H

There was a scattering of broken glass across the bedroom floor.  Aiden shivered, as a cruel Autumn wind howled through what was left of the window.  He had been sleeping rough, until he had found this house and had decided to temporarily squat in it.  Nobody knew he was here; Aidan had ran away from home without telling anyone.  He had heard about this house from others in the street; since it had been abandoned, it had served a fair few of illegal tenants.  Aiden could see everything they had left behind: bin liners with massive gashes in them, a fork with two prongs and a complete sense of isolation.  A raucous cough descended from the sky, which was Aiden's cue to leave the chilly bedroom and find somewhere warmer.  He picked up his pocketwatch that  he had carefully wrapped in an odd newspaper page.  Wrapping his thin jacket around him, he left the bedroom and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.  He had squatted in this house for a few days and had a decent idea of its layout.  It might have been his imagination, but Aiden felt the fierce wind grate against the back of his neck.
****
The house was outside of police territory and was a haven for vagrants and deviants.  It was just by luck that Aiden had found it empty; he knew it would not stay like that for long.  People typically stayed in places such as these for about a week.  On the streets, it was safer to stay on the move. Aiden had started shivering, like there was an army of ants writhing through his bloodstream and crawling over his body.  Droplets of salty water began to ooze out of his pores.  He was staggering to the bathroom now; the sooner he reached it the better.  How long had it been since he had had a fix? Aiden could feel the wind pushing him down the hallway.  As he reached the doorway, he could have sworn that the wind shoved him into the bathroom.  He disregarded the notion, as he walked towards the dirty medicine cabinet.  The handle was hanging precariously from the cabinet, which meant that Aiden had to gently pull on the edge of the cabinet door, to open it.  The teenager reached into it and pulled out a shoe box.  He removed the lid and the tension floated out of his body.  He reached into the box and pulled out a needle, before rolling up his sleeve and untying the shoelace, which marked where his previous scars were, that would grant the needle easier access.

"Time to shoot.  Bang bang!" Aiden joked, as the needle took its plunge.
****
Any notion of the storm outside had melted away, as Aiden felt himself drift into his own private void.  A world without sound, without touch, without colour.  A world full of warmth and comfort.  Aiden called out, not to attract anyone's attention, but because he liked the sound of gravel in his voice.  The teenager felt himself touch down onto the surface of his void, or was it the ceiling.  He stretched his legs out and began to take his first steps.  It was as if Aiden was weighed down by lead.  Every step was heavy and wooden; there was a stomp, a stop, and then a shout.  A stomp, a stop, and then a shout.  A stomp, a stop, and then a shout.  Aiden was getting heavier; something above him, or was it below was pushing down.  He desperately tried to think back, but he couldn't remember how much heroin he had injected.  He knew that he must have o'ded.  Aiden could feel his body drooping downwards, or was it upwards? White tendrils were wrapping themselves around the junkie's legs and began to pull and tug.
****
Aiden had slept through the worst of the storm and now a grey, overcast light was shining through the grimy bathroom window.  He sat up and rubbed his neck.  Bizarrely a mirror was leaning on the skirting boards of the bathroom.  Aiden stared into his reflection: into the pale, drained face, the brown eyes with too many tinges of red, the brown freckles mingled with dirt and God knows what else.  Aiden yawned, without covering his mouth; what use were manners in these situations? He reached into the shoe box and took everything he had in the world: a little bit of money, a few spare needles, a smoking pipe, a lighter, some foil.  The heroin was already safely tucked up in the pocket of his ragged jeans.  Lastly, Aiden unwrapped his silver pocket watch and ran his fingers over the cracked screen.
****
According to the clock face it was midday, but it still looked like early morning to Aiden. The teenager ran his hand through his closely-cropped hair. His left arm was tightly clamped around the shoe box.  The heroin had left him a little sleepy, but he carried on staggering along the pavement.  Last night's storm left a damp mist lingering in the air, which gave Aiden trouble with walking.    His mouth was as dry as sand, but the only water he had was to dissolve his heroin.  Aiden knew where he was headed.  Basset’s car park was near to where the squatting house was.  The junkie was vaguely aware that the Needlepoint centre was close by to him, but he was so sleepy.    He briefly leant against the hallway of a boarded up shop and closed his eyes and slid to the ground.
****
"Aiden, wake up! Come on! Come on! You've been asleep long enough." A 20 year old man slapped Aiden's cheek twice before twitching three times and jumping up and spinning around.  Aiden opened his eyes and his dilated pupils adjusted to the evening light.

"How late is it?"

"It's late, man.  You've been out for hours." The twenty year old vigorously shook his head back and fourth before sitting down.  At the same time, Aiden sat up in shock and rooted for his shoe box.  He ripped off the lid and was visibly relieved, when he found that the contents hadn't been disturbed.  The 20 year old was now pushing his overgrown bush of brown curly hair to the side.  He had a big, stocky figure and was wearing a very thin red hoodie and black jeans.  He twitched twice, before speaking again.

"You think I mugged ya, didn't ya? Come on, Aiden.  I ain't like that."

"Yeah...sorry, Jumper." Aiden replied, sheepishly.  Just like Aiden, Jumper was also a junkie.  He was known for his hyperactive behaviour, which was only amplified by the heroin.  Jumper batted at his right ear, before snapping his head back to his friend.

"Dude, you look like shit."

Aiden smirked and spat out whatever saliva he had left.  "Do you think I care how I look?"

"S'pose not.  What ya doing all the way out here anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Aiden countered.

"I heard you was staying in the squatting house and I came to find ya.  You weren't there, so I went looking for ya and here you are."

"Why were you looking for me?"

"To see whether you got any H for me."

"No I don't.  The only H I have is for me alone.  You could have just mugged me.  Why didn't you?" Aiden asked, in disbelief.

