Hurts Like Heaven

Chapter Seven

The street was littered with names and thoughts from the different colors of spray paint Dan had brought with him.  Nothing black, nothing white—only colors.  'Don’t let them take control: it’s your life'. The various messages were written around cars and street posts, not marking anything aside from the ground and buildings.  ‘Be free.’  They laughed as they proudly marked every surface with smiles and words.  ‘Happiness, that’s all anyone ever wants.’  The paint dripped from some of the buildings, making rainbows of mixed color on the ground.  ‘Do whatever it takes to make your life yours.’ Phil admired the work for a brief moment before Dan pulled him back behind a building. 

“We should go, it’s not a good idea to linger.”  Phil nodded and ran away from it with Dan laughing quietly.  It was illegal, yes, but it made him so pleased for some reason.  It was like speaking your diary without anyone knowing it was you who wrote it.  Maybe it would make a change—he hoped so, at least.  He could see why Dan did this:  People would see it, they couldn’t ignore it, and they might consider the thought.  It would leave some kind of impact, and no one could blame them because there was no way they could pin down who wrote it out.

They made it to the edge of the posh park to catch their breath.  “That was… intense,” Phil let out in a breath, smiling from ear to ear.  Dan smiled, too, until they saw the flash of lights coming from the end of the road.  Phil’s heart stopped—it was the police.  What would his parents say?  What would people think?  What would they do to him and Dan?  He couldn’t think right until Dan was on the other side the gate helping him over.  He could only think about getting away at that point and scaled the gate as fast as he could.  They fell to the ground with a thud, having lost balance at the top.  It was too dark to see exactly where they were, though Phil was almost certain they were close to the little woods the park held.  They stumbled through the dark and moved as far back as they could so no one could see them.

“You nervous?” Dan laughed as if it were no big deal at all.

Phil’s heart was leaping out of his chest, the fear and adrenaline eating him alive.  “Yes I’m nervous!” he nearly shouted, clearly scared.  “What if they find us?  What then?!” 

He could almost imagine Dan laughing, but the darkness kept everything shrouded.  “I almost always get close to getting caught nowadays, it’ll be okay.  Just lay low and wait for them to leave.” 

“I don’t like this,” Phil confessed.  “I don’t know how you do it.”

“It takes some getting used to… I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Phil.”  Dan’s voice was quieter and he noticed the change in tone.  It was almost like remorse.

“Don’t be sorry,” he sighed, realizing how he was coming off to Dan, “I said I wanted to come along, remember?”

“I know, but I didn’t think we’d get this close to getting caught.  If I’d known, I wouldn’t have said anything,” he then whispered. 

Phil also used a softer voice after realizing he hadn’t been so quiet.  “Even though we’re pretty close to getting caught, this is the most fun I’ve ever had.” 

“Same here,” he laughed quietly.  “I don’t think I’ve had this much fun graffiti-ing before, actually.”  Phil smiled a bit.

He calmed down a bit while thinking about how much fun it really had been—he hadn’t had friends like this before, nor had they done anything quite that crazy.  He liked it though; it was a good kind of crazy.  A flashlight shone through the trees and Phil returned to a panicky state.  His black clothing didn't blend with the stone wall next to the gate and he was sure they'd see him.  He knew it would be a matter of seconds before they noticed him and took them away.  The lights moved away and Dan pulled him into a bush.  He felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest. 

“That really was close,” Dan whispered with a much more fearful tone.  “We should get out.”  Phil was too scared to agree or disagree this time; he just sat next to Dan shaking like a leaf.  “Are you okay?”  His thoughts were racing and he couldn't answer.  Capture felt imminent and there was no way to calm down.  “Come on,” Dan spoke finally, pulling a terrified Phil behind him by the hood of his jacket. 

Dan snuck them around the bushes and then out around the gate of the park (seeing as Phil was not in any shape to climb over it) and they were out in the open for a few moments.  He told Phil to run, but his legs felt like jell-o.  He had frozen up and his voice relfected all the panic he was feeling.  “They’re going to get us, Dan!”  Dan hushed his friend almost instantly and then rushed toward someone’s backyard hand-in-hand with Phil stumbling behind.  He could assume Dan was just as afraid of getting caught, though he was handling the situation better.  Lights flashed.  “Shit,” Dan muttered under his breath. 

The adrenaline kicked in again for Phil after he saw the lights and he realized where they were.  He looked around them briefly, the familiar houses giving him an idea of where to go.  “This way,” he whispered to Dan, broken from the shock.  Fear fueled his energy while he ran as fast as he could with Dan between the yards and eventually to Phil’s house.  “You should stay here until things calm down a bit…  Well, I mean, if you want,” Phil stated, slowly losing any confidence he’d gained during the five minutes of running between unkempt lawns and over low fences.  Dan nodded and climbed in the window after Phil while the police sirens were ringing off in the distance.  Safe.  They were safe.