red ribbon demons

time - red

myla came strutting back towards the green rickety car with a cigarette in her mouth and two bags full of stuff looking like a bad bitch. she didn't look as she crossed the road, instead the let a puff of smoke out from the side of her mouth missing the cigarette.

i was sitting in the back with a blanket and the hoodie i had found in the boot formed into a pillow like thing, waiting on her. she pulled open the door and bent down to see me in the car,
"give me a minute," she said and shut the door again, leaving the cold from outside now whizzing around the tin can i was sitting in.

i got up out the car and walked round to lean against the side with her, she held out the hand with the cigarette and nodded towards it.
"cheers," i kissed her on the cheek as i raised the cigarette to my mouth. "it's been a while."
she chuckled slightly and a cloud of white mist, mixed with smoke rose from her mouth into the cold atmosphere of late night bournemouth.

myla looked over at me,
"did i tell you?" she began, "i started my different person thing in that shop back there." she lifted her hand out towards me
"lisa, nice to meet you."
for some reason this was hilarious to me, and i howled with laughter as i moved my hand to hers,
"chris, how are you?" i finished.
"chris, what a boring fucking name" she exhaled.
"your one to talk, lisa" i sighed and walked round and got back into the car, stubbing out the cigarette on the back window.

she slipped into the back seat beside me and sighed,
"you're way to pretty for a cigarette red, why do you smoke?"
i laughed and looked at her,
"could say the same about you." i said, and pulled her shoulders down so she was laying inside my little bubble with my arms around her in the back of the car. she turned the handy little heater up to medium heat and it blew warm air over our cold bodies and sent us to sleep.

the next morning i woke to the rumbling of the slow old engine inside a roasting hot car to the sound of a straggly cassette from the 60s. myla was already driving.
"hey, thought it was my turn," i droned sleepily.
"you looked so happy i couldn't bare to wake you." she looked at me in the rear mirror of the car.

we arrived at bournemouth pier, left the car and ran through the torrents of rain shooting through the sky, laughing as we sat together holding hands on the end of the pier, feet dangling over the fierce water, soaked to the skin.
"will you ever leave me?" myla asked me.
"as long as you are you and i am me, never," i replied.
she just looked away, her expressionless face watching the waves beneath her. i turned round to her a few minutes later and culled her face to face me, she was crying. a few tears had started rolling down her dimples cheeks.
"myla?" i questioned.
"you can't leave red, you're my purpose." her face began to go red and the tears became stronger as she continued, "i cant do this without you red i need you." her breathing became laboured.
"then i simple won't leave, ever, for as long as you need me darling," i kissed her over and over on her beautiful face.

i know she worried about me not being there, because i know i was one of the good things in her life. and i know she never talked about how she was, or the dark place that is her head but i have been there and by knowing her i know her head. i know how damaging it would be to her for anything else to happen to her, so i'm sticking here.

sitting in the odeon in bournemouth, in the welcoming darkness feeling the warmest we had felt in a day, myla stood up in the middle of the empty cinema, and said with every bone in her body so i knew she meant it,
"i love red cooke."
i copied her and stood up, grabbing her hand and throwing it up in the air like a wishbone, hoping for our future, i wailed
"i love myla fernsby."

we collided into each other's arms as the movie draw to a close and the lights rose, but we came to a halt for a while. the world slowed with us too.