The Author Games: Rhapsody

Semi-Finals ~ Mye Bentler

I felt confused over the death of Technick. Neither sad nor angered, but confused. I knew this boy at our darkest points. He grew on me like moss to stone, forcing its way to a place it was seemingly unwelcomed. But, I did welcome Tech. I had always welcomed him.

But why, now, did I wish he never existed?

When I discovered he was gone, when I had seen his face on the walls, I had a realization. One of somberness and something undefinable. I took note of how desperate this was. The wretched situation. I wasn't going to live; I was never going to survive. It was inevitable. It was inevitable. It was inevitable.

I don't remember falling asleep, blanketed by smoke. Swirling lights adorned the blackness from underneath my eyelids, but they appeared blurry. It was an image I could not understand, for the grand scheme of things led me to unconsciousness. I felt awake, though, and somewhere.

A swift rush of vertigo travelled through my body, and my feet landed on ground as if I had been jumping. The soles of my feet were bare and they prickled against what felt like grass. I stared down at my toes and I could see the green. It was a dull shade of color, however, but it was brighter than the black atmosphere. I craned my neck, confused at why I could see the floor and nothing else.

Then, color and nature reached the same level as my knees. A flower patch, filled with flowers of white and violet, showed itself a few feet away. The flowers were bunched together so closely that I could toss myself into them like they were a bed. Strips of vision tore through the black abyss, changing that same darkness into a location. A cliff revealed itself; I was on a hill, facing an ocean. I moved for the first time towards the edge, the feeling of vertigo returning to my chest. Looking down the side, a blurry tan swept throughout the ground. Sand was slowly being covered by waves that crashed upon its own fate. It was so far away from where I was standing. So far away...

The trees that lined the open clearing of the field were all faux. They weren't plastic exactly, but a material that was similar to it. Bushes had real berries, but no roots. It was all so pristine, untouchable, like nothing could taint the perfectionist's painting.

I felt blissful. I looked straight up at the sky and closed my eyes. I took in the sounds of wind and peaceful, chirping birds. I took in the smells of the flowers and the saltiness of the sea. A red light imposed my view, however, causing me to re-open my eyes, nearly blinding myself in the process. The sun calmed down and I could crack my eyes open a little, to watch the sky bleed.

From what seemed like the pinnacle, the peak, the sheer middle of the sky, a ray of red dripped into a cloud. The drop disappeared, but the blueness slowly began to turn into the same shade of red. The cloud was a different tale altogether. It changed completely, into words. The outline of the cloud gently twisted into letters. Sentences formed and some made no sense to me.

When the hour comes-
You're so calm- You're so cool-
Nothing is going to ruin the day for you-
Have you heard the news- Oh, but of course you have-
Can I sit with you-

Words. That's all they were. Sporadically placed words. But, in that moment, the sky made no sense. There was no blue anymore, only red. Not blue sky and white clouds, but crimson lines and outlined letters. I couldn't comprehend the change, but I understood the meaning.

It was ending. The world was ending. And I knew, then, that peace would never last.

I fled the cliffside, my bare feet stomping into the flowers and gathering dirt. Grime seeped its way into my toenails and I didn't dare turn around and look back. Ending. The World. This kind of impending doom was inevitable. Inevitable. Inevitable. The thought made me shiver, but remove fear from my head.

I stopped running. My eyes landed on a figure in the distance and I stared off into space for a long while. I don't remember the exact moment I sat down, or when my hands were stained with mud to match my feet. I don't remember the redness darkening or the figure moving closer, but it all happened. My name was being shouted over and over, but I believed it to be my imagination, just like the rest.

"Mye! Mye!" they screamed, "Mye!"

"Sit with me," I said, patting the ground next to me, but not moving my eyes. I watched as the pair of legs moved over and obeyed my request. They sat with their feet to the floor, knees upwards, so they could rest their elbows on them.

"I am here, Mye," they murmured eloquently. I recognized the voice, but I didn't have it within me to identify him just yet. I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder, watching the bloody, cherry red sky stain the innocent words. I almost tricked myself into believing it was only a sunset, but I wasn't naïve. I was dying.

"Tell me what's on your mind," he ordered. It was a soft request, but it was one I could not comply with. I wanted too, sure, but my mind wasn't telling the truth anymore.

"Have you heard?" I asked, "Have you seen?" I was frantic, finally turning my eyes to stare into Wardell's eyes. I was confused with Tech's death, and now I was confused with Wardell's appearance. My hand began to shake, against the pure relaxation my heart was aloof with. He took it in his, and it stilled.

"Seen what?" he asked in return. A smile crept its way to his face. An uncomfortable smirk, and it made me feel at home. I wanted to kiss that smile, one last time, before everything was over.

"Look around, it's all ending."

"What is?"

"The world! The world is ending!" I screamed, but I did not want to.

"Nothing is ending, Mye," he said, causing time to stop. In one moment, everything froze. The birds' wings halted mid-flap, the rush of wind paused atop the flower petals. A wave forgot to complete its destiny and fall on the sand, but it stayed just above the dryness. The berries discontinued their growth, seemingly content in their current place. The rest of the atmosphere gradually drowned out of my sight, my sound, my smell. Even my skin couldn't feel the tickling sensation of the blades of grass. Only him.

I saw him. I could smell him and hear his voice. I felt his touch and it enticed me.

I stared at Wardell a long time. "You always take these things so well, Wardell," I said. I didn't know what I meant, but I meant it. It struck his heart with a fatal, tender caress and he melted into me like I had already done to him.

Our chests fell I sync, as I rejoiced in him. He had chosen me to calm down. In the world's last minutes, this was the boy who looked at me to save. It made me feel like I had wronged him.

"I've forgotten about you..."

"I know. I've been watching," he said. I lowered my head to the floor, ashamed. Wardell inched closer, put his hand to my chin and lifted my eyes to meet his. "Hey, don't worry about it. You can remember me now."

"I can sit with you?" I asked him, hoping to remove my thoughts of Technick. The sky above us was beginning to change. The swarms of bright, savory colors twisted into something else. Wardell nodded and we sat in each other's arms.

"And watch the sky," he finished.

Then, the hour came for the sky to flush with the color of cherries. Everything went dark after that, but I was content to feel his skin against mine. I was unbelievably calm sitting against him, but when my eyes opened, he was no longer there.

I was against a wall, my skin touching nobody else.

It hadn't happened.

At least, for the rest of the Games, I knew who to remember.

Maybe, I could still be Mye. With him.