Nightlight.
Love is in the air, my friends! Inspired by that glorious epic, Twilight, and the shenanigans found here, I bring you:
NIGHTLIGHT
The first time I saw Ralph Sullen, I knew he was different.
He wasn't like all the other boys with their intact skin and their teenaged acne, their eagerness to please me, the one true goddess of their lives. He was breathtaking, pure, perfect, glorious. He filled me with urges I had never before felt. It was almost as though there was an invisible string on a pulley of emotion drawing us together like two salmon in a stream of love. Destiny had sounded its trumpets over our heads.
I was in high school when it happened. I had just moved in with my dad who, recognizing my status as a goddess, would fall all over himself to make me feel at home and welcome. Silly Daddy, he's such a bumbling fool who can't take care of himself. I don't know how he ever survived without me.
Like Daddy, all the students at my new podunk high school went out of their way to appease me. All the boys wanted me and all the girls wanted to be me. But they were all flawed and stupid like all teenagers. Totally beneath me. I mean, like, seriously.
It was during lunch that I first saw Ralph Sullen. I'd just gotten lunch with these "friends" who were totally not my type. They were chattering on about boys or something else totally beneath me when the doors opened -- and there he was. My eyes instantly found his, so pale and gorgeous with the milky clouds of decomposition. His skin was a jaundiced yellow with patches of thick black slime where the parasites had graced his Adonis-like features, and he moved with all the prowess and beauty of a duck wearing lead shoes and suffering a severe case of hip dysplasia. My breath caught in my throat as his essence wafted through the air, overpowering at 50 yards -- or so it seemed to me. The scent of three-month-old eggplant pizza set my heart to pounding, though I tried to quiet it lest everyone around me hear.
As he glided into the room, he passed by my table and my heart skipped beats faster than a blind cello player -- but to my disappointment, he took one look at me and quickly moved past. I watched as he shambled off toward a table further down already occupied by several students.
"Who is that?" I asked my unimportant companions who were still basking in the glow of my heavenly aura.
"That's Ralph Sullen," said Unimportant Bimbo #1. She had to raise her voice above the howls of pain coming from the table to which Ralph had gone, but the name rang loud and clear in my ears.
Ralph Sullen. He was so perfect, so amazing, and I was totally unworthy of him in spite of the fact that I was better than everyone else. I wanted to meet him and get to know him more. Little did I know when I stepped into my biology class that I would be seated right next to him.
He was alone and there were no other seats available. Nervously taking the chair next to him, I offered a quiet, "Hello." He only stared blankly ahead, his jaw hanging slightly agape. I could see his jagged teeth between the shreds of cheek still left on his face and sighed longingly.
He didn't pay any attention to me at all during the entire class and wouldn't touch me or look at me. As soon as the bell rang, he rose and lurched away as though he couldn't move fast enough. I gazed after him, my heart sinking. I knew that I loved him. I had grown to cherish him beyond anything else in the world in the past two hours that we had seen each other. I knew that if we did not end up together, I would surely have no reason to live at all.
I went through my other classes dejectedly that day, feeling my life's meaning slip away with each passing minute away from Ralph. All of the other peons were cheerful and laughter filled my ears, but it rang dull and thick in my ears. There was no joy in my life. Not without the warmth and power of my Ralph.
When school ended that day, I slumped out to the parking lot to get into the car my dad had bought for me. I had put in my ear buds to listen to HIM and dream about the day when Ralph and I could be together forever -- but this was a big mistake. I didn't hear the van bearing down on me until it was too late. I watched the hunk of metal hurtle toward me with all the intensity of a thousand missiles. My life flashed before my eyes. I would never be able to grace the presence of all those poor, backwards people again. Everyone would come to my funeral and weep bitter tears, wailing and gnashing their teeth as they recalled the blessings I had bestowed upon their pitiful lives. Everyone would mourn my death.
Everyone but Ralph Sullen.
I was doomed!
But then suddenly he was there beside me. He shielded me with his body and the van's metallic shell curled around him like a balloon. He was so close, I could feel a maggot crawl down my shirt from where it had fallen from his perfectly shaped nostrils. Even in this moment of sheer terror, I could only think of how much I wished it were his tongue.
It was over in a moment, but it seemed like much longer. Ralph bent back the van's frame to create an exit and began to skulk off without a word while everyone gathered around the scene. Hundreds of questions filled the air, but I ignored them all and pushed past the concerned masses to follow after Ralph.
"Hey!" I called. "What the hell was that?"
He turned around and gawked at me blankly. I could see a worm wriggling out of his ear and suppressed the urge to kiss it.
"You ignore me despite the fact that I'm so fantastic and so much better than everyone else, and I know that I'm still not good enough for you, but really, why the hell did you do that?" I demanded, tears stinging my eyes. I forced them back. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
"Mnnnnngh," said he. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard, like the notes of a tin can scraping along asphalt on a clear spring day.
"Is that all you have to say?" I asked, suddenly aware of how much I couldn't breathe. I was too overwhelmed by him.
My heart leapt when he moved closer to me. He slowly bent down, his face so close to mine. This was it. I knew it. The time had come for him to express his true feelings for me. His musk filled my nostrils: wet earth over the carcass of a wildebeest on the savannah after three days' rain. He was so close now I could almost taste him. I tried not to seem too eager. I didn't want to scare him away.
And then, as his teeth gouged into my skull, I realized that he had only wanted me for my brains.
Asshole.
