Guess who? A Duet

[Guest MotherMichigan]

Written by two people. Guess.

 

<Person> Ringo Billy Bob sipped his soda

 

<Person> since he'd lost his front tooth, the chill of the can hurt

 

<Person> his tongue kept prowling around, nudging and retreating from the broken stub

 

<Person> it kinda hurt good, if that made any sense

 

<Person> sense or not, he couldn't stay away from it

 

<Another> He pulled his cloak tighter around him and grimaced at the wind. Every thing was cold and painful

 

<Another> Inside his oatmeal was boiling, burning even, but he didn't go inside yet, he sortof wanted to suffer

 

<Another> to feel angry. She had absolutly no right.

 

<Another> He cut his tongue on the sharp edge of the can

 

<Person> he'd been told suffering was good for the soul, but he wasn't sure any more; it hurt too much. just like her

 

<Person> the metallic salty taste of blood spread across his mouth like wildfire, strangely fitting his mood.

 

<Another> He spit it on the snow before he though but then he wondered if it was enough for Them to sense it

 

<Person> The watery red contrasting with the slushy gray-white seemed like an augury of events to come.

 

<Another> The oatmeal began to smell burnt, but that too fit, and he stayed standing there.

 

<Person> sometimes he didn't mind eating the scorched scraping from the oatmeal pot, but lately they aggravated his broken tooth and still swollen lip

 

<Person> .

 

<Another> He despised himself for his pickyness, but could not bring himself to feel hungry for that stuff, wretched when it wasn't burnt

 

<Person> But if he refused it again, They would know and punish him for "Poor Stewardship"... again.

 

<Another> He groaned and went inside to look at it

 

<Person> He started at the skeletal face he encountered on the way in, but it was only the ragged reflection of his own wretched existence in the broken mirror.

 

<Another> He jumped, but caught himself quickly; he just wasn't in the state of mind to meet them.

 

<Person> Them, shadows of a broken mind? Or did they really exist. He didn't know any more.

 

<Another> The oatmeal was worse than he thought so he looked around, wondering if he dared throw it out.

 

<Person> He felt Them watching, always watching! He choked down a mouthful, and washed it away with blood-tainted soda.

 

<Another> He gulped a few more mouthfuls knowing that he had better get some more practice in before he slept

 

<Person> He still remembered how his mouth had bled for days the last time, choking him when he slept, drooling pink salvia on his pillow.

 

<Another> Last time though, she'd been there to cheer him up afterwards.

 

<Person> But now she was a memory, the silver shield of love he held up to protect him against the Darkness of Them - if only in his mind. His damned tooth hurt.

 

<Another> He gulped more of the oatmeal, and almost gagged. Dusk was coming and after that he woudlnt have the light to parctice

 

<Person> the turgid oatmeal felt almost good on his tooth, blood body warm and comforting, even if the taste built up a pressure in his throat that warned he might taste it again.

 

<Another> His head started to throb in the dangerous way so he tipped his straight back and dumped the rest of teh contents down his throat desperately

 

<Person> like water thrown down a volcano's mouth, it hit and erupted violently.

 

<Another> He paniced-this was waste not stewardship, and there was not time to clean it up and practice

 

<Person> staring in dismay at the gelid vomitous puddle, he realized that his Pokemon practice wouldn't wash tonight!

 

<Another> He shook himself and went to lie down, he was losing track of the world again

 

<Person> He started away, but They began shrieking at him, like Furies from the past: "Clean up your mess, you worthless piece of maggot flesh. I wish you'd never been born." He staggered and tried to summon Her shining help.

 

<Another> As he stumbled back to his mess he saw his reflection in the mirror and thinking it was her fell down on his knees

 

But She wasn't there, and They rode his hunched shoulders like the Old Man of the Sea as he desparately tried to scoop up the mess in his calloused hand, only to have it drip like strings of spider venom through his fingers to the floor.

 

<Another> He knew what eh had to do-he fell on his face and started to lick it up

 

<Person> the smell made his stomach roil, but he felt a bitter victory as Their voices fell silent. He continued to kneel like a penitent sinner before the altar of vomit.

 

<Another> It was finished. He heard their bitter laughter and broke down weeping

 

<Person> His tears rode like small clear ponds on the gooey floor; he washed his mouth with soda to clear it once more.

 

<Another> He groaned and went outside to do his gyrations before it grew dark

 

<Person> Each movement lancing pain from his turbulent stomach to the lightning of his tooth, he did the Pikachu hop, the Coffing belch, and the other Formal Pokemon Katas.

 

<Another> He bit down hard to jar his tooth and make the pain lance through his body.

 

<Person> the sudden pain overrode Their spurs, he mercifully lost consciousness.

 

 

Edited by: MotherMichigan at: 10/6/02 8:04:51 pm

Edited April 29, 2004 by Alaeha