FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #6

Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son. In a small town built on strong families, it was a most reasonable assumption. Their casual, affectionate demeanor brought joy to the small town of Rosethrend.  The man would sit in his rocker on his aged wooden porch and wave a gnarled hand in greeting at the women from church who often entreated his presence in town. His long charcoal hair was held away from his smile lined face in a twisting braid. The boy – a man really, in his own right – would sit with him at dusk and they would often be seen talking for hours as the lightning bugs floated in a graceful dance and the cicadas sang. The boy’s features were like midnight to the man’s twilit graceful aging. With Nordic bone structure, emerald green eyes, and ebony hair the boy looked disheveled and mysterious in his shadowy beauty. He towered over the man by several inches and often aided him around the three story antebellum house with odd repairs. The antique beauty of the estate was engulfed in greenery – sprawling lawns, low-hanging trees, gardens filled with herbs and flowers.

"Summer will give way to autumn soon,” the man observed with radiant eyes. The boy lounged on one elbow, twirling grass between his thumb and middle finger.

“I’m sure the town will hold some sort of gathering. They seem to care about that sort of thing,” he said offhandedly.

The man chuckled a bit, “You are far too contemptuous Gavin.” The joyful laugh that continued beyond the words was warm like a cats purr. “Maybe we should join them.”

Gavin raised his eyes as he tossed his hair away from his face, and smiled ruefully. “Since when are you such a philanthropist, Mikasi?”

Mikasi laughed again. “You know eventually you’ll get tired of this old house. You always do.”

A snort from Gavin was the only response as night drew her blanket over them. The creaking of the rocker intermingled with the sounds of nature and the peaceful harmony between the boy and the man reigned again.

Summer faded and the days grew shorter. September brought the smells of fall and a flurry of activity descended on the town. Bold russet letters on white plastic banners pronounced ‘Fall Solstice Dance and Founding Celebration.’ Reminders were ever-present.

“I don’t want to attend this ridiculous thing,” Gavin said loudly as he buttoned his sheer white cotton shirt halfway, leaving it loose over a pair of dark jeans. Mikasi laughed and entered the room wearing a pressed pair of khaki pants and a cinnamon dress shirt.

“Yes you do… else you would have been mysteriously absent,” he teased.

Emerald eyes glared at him in the mirror before rolling in a silent rebuff. Mikasi laughed his laugh and left the room.

“Hurry up now boy, it’ll be starting soon.”

In the Town Hall, streamers ran rampant in a wash of warm colors reflecting the turning colors of the leaves. Ladies laughed and talked in small groups, men milled about the room or out of doors with their cigars and their brandy. Children ran up and down the darkened streets under the watchful eyes of their grandparents. Joy poured from every face and warmth bled from every eye. Hugs and waves were passed around as liberally as the iced tea in clear plastic cups. The band played jazz in the corner and chatted amiably with each person that stopped to complement them.

As the song died, a hush drew over the gathered crowd. At the entrance the man and the boy entered the quieted room. Mikasi smiled brilliantly to offset Gavin’s blank face.

“Oh you made it!” a high falsetto broke the spell that had seemed to hold sway over the crowd. Handshakes and greetings were exchanged warmly as the band resumed playing.

“Oh course Sandra, how could we not come?” Mikasi replied while laughing.

“And you brought your son! It’s so good to finally meet you,” she gushed, satin and lace rustling together with her movements. Gavin dropped his eyes from surveying the crowd to smile at the woman.

“Gavin,” he said succinctly and dropped a kiss on her hand. She tittered and blushed.

“Well aren’t you charming? Please, please come in. Help yourselves to whatever you’d like,” she continued, and then drifted away to a waiting pocket of women.

Mikasi laughed his laugh and flowed through the crowd, complementing and teasing as he was overwhelmed with hearty hellos from the people of Rosethrend. Gavin drifted near the refreshment table and watched the ensemble before him.

“I hate these things,” a whisky voice said from near his left elbow. Gavin glanced down and parted his lips to deliver a scathing reply to the unsolicited intrusion of his isolation but found himself utterly unable to speak. His eyes were drawn to the pure porcelain skin of a sprite who barely reached his shoulder. Raven curls waved riotously about her heart-shaped face as she twisted her lips into a pout.

“Then why do you attend?” Gavin asked finally. She turned the full force of her wide turquoise eyes on him and placed her slender hands on her hips, the stunning amethyst silk slip she wore, complete with black fringe shawl, teased the imagination even more as the shawl fell away from her delicate shoulders and smooth skin.

“Attend? Really? Who talks like that?” she replied in the same deep raspy voice. “Besides, I have no choice. My mom would have hysterics if I didn’t come to these.”

“Ah. So, familial duty then,” he nodded with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she said proudly, then jabbed him in the ribs, “you’re here too, aren’t you?”

Gavin couldn’t figure out what to make of the brash young woman standing beside him. She was remarkably unlike any woman he had ever encountered.

“My name’s Gavin.”

