[ 48 ]
[he could barely stand to even look at the festival-- the happy decorations, the big oblivious smiles painted on the faces of the townsfolk... but he can't pass up the flowers. He spends some time picking out a few, ones with perfect white petals, and heads on out to the graveyard. It doesn't take him long to find a specific headstone, and--in a rare display of reverence--places the flowers]
[filtered to Penny - aka private]
Glad you don't have to see another Slenderman, or demon attack, or Halloween-gone-wrong... But you probably would have liked how Paradisa does spring. Everything has to be so dramatic. It's an obvious tactic really, I mean, I don't know why everyone falls for it. It's just jingling its keys in front of us, and everyone stops what they're doing to go "Ooo, shiny!" But... well.
I don't know. You probably would have thought it was pretty or something.
[a heavy pause here, and he clears his throat. Awkward, as if she could actually hear him]
So... this is one of those points where I look around and wonder what the heck happened. I mean... I meant to tell you how glad I was that you were back. And, um... I meant to do a lot of things, actually. Even though it wouldn't have mattered, because... you know. It's not like it would have changed anything.
Did you know that you didn't even feel real? Maybe you weren't. Maybe you were just a trick, to get me to remember, or slip up, or... I don't know. I guess it could have been anything. It felt like a weird dream; it was just too impossible. One of those 'too good to be true' kind of things.
Um... I think part of me is glad I didn't tell you. Kind of glad that I didn't fool myself into thinking that things could be different, or that it was some kind of 'second chance,' or something. Part of me is glad that I kept to myself, and kept my big mouth shut.
The rest of me...
[/filter]
[he trails off for a while, frowning down at the flowers that somehow already look to him as though they're starting to wilt. Eventually, he shakes himself, takes the filter down, and addresses no one in particular]
So... it attacks the kids, but a fancy party with food and flowers is all it takes to buy complacency now? ... Really??
Is there ever going to be a last straw? [...and then, just a disgusted sigh.]
[filtered to Penny - aka private]
Glad you don't have to see another Slenderman, or demon attack, or Halloween-gone-wrong... But you probably would have liked how Paradisa does spring. Everything has to be so dramatic. It's an obvious tactic really, I mean, I don't know why everyone falls for it. It's just jingling its keys in front of us, and everyone stops what they're doing to go "Ooo, shiny!" But... well.
I don't know. You probably would have thought it was pretty or something.
[a heavy pause here, and he clears his throat. Awkward, as if she could actually hear him]
So... this is one of those points where I look around and wonder what the heck happened. I mean... I meant to tell you how glad I was that you were back. And, um... I meant to do a lot of things, actually. Even though it wouldn't have mattered, because... you know. It's not like it would have changed anything.
Did you know that you didn't even feel real? Maybe you weren't. Maybe you were just a trick, to get me to remember, or slip up, or... I don't know. I guess it could have been anything. It felt like a weird dream; it was just too impossible. One of those 'too good to be true' kind of things.
Um... I think part of me is glad I didn't tell you. Kind of glad that I didn't fool myself into thinking that things could be different, or that it was some kind of 'second chance,' or something. Part of me is glad that I kept to myself, and kept my big mouth shut.
The rest of me...
[/filter]
[he trails off for a while, frowning down at the flowers that somehow already look to him as though they're starting to wilt. Eventually, he shakes himself, takes the filter down, and addresses no one in particular]
So... it attacks the kids, but a fancy party with food and flowers is all it takes to buy complacency now? ... Really??
Is there ever going to be a last straw? [...and then, just a disgusted sigh.]