A Strange Day In July

His eyes were a burning cocktail of anger and arrogance as he stared through me, almost as if he had only the air in front of him. As the time passed, he began to grit his teeth, with his fist clenching and releasing with the rapid beating of his heart; my accusation was lingering over us, ricocheting off of the walls that surrounded. And as we continued in the silence, one I knew was already beginning to scar, my body began to feel weak and my eyes were loosely holding back the collaboration of tears and emotions that insisted on being let out.

Why wasn't he saying anything?

Why wasn't he denying my question?

Then it hit me; he was trying to threaten me. Although there was a considerable height difference between us, he still found it necessary to lean over me, with his neck extended. Even as I broke my gaze multiple times, my eyes darting anywhere but at him, when they met again he would still carry the same fury upon his face, unwilling to let it falter.

He wanted me to back down, become the weak one. It was unpredictable, what he would do next, the lengths he would go to make me drop the subject and walk away with my tail between my legs. With this realisation, the tears vanished and an untouchable strength possessed my once-frail frame, meeting his forceful body language with my own. I wouldn't let him do this to me any more.

Taking a step forward, I repeated my question. The first time it had felt like the words were daggers, cutting my tongue into two as I forced them out of my mouth, continuing to sting even after they were in the open. However, this time they were smooth and easy, falling from my lips to sculpt my face forever into the ice encasing his heart.

For a moment, I could see the wounds beginning to form from the way that he stumbled slightly, and softened his features. And in the midst of his fingers trembling ever so slightly, he grabbed my hand and jerked me towards him. Bringing his lips closer to mine, I could smell the alcohol seeping pungently from them, shaking me out of the trance of confusion I was absorbed within.

I shoved him backwards, perhaps a little harder than I'd intended to, causing him to trip over his own feet and sway as he hung his head, his posture representing that of an ape. Standing my ground was no longer my main focus. How dare he even consider me so weak that I would simply be won over by a kiss? A kiss that would mean nothing to him but one that he hoped would have silenced me and proved his ownership of my thoughts and heart. My whole body was ignited with flames that roared through my being and spread the feeling of indignation to what felt like the entire world.

With each second passing, his breathing became heavier, the only movement he made was his shoulders broadening at each inhale. Slowly, his back straightened; he studied my face intently, searching for something beyond my comprehension. He seemed vacant and unsure for a moment until he once again gritted his teeth and pulled his mouth into a wicked grin. The inexorable mercilessness of his soul was projected as he swung his clenched fist towards me.

It collided with my cheek, throwing me backwards from the impact that his powerful hand had created. For a moment it felt as though I was floating from the emptiness of my soul. I watched my whole sense of being drift by me. My thoughts, my desires, my emotions, my compassion, every last drop of myself had gone, exposing a raw and grievous memory that revealed itself from the depths of my repressed recollections. A singular story that played before my eyes.

I saw myself, a little girl with ringlet curls cascading down her back and reaching the tiny silver belt that delicately rested on top of her pearl embellished dress. Her tiny features carried a glorious youthful glow that would soon disappear when her later years came. It looked slightly odd to see a girl in such attire perched behind a tree, her red, patent shoes carrying a layer of dried mud from the many times she'd ventured to this exact spot. Her eyes never once strayed from the direction of the river, she was focused on the sight before her, as she was every day. However, it appeared that this day was different, as she began to saunter down to the bank towards the thing she had become quite attached to following to her fascination with it.

There he stood, composed, skimming the stones on the water, creating ripples that blurred the reflection of the clouds passing in the July sun. His actions gave the impression of effortless perfection as he danced along the riverbank, making his own music from the pile of stones he had gathered beside on the grass. His disheveled ensemble didn't hold him back in the slightest; the oversized shirt simply added a look of grace to him as he swam through the air, complimented by his blonde mop of tousled hair.

Fully immersed in his actions of getting each stone further than the last he didn't notice her perch behind him on the rocks. When reaching for the last of his materials, he simply looked her in the eyes and turned towards the river and threw the tiny rock. The look lit fireworks that began to erupt within her, the unfamiliar new feeling spreading to every inch of her skin. Everything she could see before her shone in a different light; a blanket of tranquility had settled itself over the earth and given it all a new meaning.

Listening to the stone skimming across the water, he waited for the exceptionally satisfying sound of it becoming abruptly submerged below but it never came. The break in his sequence broke the daze he was in and he scanned the water, expecting to see the ripples slowly spreading, but nothing. He noticed the same, smooth stone sat beside his tattered footwear.

Raising the stone once again he examined it, then threw it forcefully at the water, this time keeping his eyes open to watch it bounce along. And this time he saw it, the stone skipped away to somewhere long out of his view but eventually it returned to him, like a puppy playing fetch with its' master. For the final time he mustered all the strength he possessed and launched it above the water, craning his neck to see the outcome of his actions, and slowly but surely, it came back but this time it didn't land next to him, it rolled itself softly towards her feet. He watched her with a perplexed expression as she brought the stone into her hands and offered it back to him.

This was the first time he had placed his complete concentration on her, and as had occurred for the girl, he couldn't bring his eyes to look away from her. The stone had brought his ignorance to a halt and now he could see her in the way fate had intended. She was beautiful, a picture of pure innocence and elegance, like nothing he'd ever come to find.

With not a single calling for communication, their souls had laced together and become one on such a strange day in July...

And with that last moment, my mind snapped back to the present. I longed to return to the times that followed our first encounter. Happiness never failed to surround me and give me the confidence to become the best version of myself that I could. Everything seemed to have an answer then and nothing would require extra thought. Finding myself had become child's play, knowing that life was wholesome each and every day. I had him and he had me and that was all that mattered to us for many contented years. All was bliss.

From my quivering pile in the corner, I watched as he walked insolently towards the door, paying no attention to the smashed bottles that now littered the floor. His foot steps echoed down the hallway, and the door slammed shut behind him. Blood was spread on the walls and on the wooden floor, more than could have come from the blow that my cheek had suffered. But even though the silence had long become deafening, nothing could drown out the words that had escaped my mouth and caged me within my own despise and horror. All that remained were the words...

"Are you cheating on me?"