SUGAR AND LIME|| Short stories!

The Perfect Way to End a Night.

Prompts: You must base your story off of any song and include one line from it. I chose the song Two Slow Dancers by Mitski, and the line 'it would be a hundred times easier if we were young again.'

Include the sentence "I found you once, I promise I'll find you again" in your story.

One character must wear a silver hair ribbon.

-

The faint murmur of cracking fire and thundering feet is creeping through the air softly. A mild melody the pair are creating, a sound bursting with malice and lacking mirth. The windowpanes now served not as a perch to peer outside, but a reminder of dawning despair. With every whip of flame, and with every sour scream, death crawled ever closer. It was almost like the flames were licking my feet.

I tear my eyes away from the all engulfing burn, with my breath hitched in my throat. Fleeing would be a pointless endeavor, for the fleet of armed men with horses waiting outside the bound of the raging city. Besides, fleeing was not an act of cowardice I wished to spend my last moments committing. "Perhaps we could have one last dance?" My own voice sounds foreign to me. Like a familiar tune, sung by someone I've never met before.

Fluer's moonbeam eyes meet my own, and within the pale brown hue I can see her surprise. In the wavering candlelight's dance, the traces of ichor spindles are brought out in her irises. "You wish to dance?" Her delicate French accent decorates her voice of dripping honey. Even on the brink of our extinction she sounds elegant as the velvet hues which so often paint her skin.

My heart is beating inside my chest like the first moment I met her. Like a new instrument being introduced to a harmony, my heart's song fills my ears with the fire, screams and horse's footsteps. As so many times before, I bow my head towards her and outstretch my hand. "I cannot think of a better way to end the night," I say to her. While this is the truth, within it is the buried truth of the end of the night. Both of us know how our souls will be wrenched tonight, however some beauty remained in pretty lies.

A giggle escaped her lips of crushed berries. It's the most precious sound I've ever heard, a sound which I never appreciated so much. Her laugh was vivid as rushing water, flowing like wildflower petals down a delicate stream. Enchanting, and a thing of pure beauty. It's funny how many times I've heard her sprite-like chuckle, but never really heard  it until now.

"You always were a spontaneous one Mr. Chandler." Her dress rustles gently as she stands, and the floorboards weep beneath her feet with every steps. When I glance up her porcelain face is illuminated by the dreary doom's reflection. Beams of flicking light encompass her fair complexion, and accentuate her soft features. Just like the day I met her, when she was attending to the morning fields of amber grain just outside the city.

She takes my hand and I can't stop the grin which spreads across my cracked lips. Her touch is electric. It sends a shock of bliss all over my body, until a shiver runs up my spine. Her smooth hand slides into my own callused one, while her other finds my shoulder. "How could I pass up a chance to dance with someone so enchanting?" I press a kiss to her freezing hand, before putting one on her waist and one on the back of her head.

A slouched bow of silver ribbon is pinning her ebony curls back. Even still, rogue inky wisps blot her forehead like they're trying to make an escape. The color of these baby hairs is as dark as her fluffy eye lashes, which are collecting her glistening tears.

The roar of flames is growing closer, I can hear them ravaging the very home I aged from youth to adulthood in. I cannot change the future now, but I can make the present moment worth living. "I'm charmed," Fluer whispers. Her words nearly got lost in the chaos of the calamity outside with how low they hung in the air.

I chuckle while pulling her body closer to mine to feel her warmth in these last few moments. The dusky sky greets my gaze outside the window, along with the smoke trying to reach it. I begin to lead our slow dance with a rhythmic step. She follows the movement perfectly. I have a sense that her eyes are set upon the matching window behind my back, watching as embers kiss the frame of our home.

If only we had drawn the curtains. 

Heat is starting the infiltrate through the bottom of the windowpanes, just like a humble spring breeze. A gray haze pierces my eyes, or perhaps those were tears I was too prideful to take claim to. I inhale to savor the scent of gardenia wafting from Fluer frame, as I know smoke will rapture it soon.

The final addition to the harmony is the sudden lullaby of her humming against my chest. With a deep breath, I try to cast away anything besides the sweet melody which lingers in my ears like sunspots in one's vision. "Close your eyes," I whisper, just as I do the same.

Our bare feet pad across the creaky wooden floor in a routine we'd done a million times before. In this moment my mind fades to the days Fluer and I spent roaming the world like nomads. Her hand's grasp tightens on my shoulder making my gut swirl. I wish there was a way to evaporate into the night, to escape the moment and become stars with my Fluer beside me. I wish I could spare her the pain.

I try to ignore the growing warmth skirting us to take just a moment more to recall precious memories. My squinted eyes create an array of hues upon my eyelids, like the paintings Fluer would create for me. Even when she was making them. Her pale skin would always end up  painted in dashes of dark green, with speckles of prudent purples twisting through her hair while standing in the sun.

There were times when the shining shades on her fingertips and forehead were as alluring as her art. My lips are quivering, but even I can't tell if it's with a smile or tears. My throat feels like I've downed a mug of steaming tea, and I'm tempted to stay silent. However, I open my squinted eyes in an instant to see the fire has begun to swallow the walls and rafters. "I'm afraid this is it, my dear," I say in the most gentle voice I can muster without it breaking.

A plethora of bursting scarlets and oranges entrap us in the most sinister of ways. The hues are angry, raging with an appetite for destruction which can only be filled with the fall of the city. I trace Fluer's arm with my fingertips, until her hand is in mind. When I pull away, I see her face is streaked with tears. Her stare appears amber in the firelight, and has shimmering pools of incandescent fear.

I twirl her around just like I did the night of our first date, our wedding, and every anniversary since. Her body spinning is reminiscent to dwindling cherry blossoms, with her flowing dress acting as the wind. Soon enough, she drifts back towards me with her arm outstretched.

From the corner of my eye, I catch the flames ensnaring Fluer in their trap. The ivory fabric of her gown is caught in the dazzling embers, who bore down on us with beady eyes. "I found you once," Fluer stated with a bleeding blue smile, and crying eyes. "I'll find you again."

I open my mouth but no words leave my throat. My cheeks are trickled with warmth, and I can't think of anything to say. She had found me. All those years ago when we were nothing but simple children. God, it would be a hundred times easier if we were young again. She found me with her burdened shoulders, and made all my worries her own. She cleansed me with her passionate voice, and warmed me with her loving touch. It was only fitting to die in the arms of the woman who found me when I was young. It ensures I was never lost again.

"Perhaps in the next life, mon amour," I finally say, knowing it would be my final line to the love of my life. I smile back at her even though my lips resist the gesture of happiness. In my life I had a lot of things to be joyful about, and after all, I could not think of a better way to end the night...