----
Certainly not my best work, but then again, I am a playwright, not a storyteller.
NIGHTLIGHT
The first time I saw Ralph Sullen, I knew he was different.
He wasn't like all the other boys with their intact skin and their teenaged acne, their eagerness to please me, the one true goddess of their lives. He was breathtaking, pure, perfect, glorious. He filled me with urges I had never before felt. It was almost as though there was an invisible string on a pulley of emotion drawing us together like two salmon in a stream of love. Destiny had sounded its trumpets over our heads.
I was in high school when it happened. I had just moved in with my dad who, recognizing my status as a goddess, would fall all over himself to make me feel at home and welcome. Silly Daddy, he's such a bumbling fool who can't take care of himself. I don't know how he ever survived without me.
Like Daddy, all the students at my new podunk high school went out of their way to appease me. All the boys wanted me and all the girls wanted to be me. But they were all flawed and stupid like all teenagers. Totally beneath me. I mean, like, seriously.
It was during lunch that I first saw Ralph Sullen. I'd just gotten lunch with these "friends" who were totally not my type. They were chattering on about boys or something else totally beneath me when the doors opened -- and there he was. My eyes instantly found his, so pale and gorgeous with the milky clouds of decomposition. His skin was a jaundiced yellow with patches of thick black slime where the parasites had graced his Adonis-like features, and he moved with all the prowess and beauty of a duck wearing lead shoes and suffering a severe case of hip dysplasia. My breath caught in my throat as his essence wafted through the air, overpowering at 50 yards -- or so it seemed to me. The scent of three-month-old eggplant pizza set my heart to pounding, though I tried to quiet it lest everyone around me hear.
As he glided into the room, he passed by my table and my heart skipped beats faster than a blind cello player -- but to my disappointment, he took one look at me and quickly moved past. I watched as he shambled off toward a table further down already occupied by several students.
"Who is that?" I asked my unimportant companions who were still basking in the glow of my heavenly aura.
"That's Ralph Sullen," said Unimportant Bimbo #1. She had to raise her voice above the howls of pain coming from the table to which Ralph had gone, but the name rang loud and clear in my ears.
Ralph Sullen. He was so perfect, so amazing, and I was totally unworthy of him in spite of the fact that I was better than everyone else. I wanted to meet him and get to know him more. Little did I know when I stepped into my biology class that I would be seated right next to him.
He was alone and there were no other seats available. Nervously taking the chair next to him, I offered a quiet, "Hello." He only stared blankly ahead, his jaw hanging slightly agape. I could see his jagged teeth between the shreds of cheek still left on his face and sighed longingly.
He didn't pay any attention to me at all during the entire class and wouldn't touch me or look at me. As soon as the bell rang, he rose and lurched away as though he couldn't move fast enough. I gazed after him, my heart sinking. I knew that I loved him. I had grown to cherish him beyond anything else in the world in the past two hours that we had seen each other. I knew that if we did not end up together, I would surely have no reason to live at all.
I went through my other classes dejectedly that day, feeling my life's meaning slip away with each passing minute away from Ralph. All of the other peons were cheerful and laughter filled my ears, but it rang dull and thick in my ears. There was no joy in my life. Not without the warmth and power of my Ralph.
When school ended that day, I slumped out to the parking lot to get into the car my dad had bought for me. I had put in my ear buds to listen to HIM and dream about the day when Ralph and I could be together forever -- but this was a big mistake. I didn't hear the van bearing down on me until it was too late. I watched the hunk of metal hurtle toward me with all the intensity of a thousand missiles. My life flashed before my eyes. I would never be able to grace the presence of all those poor, backwards people again. Everyone would come to my funeral and weep bitter tears, wailing and gnashing their teeth as they recalled the blessings I had bestowed upon their pitiful lives. Everyone would mourn my death.
Everyone but Ralph Sullen.
I was doomed!
But then suddenly he was there beside me. He shielded me with his body and the van's metallic shell curled around him like a balloon. He was so close, I could feel a maggot crawl down my shirt from where it had fallen from his perfectly shaped nostrils. Even in this moment of sheer terror, I could only think of how much I wished it were his tongue.
It was over in a moment, but it seemed like much longer. Ralph bent back the van's frame to create an exit and began to skulk off without a word while everyone gathered around the scene. Hundreds of questions filled the air, but I ignored them all and pushed past the concerned masses to follow after Ralph.
"Hey!" I called. "What the hell was that?"
He turned around and gawked at me blankly. I could see a worm wriggling out of his ear and suppressed the urge to kiss it.
"You ignore me despite the fact that I'm so fantastic and so much better than everyone else, and I know that I'm still not good enough for you, but really, why the hell did you do that?" I demanded, tears stinging my eyes. I forced them back. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
"Mnnnnngh," said he. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard, like the notes of a tin can scraping along asphalt on a clear spring day.
"Is that all you have to say?" I asked, suddenly aware of how much I couldn't breathe. I was too overwhelmed by him.
My heart leapt when he moved closer to me. He slowly bent down, his face so close to mine. This was it. I knew it. The time had come for him to express his true feelings for me. His musk filled my nostrils: wet earth over the carcass of a wildebeest on the savannah after three days' rain. He was so close now I could almost taste him. I tried not to seem too eager. I didn't want to scare him away.
And then, as his teeth gouged into my skull, I realized that he had only wanted me for my brains.
Asshole.
----
Certainly not my best work, but then again, I am a playwright, not a storyteller.