Blue Cicadas

Remember

Slowly the world began to drown out. Everything became background until there was nothing but a massive blur. Reed could say with a confidence that he was one of those people who just couldn't accept the supposed complexity of the world. Everyone was always looking for the double meaning in things that they simply couldn't accept. Reed could accept things, he spoon feed acceptance everyday. all that accepting things left him desensitized and he was okay with that. He was a quitter, a liar, and a passive aggressive asocial introverted freak who was totally okay with that.

And everyday when Reed looked in the mirror he just saw a drowning boy who was burning up on the inside. Choking on smoke and swallowing water mouthful by mouthful trying to put the fire out.

Reed remembered when he dyed his hair green. He was at CVS buying tampons for his sister. She was being a total bitch and wouldn't shut up unless he went out and got some more for her. He picked up the cheapest brand he could find and had been walking to the front when he happened to go through the hair product aisle. A little swatch of pastel green hair sat directly under a box of some name brand dye.

Her eyes had been green.

he had picked it up payed for everything threw the tampons at Danny's face then dyed his hair green. Reed remembered how his mom nearly had a heart attack when she saw him the next morning. His mom had slapped him across the face with her slipper, screaming about how his perfectly fine black hair was ruined. He hadn't really cared, and so told her to just accept it. She proceeded to slap the shit out of him with her slipper.

He remembered the first piercing he had gotten. It had been saturday and his mom was out shopping for groceries. He was flipping through the old texts he had with her. Their secrets, their plans, the stupid jokes she had made. He stopped on one in particular. They were talking about all the things they wanted to do that their parents wouldn't let them.

She wanted to get her nose peirced.

Reed had got up and jumped in his beat up car and got his nose pierced that day at some dingy tattoo shop. It was a simple stud on his left nostril just like she wanted. His mom didn't really like that one either but he didn't care. He would never care what others thought when it concerned her.

He remembered her.

She had been a suffocating force. Something that when gone it left you feeling as if you were constantly forgetting something. A presence that would show its profound absence as soon as you needed it the most. His room was flooded with her sillage. He hated the effect she had on him. The way she controlled him even when she was gone, even when she was she was nothing but memories. All the dumb shit she left in his room was a constant reminder that she had been there, and would always own him. She was the master and he her obeying dog fighting for her discarded scraps.

Despite all that she was beautiful in a sick way. Her deep coffee brown hair had been cut boldly at her shoulders, her olive skin was littered with freckles, her deep green eyes whispered indecent things but her innocent smile hid all of her seductive wickedness. She had been a walking contradiction. She was so shy and sweet and said the weirdest yet cutest fucking things he had ever heard. And that's how she hooked him; Her doll faced lies had him hanging on to her every whim. She could have made him do anything and he wouldn't even hesitate.

For a moment she had put things into perspective, feed him the acceptance instead, made him think maybe things in life did have double meanings. He had loved it.

That was in the past. Those were now all memories that didn't really benefit him in anywa-

"Wake up."

Reed jolted up, his heart slammed in his chest at a rate where he considered he was actually having a heart attack at 19 years old. His eyes darted around in a desperate attempt to collect what last pieces of vestige he had left. A cold heavy palm found his shoulder, sending a jolt up and down his spine. "Calm down old man, take in some air before you pass out. Jittery little thing aren't ya." The voice was warm and deep, it had a certain grumble that reminded him of thunder.

Looking over his shoulder Reed was met with a scraggly mane of red hair and 5 o'clock shadow, vibrant brown eyes and a toothy smile that reminded him of a shark. "Interesting shade of hair ya got there gramps. You old timers sure had it good back then." For a second Reed couldn't find his voice. Clearing his throat Reed removed the offending hand from his shoulder before asking the question itching at the back of his mind.

"Where am I?"

"Hahaha! Can't you tell gramps you're-" Reed cut him off with a glare. "Im clearly younger than you Sir." The strange man laughed. "Sure you are gramps, what year were you born?"

"1997." Reed said with a frown.

The man only laughed louder as he gestured in the air. A pale white screen popped in Reed's face, causing him to jolt back. "Look at the calendar." The man motioned towards the floating screen, reluctantly Reed sat back up and peered closer at the thing. "The year is 2136 dick face, making you 138. I'm only 37."

"What the hell?"