the siren † john seed

25

••

Liquorice wasn't feeling like herself today. She felt something in the pit of her stomach that made her feel sad and deflated.

She sat on her homemade tire-swing she made a few hours ago. She adored the way her small house looked, isolated and cornered in it's own world. The trees stretched across the land in dark streaks of shadows, as if it reached for her house.

She felt new. She felt if she had belted out the things that bothered her deeply. Although it left her feeling vulnerable and fragile, she felt free.

Before she knew it, she was sitting on a blanketed chair inside of a house that smelled of burning firewood.

The flames left dancing shadows onto the wooden walls, and it felt if she were burning with it.

She stood from the chair, her fingers dragging across a stuffed cougar standing frozen as a piece of decor now. She looked at the endless collection of books adorned on a shelf embedded into the wall.

There was countless books, most about law stuff.

"Are you a lawyer?" Liquorice asks, pulling out a white book off of the shelf with a finger. She flipped the book open and started reading.

"I went to law school."

She lifted her head from the book to look at the man standing in front of her. He plucked the book from her hands and put it back onto the shelf.

"Are ya' any good at it?" Asked she, picking up another volume of the book. "Like being a lawyer and stuff?"

"Very." He replies, grabbing the book from her hands. She quickly grabbed another book as he put it back.

Taking a step back from him, she scanned the contents of the page. It was sophisticated and contained terms she barely understood.

"Are you ashamed of being a lawyer, J?" Liquorice asks, watching as he put it back onto the shelf again.

"No." He states firmly, almost stubbornly. "I do not want your incapable brain to be overwhelmed."

"Ouch." Liquorice laughs, watching as a smile fell across his lips.

"I wanted to be a lawyer. Once." Liquorice says, grabbing a red apple from a bowl of fruit on display.

"What happened?"

Liquorice sits onto the chair. She digs her teeth into the red apple. With a mouthful of apple-skin she says, "Gloss."

"Gloss? You mean to tell me Gloss was your reason for not becoming a lawyer?" He restates, a bit confused.

"Yeah." She picks a loose thread off of the blanket on the chair. "Anyways, I wouldn't make it far if I did try to become one."

He grabs a chair from the side and flips it to face the woman. He rests his elbows on the back of the chair.

Liquorice watches as he adjusts himself on the chair.

"Enough about me. Tell me, Johnny, what did you want to be?" Liquorice takes another bite of the apple. "I'm pretty sure a lawyer wasn't your number one."

John pauses and looks at the ceiling, at the elegant chandelier that matched well with his wilderness decor.

"I forget. That was a very long time ago."

Liquorice crosses her legs. "Stop lying, oh my gosh." She stifles a laugh. "I wont call you out for it. Unless it was an exotic dancer."

Liquorice watched as John scanned her with those predator-blue eyes. She felt if he was flirting, without saying anything.

She gaped as he didn't answer. He looked lost and confused.

"Wait, you mean you actually don't know?"

He shrugged. "I blocked most of those memories."

"Did something happen to you?" Liquorice asks with a soft voice, hoping it wouldn't upset him. She put the apple into a garbage situated beside the chair and watched John's features falter slightly.

He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. He glanced around the room.

"Not really."

Liquorice didn't buy it, but she nodded, not wanting to hit a soft spot.

"So, what were you doing these past days?" Liquorice asks, curious.

——-