the tree and turned to crunchy remnants on the forest floor.
Aideen sat high in a mighty oak tree, letting the breeze flow around her and clear her mind. Somewhere in the canopy birds spoke hurriedly about their southerly flight. Aideen was reminded of the countless times she had been forced to pack up and relocate as a child. She imagined how much simpler it would have been if she had been able to fly straight and unburdened like the birds.
Closing her eyes, she recalled long drives in moving vans with her parents. Each town they passed through was different, but common threads ran through them all. The shutdown gas station with an "always open" sign, the mom-and-pop diner where bacon was inevitably under- or over-cooked, gangs of kids riding their bikes defiantly far from home. Aideen's little family never stopped long enough to learn the roads in those in-between towns, and it made her wonder how many stories she would never have the chance to hear.
On days like this, the people whose lives Aideen had been left out of, and those who had been left out of hers, clung like shadows to the edges of her mind, blurring her peripherals. Like faces seen in a dream and forgotten upon waking, they haunted and intrigued her. It was this feeling that kept her looking so desperately for her next story.
There were advantages to having so many relationships marked by brevity and insignificance. For one, it was not difficult for Aideen to let go of people. She had long since become used to Alesdair being her only companion of any significance and she didn't see a reason for that to change any time soon, if ever. Secondly, she didn't mind manipulating people for her personal gain and then burning the bridge. Of course, she did her best to make sure those people didn’t know they had been used by the time it was all over and weren’t any worse off for having been her pawn. That was the way Aideen liked it. No attachment and no consequences.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever develop the need for companionship and community that other people had. Would she ever want to grow roots like the oak tree? Or would she remain content to be like the leaves – playing small but ultimately insignificant roles in the stories of those around her. The sun had begun to set and the dull brown of the forest floor was bathed in golden light. Aideen thought that maybe being a leaf wasn’t such a bad life after all. At that moment Alesdair swooped down to land on the branch beside her.
“Lost in thought again, are we?” he questioned.
“Full of squirrels again, are we?” Aideen quipped back.
“Quite, actually. Shall we get home?”
“Sure, but I need to stop by the liquor store first. I’m all out of Baileys.”
Aideen sat high in a mighty oak tree, letting the breeze flow around her and clear her mind. Somewhere in the canopy birds spoke hurriedly about their southerly flight. Aideen was reminded of the countless times she had been forced to pack up and relocate as a child. She imagined how much simpler it would have been if she had been able to fly straight and unburdened like the birds.
Closing her eyes, she recalled long drives in moving vans with her parents. Each town they passed through was different, but common threads ran through them all. The shutdown gas station with an "always open" sign, the mom-and-pop diner where bacon was inevitably under- or over-cooked, gangs of kids riding their bikes defiantly far from home. Aideen's little family never stopped long enough to learn the roads in those in-between towns, and it made her wonder how many stories she would never have the chance to hear.
On days like this, the people whose lives Aideen had been left out of, and those who had been left out of hers, clung like shadows to the edges of her mind, blurring her peripherals. Like faces seen in a dream and forgotten upon waking, they haunted and intrigued her. It was this feeling that kept her looking so desperately for her next story.
There were advantages to having so many relationships marked by brevity and insignificance. For one, it was not difficult for Aideen to let go of people. She had long since become used to Alesdair being her only companion of any significance and she didn't see a reason for that to change any time soon, if ever. Secondly, she didn't mind manipulating people for her personal gain and then burning the bridge. Of course, she did her best to make sure those people didn’t know they had been used by the time it was all over and weren’t any worse off for having been her pawn. That was the way Aideen liked it. No attachment and no consequences.
Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever develop the need for companionship and community that other people had. Would she ever want to grow roots like the oak tree? Or would she remain content to be like the leaves – playing small but ultimately insignificant roles in the stories of those around her. The sun had begun to set and the dull brown of the forest floor was bathed in golden light. Aideen thought that maybe being a leaf wasn’t such a bad life after all. At that moment Alesdair swooped down to land on the branch beside her.
“Lost in thought again, are we?” he questioned.
“Full of squirrels again, are we?” Aideen quipped back.
“Quite, actually. Shall we get home?”
“Sure, but I need to stop by the liquor store first. I’m all out of Baileys.”
WORDS: 528 || OOC: can it be fall in texas already?
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