And the time would
come, and the girls would flee the clearing, as seemed to be in their nature to
do.
The boys who shared
the clearing would lift their heads from their activities and watch as the
receding figures vanished into the forest.
Then each would set
off in pursuit careening towards the still barely visible outlines, headlong
into the shadows of the forest.
In this way their
love was spoken, that of the pursued, that of the pursuer.
Except for one.
One boy would not
join the chase.
He had, once upon a
time, had chased his love through the deep shadows, but nature, in its oft
arbitrary way had taken the use of his legs.
When he had still
had use of his legs, there had been but one girl he had pursued, they had
shared the passion of the moment and it was just as real as anything could hope
to be.
But with the loss of
his legs, lost also was their love, and though she had felt sadness, she soon
was pursued by another.
He would watch her
leave.
His gaze following
her into the distance until she was but a vapor on the periphery of his vision.
His eyes became
unfocused and slid across the clearing to the opposite where they were stopped
and held by the
gaze of two
startling azure eyes.
A single girl stood
at the edge of the forest, still, not breaking eye contact.
She was stunning.
What a injustice,
she was not running amongst the trees, being chased, being pursued by the
hearts of wild boys.
She beckoned to him.
The boy almost
looked around, though he knew he was alone.
Me?
She's motioning to
me?
Doesn't she know? Is
this some cruel joke?
But the look on her
face was kindness and warmth, it was affection.
Desire rose in his
chest, tossing his heart in his throat, like a boat on a cresting wave.
He threw himself
from his seat, pitching forward,
ungracefully to the ground.
He pulled his body,
legs as dead weights, fingers digging for hold in soft ground, he inched,
handful by handful
towards the
motionless girl.
His frail arms
quickly began to shake with each effort, his lungs expelling hot pain with each
exhale, but the distance closed.
The dirt caked his
fingernails as he dug for each hold, mud and grass streaking his arms and
elbows.
He was too spent to
even lift his gaze, in a final titanic effort he came to rest at her feet.
Quickly she knelt
beside him.
She gently took his
head into her lap and brushed aside the hair matted across his face.
He heaved deep
breaths as he stared wordlessly up into her open gaze.
"…Why?" he
gasped.
"I could had
been chased by one of the others," She whispered to him, "but I was
pursued hardest by you."
