the ballad of love and hate

My roommate Shawn and I have started training for our first 5K which we run tomorrow.  Please help us help this noble cause by considering donating to our teams fundraising efforts. We are excited to be running as a team- promoting our a great cause, our new business, and our health! Thank you and have a great day! http://2009JingleBellRockford.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=310910&lis=1&kntae310910=07A57FBA763541F38CBB3B87ADAFF679&supId=274562767

Fiction-ish

She laid down beside me, leaves in her hair, staring up at the stars. I looked down at her then back up to the sky.

“They’re dead you know,” I told her.

“What?” she asked.

“The stars. They sit up there in the sky, looking so bright. but really, it’s nothing.”

“I don’t believe that,” she said bracing her back with her elbows against the cool earth.

“You can’t not believe that. There is nothing to believe. It’s science.”

“Nope. I don’t buy it. He’s up there.”

“who?” I asked.

“My brother,” she said, laying back down. “He promised. ‘Said he’d always watch over me.” She pointed directly above us. “That one right there. That’s him.”

“Can he see me too?” I asked, crossing my eyes toward the moon.

“Yup.” She smiled, closing her eyes.

“What’s his name?”

“Cory.”

“Cory. Hi Cory.” I laid down next to her. She laughed then leaned over and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen into my eyes.

“Hey Cor,” she whispered, “don’t look.” She kissed me. We sat up and I fumbled trying to negotiate the space between us with her hat and head phones poking me in my eyes.

She took her head phones off and placed them around my neck.

“I want you to listen to something,” she said quietly. I couldn’t tell if she was crying.

“What is it?” I begged.

“Don’t look.” She took her ipod out of her pocket and turned the dial until she was satisfied. I placed he ear cups over my ear and waited until soft electronic humming poured into my head. swimming pool. “Everything is perfect now.” And it was. She removed her hat, tossing it aside, and put her hand under my head as she laid me down in the damp grass. “Close your eyes.” I did. I felt her fingertips trace my neck to my navel. And then, one by one she undid the three buttons securing my jeans.

“I like you,” I whispered into the black sky.

She kissed my neck and in between kisses she sighed. “I know.”

When I got back to the apartment that night my clothes were stained with mud. I spent some time in the car picking bits of leaves out of my tangled hair, before going inside. I unlocked the door slowly and quietly as I could, but Martin barked and then rushed to greet me. “Shh!” I demanded. He obliged and sulked away. I floated to my bed and stiped myself of my wet clothing. Before surrendering to the night, I closed my eyes tightly and replayed everything in my mind. “Hey Cory,” I whispered to no one in particular. “You can look now.”