Rhapsody

//04: truck.

a squeal of tires
   > harsh black rubber against the soft earth
wakes me.

my eyes snap open; i sit up and turn around.

the head of a white truck
stares back at me, mere inches away.
it shakes as i hear a car door slam shut violently.

cursing - a voice - footsteps - a boy.

he grabs my arm
and pulls me up before i have time to panic.

human touch is foreign

"are you alright?"
                                he asks,
but i am distracted by the look in his eyes.

there is something there.

(hidden)

like a bottomless well of something
that he refuses to let himself drown in and so has
built a brick veil around it instead.

but it isn't strong enough,
and i am pulled into a torrent of wild, wild
                                                                          something.

"are you okay?
                            i didn't actually hit you, did i?"

"i'm fine,"
                 i say.

crashing back down to earth

soon enough, his concern turns to anger.

"what were you doing in the middle of the road like that?"

"resting."

"in the middle of the road?"

"yes."

"you could've been killed!"

pause.

"you weren't...
                                       that wasn't what you were hoping for,
                          right?"

"no."

"then why?"

"it's none of your business."

and just like that,
the conversation escalates to angry words of confusion
and frustration;
and i end it by going back to the house.