The Lady of Shalott
The last time I saw
Avalon Gates
(alive)
- we were out
on the sea ~
It was Thanksgiving Break
of my freshman year
in college.
Pea couldn't make it (studying for her Ivy League classes, of course...)
Ava had started working
as a fisher-woman
by the docks
that summer:
so we were out on her boat,
The Lady of Shalott,
enjoying the last few glimmers
of a sunset.
A soft, swift breeze played
between us
& we talked
in low murmurs –
we didn't want to offset the delicate balance;
the steady lapping of water against the hull,
the occasional squawk of a swooping gull.
After my busy semester,
it was perfect.
to have her there with me...?
well, there isn't even a word for
~beyond perfect~
"How's school?" Ava said,
staring out
into the distant depths
of the gradually
drowning sun.
"It's good,
It's good." I repeated.
I'd only been gone
three months
but already
I felt older
(How far
I still had to
go.)
& there was
a g a p i n g
silence between us
the chasm deepening –
like we didn't
even
know each other
anymore.
everything had changed
(nothing had changed!)
I spoke again.
"How's the
fishing?"
"Good." Ava said, simply
once, we'd have talked endlessly...
into the star-freckled night,
but that was once
& this was now.
we were two;
different people
Still friends, of course -
always,
but...
"So." she said.
"So." I replied.
"have you met
anyone?"
"I've met lots of
someones."
I knew I was avoiding the
question.
"you know what I
mean!
Like a girl!
have you met
a girl?"
Ava, exasperated,
brushed flaming
coils from her eyes
"No." I said, truthfully.
I looked down
at my hands atop my
wheelchair's wheels.
"Well - I hope
one day,
you do."
I already have!
(I thought,
but dared not
say.)
"You deserve it,
you know.
YOU ARE READING
Avalon Bombshell
Teen FictionThe Freak shall inherit the Earth - it's a saying from Matthias Fitz's favorite TV show, Tales After The Bomb - a cartoon about the post-apocalypse - mutants, cyborgs, zombies, anarchist DJs, & a wasteland - everything an ultra-geek could want. Matt...