“I’m Shaw.” A smile played on her lips and her eyes sparked as she stood her ground, daring him to comment on her name.

“I suppose now I should do something inane like ask you to dance,” he mused.

Her laugh was like the rest of her, a contradiction of beauty and rough edges. “You sound thrilled by that idea.”

Gavin’s broad shoulders shrugged as he leaned against the wall.

“Maybe you’re afraid people will try to talk to you if you dance with one girl. They’ll want you to dance with all of their daughters,” Shaw continued. “I’ll tell you a secret Gavin. They are already scheming to set you up with their precious darlings.”

Gavin laughed out loud at her scorn. “Don’t worry, Shaw. If I do dance, it will be with you.”

It was her turn to laugh, though she didn’t blush as so many others did. “Who says I want to dance with you.” With that parting remark she wandered away to sit on a speaker near the bassist.

Gavin watched her from the corner of his eye, admiring her nonchalant grace. The narrowing of her eyes and the swift movement of her lips held him captive. Once or twice she glanced his way, then continued talking or laughing. The night passed in this silent observation for a long time, Gavin watching and Shaw amusing herself from person to person, always avoiding the groups of giggling girls or admiring boys.

“I see that light,” Mikasi spoke unexpectedly near Gavin. Though he didn’t jump, he quickly averted his eyes and pushed off from the wall in a fluid motion.

“You’re eye sight must be getting bad,” he replied in a dry voice. Mikasi laughed and tipped his head to the group which passed near them.

“Ah. So it is. I believe it is time for us to go.” His voice was thoughtful. Gavin loped towards the door with Mikasi at his side and inhaled deeply as they departed the stuffed hall and embraced the slightly chilled fresh air. Night was swollen in her beauty, paled only by the shining moon above. The pure white moonflowers waved in the gentle wind, sharing their scent with the world.

“Leaving so soon?” Gavin turned slightly to see Shaw swathed in shadows, a glowing ember dangling between her fingers. Mikasi patted his arm, all the while laughing, and walked on ahead.

“I should be getting Mikasi home,” Gavin answered politely. Shaw stamped out the cigarette with her heel and wrapped her arms around her middle.

“What does Mikasi mean? I’ve never heard anything like it.”

A slow bloom of untainted joy blurred the harsh planes of his face into softness. “It means ‘coyote’.”

A twist of the lips and a toss of swirling hair brought Shaw out of the shadows and to his side.

“Do you want to walk with me? I don’t feel like going back in there and I think Mikasi left you.”

Tension leapt through Gavin. One moment, his lips were parted on the verge of speaking, the next he was walking brusquely the other direction without a word. Shaw stared after him, teeth worrying her lower lip, until he was swallowed by the night.

Further down the lane and out of sight, Gavin put on a burst of speed, stopping short a few yards from where Mikasi stood hunched in on himself. A hand waved in the moonlight, glimmering darkly with something wet.

“Go Gavin. I’m almost home. Go!”

Gavin raced into the night, away from the town and its gaiety, away from Mikasi with his injury, away from the beautiful tempting Shaw.

Days blew by and autumn settled in comfortably on Rosethrend. Rumors passed from lip to ear as the town speculated over the man and the boy from week to week. In time, Mikasi was again seen sitting in his rocker on the porch, silent with far-seeing eyes. His constant companion was still absent and the man seemed smaller for it. His laugh was a little less rich, and his eyes a little less vibrant.

A moonless night brought the boy back, appearing beside the man again. His hair was longer, the look in his emerald eyes no longer apathetic but slightly feverish and his face was dusted with a shadow of a beard. Gavin sat stiffly next to Mikasi in silence for a long time.

“I’m going to hell you know,” he whispered into the stillness. Mikasi coughed wetly into a white handkerchief.

“We all have somewhere to go beyond this. I don’t believe hell is the place,” he said gruffly, tears glimmering in his eyes. Gavin twisted to look at Mikasi.

“You’re not going to the doctor are you?”

Mikasi shook his head, still staring into the night. “I’ll stay here like I always have. I don’t want to know if it’s bad. If it is my time, then –“ he shrugged and smiled “ – then it is my time.”

Gavin was on his feet as if being lifted by strings. “It’s not your time.”

Mikasi laughed his laugh and waved his cane at Gavin’s lean figure. “Sit. No more talk of death and of hell,” he reproached, “Letters came for you.”

Gavin sat near Mikasi’s legs and reclined on an elbow. “You should have thrown them out,” he said in his devil-may-care way.

Another laugh, this one was fuller than the previous. “What would be the fun in that?”

Emerald eyes rolled as Gavin chuckled along with Mikasi. “I thought this generation was so dependent on technology. Letters?  Really?”

“Well if you had given the girl your number she may have called. Instead, she dropped by to see this old man once or twice a week.”

Gavin groaned. “Mikasi I’m not even going to read them.”

“It would be good for you to get to know someone…” the unspoken for when I’m gone hung in the air between them. “Beside’s you didn’t even ask which girl.”

