𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚜 // 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚔 [𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐]

Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night

I leant back against the bark of the pine tree, cool gusts of wind trailing through the leaves only to meet my hair, the golden tresses of which they pulled along until the ends were reached and dropped; an echo of the futility of effort in this cruel world.

The ghosts the town had told tales about for decades swam around me in the meandering air, snapshots of the pale faces of those passed beyond in all but collective memory lingering as the wind stilled, then swept away again in a tide of melancholic remembrance.

I knew he was going to wonder where I was; I knew that he was going to be broken when I didn't return home for a day, the question "Where did you sleep last night?" lingering on his lips, only never to be truly answered.

But the ghosts were lingering for longer; they knew by now that I was soon to join them. The air wasn't cold, wasn't warm, just was; its still embrace wrapping me in the sounds and smells of the wooded countryside.

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me

Tell me, where did you sleep last night?

I slept for eternity with my eyes wide open, staring up at the stars through the pine branches high above me. I slept with Farmer Joe, his head against the wheel, and I slept with his wife, her hand frozen, clenched around the knife. I slept with this town's ghosts, joining them in their desolate world for one night.

You see, I yearned to tell him, these were the ghosts I dreamed of every night, the ghosts that haunted me, even if I had never known the poor souls they belonged to.

In the pines, in the pines

Where the sun don't ever shine

I would shiver the whole night through

In the presence of the spirits I couldn't let go of, I slept for the first time during which I could finally rest. Others would shiver, restless, in the cold gaze of the truth, but with the bark against my back and head tipped as if my soul were no more, I was at peace.

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me

How could he ever know the truth?

I slept with the ghosts last night.