𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞; eugene roe ✔

PART TWENTY THREE

Word count; 1,818

Eugene

Staring up at the ceiling, I gambled which paint chip would fall first, a game we all liked to play back in Bastogne, except there it was which leaf would cave into the snow that rested on it first. Everyone was asleep, the mild snore circling the air, most too knackered to even engage in the usual antics which would occur at this hour. Highlight the use of most.

"Until this morning and this snow." Luz droned, his voice accented like some upmarket man.

Those around him groaned; for the last hour he'd been utilising the silence to spread irritation and, of course, poems. I was on a sofa in the far corner, arm around Heffron who snoozed into my chest, and rolled my head back into the armrest.

"If anything might rouse him now..." He continued, trying not to giggle. "The kind old sun will know."

"Shut up, Luz, Jesus." Liebgott swung a cushion across the room.

"I'm not finished." He pointed into the air. "Think how it wakes the seeds-"

"Luz, if you don't shut up right now, I'm going to make you shut up." Malarkey pressed his hands to his ears.

The men were spread out around the floor in little clusters, trying to find warmth in the cold. It hadn't rained in days and yet small pools had formed across the landing, rendered by the restless dripping from the ceiling, leaving only a few spaces available to stay dry. 

"Woke, once, the clays of a cold star..."

"That's it." Malarkey shot up, causing Luz to scurry away in his sleeping bag.

Heffron's eyes flickered, "What's going on?"

I cleared my throat, "Malarkey is attacking Luz."

"Jesus, what's the time?"

"You think I know?" 

I stirred, crawling out from beneath him. He protested in groans but I reassured him that I'd be back soon, heading for the door.

"Oh shit, Luz, now you've woken Doc." Talbert rubbed his eyelids, Shifty - the one curled next to him - rolling over at the uproar of noise.

Almost everyone's eyes fluttered, moving their legs out of the way as I manouvered through the room. Into the corridor, Luz slugged around, trying to avoid Malarkey who had his boots in his hands, ready to throw. I headed down the stairs, craving the outside air, and lighted a cigarette as soon as I met it. Breathing in the smoke, I dragged myself down the wall of the stairwell until I was sat on the stone tiles of the ground, legs extended onto the street. A cat pounced onto a windowcill of one of the houses opposite, pawing at the window. My eyes followed up the wall, the vines which tried ever so hard to harrass the brick work. I remembered my father always warning me about them, advising that they would only become more irritating as time went on and that they should be cut as soon as possible. Kind of like a wound that you leave alone - there's the chance that it will heal all on its own but nine point eight times out of ten it'll become worse and you'll regret ever leaving it in the first place.

Candlelight glimmered against the topmost window, the panes covered by a sheer curtain. A figure moved against the shine, bending over as if to pick up something. Then she drew closer to the window, only to pull down another blind of some kind. I stood up, sucking in a breath of smoke, and wandered aimlessly down the road, watching my feet as my soles met with the ground.

"Where there is discord, let me bring union." I muttered, making circles with the smoke that left my mouth. "Where there is error, let me bring truth."