“That’s because I’m not going to read them,” he countered.

Mikasi levered himself to his feet and shuffled towards the screen door. “You will.”

Winter shepherded fall away as Mikasi spent less time on the porch, and more before the carefully stoked fire Gavin kept roaring for him. Shaw visited once or twice a week, reading to the aging man and keeping him company during the day. One such time, dusk stole over the house rapidly, the two friends oblivious to its coming. A step on the stair raised heads, one old and smiling, the other young and startled. Turquoise eyes met emerald ones in a brilliant staring match. Gavin turned away first, spying the dwindling fire and rekindling it. The flames bathed his bare upper body in a wash of warm light.

“You remember Shaw,” Mikasi said amiably. Gavin grunted and kept his muscular back to the two.

“I didn’t mean to stay so late. I should probably go,” she rasped. Shaw stood and brushed with quick-tempered strokes at her faded jeans. Gavin retrieved her coat from where it lay draped over the ottoman near her. He held it between slender fingers for her to slip into.

“I’m sure Gavin will walk you home,” Mikasi suggested. Gavin gave him a dry look.

“Of course,” he agreed stiffly, disappearing down the hall only to return shortly with a shirt.

“It’s really not that far. That’s why I rarely drive. It won’t take me very long at all,” Shaw protested. Gavin held the door for her, though his eyes stayed on Mikasi. Sensing defeat, she dropped a peck on the old man’s cheek, patted his hand, and walked outside.

“You really don’t have to,” she mumbled. Gavin’s hands were tucked in his pockets and his bare feet glided over the ground soundlessly.

“I’m glad you spend time with Mikasi,” he said finally. Shaw twisted to look up at him.

“Who is he?” she asked. “I mean, really who is he. You don’t really look alike, even though everyone says he’s your father.”

Gavin glanced at her. “If everyone says something it must be true.”

Shaw darted a few steps and planted herself in his path.

“Look, I didn’t ask you to walk with me. I would have been fine. Don’t get all angry with me if you don’t like it!” she exploded, her eyes crackling with anger. A heartbeat passed before a dry cynical laugh burst from Gavin’s lips.

“Since you seem well versed on all subjects, why don’t you tell me the answers ahead of time?”

Shaw punched him in the arm, to no effect. “Tell me the truth about something.”

For a long moment she believed he wouldn’t answer her. Gavin himself look surprised when he spoke. “Mikasi and I are related,” he said softly, his emerald eyes hard and his jaw clenched.

Shaw start walking again and he fell in step beside her. “So what is he?” she asked, “Like an uncle of yours or something?”

Gavin ground his teeth and shrugged again. A distressed sound came from the girl as she swung to punch him again, only to find her small hand enclosed in his. Her lips formed an ‘o’ as she raised the thick veil of lashes to shine her eyes upon his face.

“I would appreciate it,” he said tightly, “if you would stop hitting me.” Something dark swam just beneath his carefully controlled façade. Abruptly the night seemed incredibly isolating. Shaw’s breathing accelerated, running right alongside her galloping heart. Quick as lightning, Gavin kissed her, a swift brush of lips, and then jumped back as if scalded. Bewildered, Shaw touched a fingertip to her mouth where a small bead of blood glistened.

A fine trembling settled over his tense form as he stared at that mesmerizing red droplet.

“What…” the word fell from her and away into silence. Fire burned in those emerald eyes that bored into hers so piercingly. Her tongue darted out before she tried again. “Gavin…”

Gavin held up his hands as if to stave her off. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” he mumbled, starting to pace. His form moved liquidly, almost too quickly for the eye to follow. He looked at her again, grimaced, looked away.

“You have no idea do you?” he muttered harshly, looking more and more like a caged animal.

Shaw squared her shoulders, hands finding her hips in defiance. “Would you stop being so cryptic and just talk to me?”

Gavin paused and stared at her with wild eyes. “You’re a fool,” he spat. “You have no idea the kind of risk you’re in right now.”

“So you’re a fugitive or something.”

“Or something.”

“And Mikasi…?”

He sighed and abruptly sat on the ground as if he were a puppet whose strings had been suddenly cut. “Mikasi is my many-times-great grandson,” he said wearily, wiping a hand slowly over his face. His features were awash with misery as he said this. Amazingly, Shaw didn’t laugh. She sat down opposite him and dropped her chin into her palm.

“Okay.”

Gavin’s laugh was raw and filled with pain and longing. “Is that all you can say?”

Shaw reached out bravely and placed her hand on his arm. “I’m not afraid, Gavin. Didn’t you notice…?”

In a single swift motion, Shaw punctured her finger tip and held her hand towards his face. Fangs peeked between his lips. Emerald eyes widened wildly before his lips brushed her finger. 

“You’re…” words failed Gavin.

“...not normal either. I’m not like you, but I’m not human-normal. I’m going with you. When it’s time, just say when.”

“I’m damned. You can’t…”

“I can. You’re not. Mikasi loves you. You’ll need me even more when he dies.”

back to Contest #6