𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 ✩ 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳

chapter ii. cicada hushes

— ✩ —

"what the hell is that ...... ."

slightly concealed behind a lone desecrated church and a coven of strangler fig trees, i saw it. it was a being of a striking stature, with a swift, strong stride. evidently it was an aged man who possessed a sort of peculiar physical power. the dark figure was cloaked in layers upon layers of tattered leather— such attire was strange, and it struck me. for the southern heat and humidity was at the evening high and i was soaked in streams of sweat, solely from sporting a baby tank and tennis shorts. i sharply squinted, in hopes to refocus my wandering eyes and mind. suddenly, his strength heaved a bundle of wrinkled white, wrapped with rope, with scattered stains of sanguine. he hurled the heap, with a sort of searing hatred. it echoed as it rattled down a wide rustic pipe, and i assumed it funneled to the bottom of the holy grounds. though, the setting and the sight felt all too.. unholy.

the sensation of my stomach slowly sinking in caused for doubts on all fronts, as my intuition and rationale began to wage. it was almost as if my heightening cognizance of 'him' made him cognizant of me, for he spun speedily; in due to the distance, i couldn't clarify if his eyes met mine but i felt his gaze all the same. i felt i was a deer whose footing snapped a twig, inviting a hunt. i felt something twist inside me. and then, the olive blur of branches sheathed the scene as darry and i slowly drove on.. . alas turning to one another.

darry repeated his whispers, "what the hell was that . . . . "

my eyes shifted to meet his, i merely blinked . . .

and then, i heard the blaring . .

my hands gripped the side of my seat and i twisted all my spine to see. the leathered man had jumped into his relic of a vehicle, it resembled a wwii tank more than a truck, and the damned thing looked just about bulletproof. it gained on us at a bewildering rate and then the man honked– precisely two times between each breath. the blares sounded straight from some hellish depth, and rang in my brain like screams.

honk! honk!

he came closer, and closer, and closer, and closer –

the cow catcher on the front of the lunatic's tank was barely centimeters away from crushing the back bumper of "cherry" .. darry's beloved crimson chevy. his dark eyes widened, "fuck! that thing is all souped-up or something!"

darry's eyes darted from me.. to the rear mirror.. to me..

". . dar..." i slowly begun, and stuttered softly, but then.. .

wham!

our bodies flew forward and darry momentarily lost grip of the wheel . . the skid of tires shrilled against the concrete ..

i was spitting curses to myself, whilst darry stuck his hair into the wind as he turned to swear at the maniac, "fucker!"

cherry skirted and screeched, as darry attempted to swerve away any which way from the tank– but it trailed us tightly.

sage acres of plowland and chocolate wisps of darry's waves were blurs in the chaos. waves of whiplash washed over me.

suddenly, darry shrieked, "what the fuck is his problem!"

and then again,