codenamewanderlust | LJ Idol 10: Week 3: Brushback pitch

The Begining of The End,
or It's All Just a Matter of Time

1am

The words trip over her tongue.

They wash out into the space between them

Hitting her target slightly left of the center.

She’s smiling;

Blowing hot air over her fingernails

and buffing them on her lapel.

It’s a brush-back pitch,

A challenge,

A dare,

A psych out,

She’s redefining their boundaries.

2am

She’s bored and he’s —

Well, not defenseless after all apparently,

but they’ve kept their hands to themselves.

The pain lies (so many lies) in the dust particles

floating on the sound waves

contextualized between them.

She was drawn to him because of this.

A shared history of idle threats.

Because he kindled the fire of her passion,

Because he liked her purple prose;

And kept his own quill sharpened.

3am

He is the black knight

riding across the desert.

She is the sorceress; no, not yet the dragon.

She is not breathing fire but blowing smoke

against the limits of his conviction.

She's still waiting to see
if he’ll sit this one out,

Take a bye,

Call it a draw.

Or, step up to the plate,

Pick up the dropped glove,

Take ten paces and turn.

4am

They both know all the right

buttons to push,

strings to pull,

words to hurl; loaded into slingshots

Constructed out of circular arguments.

Their vows spoken backwards;

A spell,

A trick,

A promise.

Abracadabra!

Alakazam!

The sound of a needle skipped on a vinyl record.

The words trip over her tongue.

She is still smiling when he finally swings.

__________________________

AN: I guess I have a thing for even numbers so this one is 250 words

LJ Idol 10: Week 3: Brushback pitch

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