Her laugh broke the silence. It was the kind of beautiful silence; the deafening one. It was the kind of silence that was so loud that if one were to speak, the words would dissolve the moment they rolled off the tongue. The silence formed a bubble and inside that bubble, there was an unspoken type of protection. The bubble blocked out all of the unpleasant reality. Everything bad in the world simply bounced off the outside walls. It was her laugh that broke the silence; a dry chuckle that echoed in the once silent car and created cracks in the sanctuary, letting reality seep in like an unwanted fume.
"We're doing this," she stated. Her once soft and innocent voice was now laced with exhaustion. "We're running away," she said. The boy tightened his hands on the wheel and pressed his foot farther into the accelerator. He was afraid that if he slowed down too much, he would begin to overthink everything. It was pitch black outside except for the two headlights with their own little rays illuminating the space about two feet in front of the car.
"I can't believe we're doing this," she repeated, taking it all in. The boy glanced at her and noticed a smile tugging on her lips. There is a silent beauty to stating the obvious. We all do it. In the moments that we cannot believe it, we say it. It's much like pinching yourself to assure you are awake. They were running away; not forever and not really at all actually...just for the night. She needed an escape and he was happy to provide. She sat cross-legged on the seat as she leaned forward. Her brown hair was messy and unkempt but her eyes shined in glee. Adrenaline radiated off of her like heat waves but the boy was careful not to get to close for he was afraid that he could get burned.
He was in love with her, dangerously so. She didn't know it at the time and she definitely did not love him back but it didn't matter in that moment. Words couldn't describe how she looked, sitting in that front seat as she reached her arm out the window. She was practically begging for the wind to take her away. She yearned to be taken away; away from the pain and poison that was laced through the air. She was a different kind of soul; a free spirit type. She was the kind of girl who really could make a difference. That was why he loved her. It was also why she could never love him back.
The boy's stomach churned when she turned on the radio and began to sing loudly. Jubilation coated her tone. His uneasy feelings dissolved like sugar on his tongue. He laughed before he began to sing. Their voice formed a dreadful harmony. He was sure that if anyone were to hear them, they would assume they were tone-deaf. But none of it mattered because following every verse she sang, she laughed. She laughed a real laugh; a loud one that wasn't dry and full of embarrassment nor shame nor worry. It was the kind of laugh that broke silences. Her laugh broke the silence that he'd been living in for so long. It suited itself in armor and fought to break down the barriers he'd created. It was a laugh so powerful that it broke his heart. It cracked it open and seeped in like a smoke bomb but once it was inside, it mended, becoming stronger than ever before.
YOU ARE READING
Flaws: a Collection of Short Stories
Short Story"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" -William Shakespeare
