Falling {H.S.} | One Shot

Falling

Alissa Bates

Mr. Baccei

Creative Writing P.1.

28/02/2020

Inspired by "Falling" from Harry Styles

He laid in his bed, cold and empty from the missing presence of her. She was no longer there...and he had no one or nothing to blame besides himself and the drink in his wandering hands. The words they screamed at each other echoed in his mind empty of everything besides pain and regret. If she were still with him, he'd tell her to forget everything he said. He didn't mean it. But, she was gone, and he couldn't take it back. He couldn't unpack the baggage she left.

So now, he was abandoned with nothing but his all too consuming thoughts and a piano in which water cascaded like a torrent from under the open lid. It rained down the much too used keys and jet black wood and eventually dripped to the floor. His ring clad fingers were wrapped around a glass of whiskey he placed atop the flooding piano before him. Sitting down, he began to play the somber melody of his last song, his voice soon joining the dismal sound as he sang.

What am I now?

What am I now?

What if I'm someone I don't want around?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

His inflection sounded broken like his heart.

What if I'm down?

What if I'm out?

What if I'm someone you won't talk about?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

This wasn't the first time they had fought, but each time, she'd come back, telling him that she cared and missed him too...although, this time, she wouldn't. This time, it was her forever, while his own forever was soon coming to a close, cementing their distance.

The water began to flow more heavily from the old, grand piano with tattoos much resembling his own engraved on the wooden side. The dreary room set upon him was becoming something more of a shallow pool as the water continued to rise past his ankles. Ignoring it, his mind took him back to the happier times. The times when she was sat in front of him smiling a smile he would bask in as the sun could not even compare to its brightness. Mugs would be placed in their hands, warming them up as the scent of fresh Arabica beans brewed from The Beachwood Cafe wafted their senses. But much like their conversation, the coffee dried up, and it killed him because they had run out of things they could say.

What am I now?

What am I now?

What if I'm someone I don't want around?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

The water flowed heavier, seeming to rush out faster and faster like a waterfall. It began to rise up the walls and pushed the shutters open, revealing the silhouette of the Eiffel Tower through the white curtains and causing a warm light to cast upon the dark victorian room.

What if I'm down?

What if I'm out?

What if I'm someone you won't talk about?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

With a temperature cold like his mood, what would soon drown him rose well past the piano and above his shoulders as he struggled to push through the chorus. Chairs floated around him and paintings fell off the walls, their luminous color mixing and swirling in the water like the whiskey from his tipped glass. But...even submerged in water...his hands continued play and his voice continued to sing.

And I get the feelin' that you'll never need me again

He looked to the ceiling as he belted the note before the water completely overtook him, pulling him under into a trap he couldn't escape...nor wanted to.

Tears of every emotion escaped his eyes, but they were masked from being below the surface. Feeling the stinging as he kept them open, he looked around to see everything submerged and floating...yet he was still Falling.

What am I now?

What am I now?

What if you're someone I just want around?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

His fingers no longer played the keys. Instead, his arms were reaching for the top, wishing for the rest of his body to follow and swim to the light...to life. But, he didn't. The piano bench came out from underneath him, joining everything else floating above the surface as he stayed below and sang for the last time...

What if I'm down?

What if I'm out?

What if I'm someone you won't talk about?

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin' again

I'm fallin'

The last note was the most broken of them all, reflecting how he felt on the inside...for this moment was so beautifully sad. This moment when he accepted he was drowning and did nothing to fight for his life, said so much more than the words in this story ever could. And with that, the water filled his lungs as some more escaped his eyes in sorrow, taking his life once and for all.

The End