Pink Superman

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Ramona once knew a boy who held all the stars in the world. They danced under his caramel skin, and moved through his blood like battery acid. He would tell her they gave him roseate kisses when he was sad, like soft little licks of fire lighting up his body. But she never knew what to make of his stories. Did the stars really live in his paper-thin veins, sleeping by day and waltzing by night?

She was always on the edge of believing him.

He took her hand once, and placed it parallel to his heart.

"Do you feel that?" he asked. Gradually, Ramona's palm became aware of a deep thundering within his chest, offbeat and low key. 

Her voice was rakish and loud compared to the still of the vanilla sky. "The stars are exploding."

A smile tugged at his lips. She was playing along. "The stars are exploding," he echoed, letting his words catch in the morning breeze. "I can feel the star dust in my bones."

He gazed down at her, his eyes glittering with promises of peaceful nights and warm embraces. But she could see them in there, taunting her from a faraway world.

"Does it hurt?"

It was almost as if they were running high in her own blood, as if she had his godforsaken stars.

"Yeah, but I like the pain. Sometimes I forget that I'm human."