Indelible - Phan

1. i'm the sun-flooded mouth and i cannot speak

Title from: Teeth by The Japanese House

The first time I saw him was in June.

He was something angelic that didn't belong with all the concrete surrounding him, seemingly bleached bare by the sun. I almost feared he would be washed down the drain, his footsteps fell so unsteadily on the pavement; I knew his hands were shaking, because you could tell that he was the kind of boy with trembling fingers just from looking at him. His shoulders were curled and thin - the angles of his body sharp and incorrect.

As I watched he tipped back his head to stare at the sun, and when it burned his eyes, turned away. His irises were still full of painful sunlight when I dared to glance at his face. As he looked back up again, squinting, I blinked the stars out of my eyes and realised that his had been as brown as rich soil, and that he was important.

Still, I didn't linger; I didn't want to intrude on what seemed to be the first time he had looked at the sky in a long time. I limped quickly on, my right leg as stiff and sore as ever, as he stayed caught in his own little world, gazing at the sun like he had never seen anything like it in his life, like the enormously unblinking brightness of it wasn't making tears stream down his face.

Suddenly he saw me; a moment froze like glass and then his hips shifted, ready to run. Wild, feathery brown hair fell over his eyes and hid part of them, though I could still see the feral fear that stained his face.

I wanted to ask why he was afraid; I didn't. I only looked at the gutter, which was dry and cracked as bone, and uttered a soft 'good morning' as I passed. I heard him step back quickly as I spoke like the words scared him–and, like my presence had rattled him as much as his had rattled me, the boy hurried away in the opposite direction.

I felt an odd strain of emotion in my chest as his fast footsteps faded, evoking irrational guilt. I felt as if I had stolen a moment that he had desperately needed but with no way to make it right, I just kept walking.

The sun felt heavier than it had before. Heat was a physically scorching weight on my neck and even the air conditioning in the SunRoad Building made the air taste plastic, hard to swallow. At reception, Georgia leaned across the desk and shot me a smile that made my skin crawl – "Beautiful hot spell, isn't it, Mr Lester?" she said, cloyingly sweet, and I forced a smile in return.

I did not have the heart to remind her that this 'beautiful hot spell' was the weather all year round, that the sun above her was twice as hot as it should have been. "Yes," was all I said, "Just beautiful."

new things

yes

basically this au is set in the future where the world world is just covered in cities like that's about it and global warming has made it hot all year round 

comment and vote if you'd like to see more

ty