"I told you dude.  I aint like that." Jumper stood up and paced around.

"If you want H, then you should go and see Strike."

"No can do.  I owe him money."

Aiden stood up in shock.  "You owe Strike money? How much?"

"£200."

"You owe him £200? How are you still alive?"

"No idea, but if Strike catches me, I'm dead.  So do you have any H for me?"

"I told you, Jumper, the only H I have is for me alone."

"Come on, Aiden  You must have some money for me!"

"It's my money!" Aiden snapped.

"Let me look in your shoe box.  You must have something.  Come on, man.  Come on." Jumper stamped his foot three times.

"You're not getting shit, mate." Aiden was now standing up and clutching the shoe box.  He had slowly edged his way to the entrance of the shop hallway.

"Give me that fucking box!" Jumper snapped and made a desperate grasp for it.

"Shit dude.  It's Strike!" Aiden pointed behind his friend and as Jumper turned around, Aiden punched him with all of his strength.  Without looking back, the eighteen year old began to run.
****
He could hear Jumper lumbering behind him; the punch had only briefly stunned him.The Needlepoint centre had been designed as a help point for any heroin addicts and this was where Aiden was running now.  He knew he would be safe from Jumper there.  As a precaution, he took his knife from out of the shoe box.  Aiden relaxed, as he reached the centre.  It had been a couple of hours, since he had last had a fix, but it had been much longer for Jumper and his withdrawal symptoms combined with his general unfitness, meant that he was now lying breathless at the entrance of the Needlepoint car park.  He was shivering and a cold sweat was coming over him.  A white van with big red letters reading Needlepoint drove past Jumper, to help other junkies in the city.

"Who's he?" One of the Needlepoint employees asked Aiden.

"He's my best mate." Aiden replied.

"Then, why are you running from him?"

Aiden looked at the female worker from head to toe; she was slight of build, with freckled skin, strawberry blonde hair and a nose carved out of stone.  Aiden guessed she was in her thirties.

"What do you care?"

"Well, this area is rife with heroin addicts; I guess you're just another couple of junkies.  I guess you stole some H from him or he's trying to steal some from you."

"Guess all you want, I aint telling you shit."

The woman didn't seem perturbed.  "Can you at least tell me your name?"

"It's Aiden, and you?"

"I'm Anna."

"Well, I'd best be taking off now."

Anna signalled to Jumper whose twitches were becoming more serious.  "What about your mate?"

"He'll be fine, once he's had a fix."

"I can't let you give him heroin." Anna protested.

"So you're just gonna make him go cold turkey?"

"We'll bring him in and look after him."

Aiden stood between Anna and the door.  "You bloody well won't.  If we want your help, we'll ask for it." Without another word, the eighteen year old left the centre.

"I just hope you don't leave it too late." Anna muttered.
****
As Aiden left the centre, he took out his pocket watch.  It was 6:30 pm.  Aiden walked towards his friend and as he approached him, he helped Jumper to his feet.

"Come on, mate.  Let's get out of here."

"What's going on?" Jumper asked, before twitching 3 times and rubbing his eye.

"You went ape shit, cos you aint had a fix in a while."

"Where we going now?"

"We can go down to Basset's." Next to Aiden, he suddenly heard a sobbing.

"Are you crying, Jumper?"

"Come on, dude.  Let's just get to the car park."
****
Basset's was indeed a car park, but it no longer hosted any cars.  It had once been attached to Basset's Arcade, which had long gone bust.  Since then, the Council had long forgotten about the car park and it was now a haven for vagrants and junkies.  Aiden and Jumper were sitting in a far corner, holding a lighter under a piece of foil, which had H sitting on top of it.  As the two boys inhaled the fumes through tubes, they were slowly becoming more relaxed and their speech was becoming more slurred.

"The fuck were you playing at before? Punching me and shit?" Jumper mumbled out.

"You were majorly jacked up.  You'd've hurt me in that state.  I had to run."

Jumper leaned forward to take another inhale and fell back coughing.  "There's something up with this H.  It's dodgy."

"We got it from Strike.  What'd you expect?"

"Oh God, Strike.  What the hell do I about him?"

"Oh shut it....about....your..........debt.  I just want.......to do," Aiden suddenly fell asleep, falling on top of his shoe box.  In the distance, a police car was racing through the city, followed by a white van with big red letters on the side.
****
Aiden woke up a few hours later.

"I'm glad you've been able to sleep." Jumper muttered.  The effect of the H had worn off now and Jumper was no longer slurring his words.

"You haven't slept?" Aiden asked.

"How can I sleep, when Strike is after me?" As Jumper said this, Aiden instinctively reached for his shoe box and rummaged through its contents.

"I haven't fucking mugged ya!"

"You almost mugged me back at Needlepoint." Aiden countered.

"I was jacked up then.  People do crazy shit when they're jacked."

Aiden was no longer listening.  He took his pocket watch out of the shoe box and checked the time: it was 8:00 PM now.

"Why do you still have that watch? We could sell it.  I can pay off Strike.  We can buy more H."

"Have you lost it, mate? This watch was my grandfather's.  I am not-" Aiden suddenly dropped off to sleep, leaving the pocket watch to fall out of his hand and onto the concrete ground.  Jumper's first instinct was to steal it and run, but he decided against it.  Instead, he walked out of Basset's to get some air.  All natural light had escaped from the area and had been replaced with the evening darkness.  Jumper shook his head a few times, before turning to his right.  In a service road leading into Basset's, a white van with big red letters was parked.  The letters read 'Needlepoint.' Jumper thought this to be odd, because Needlepoint vans didn't usually come out this far, but then he saw a man in his forties in a leather jacket leave the van.

"Oh fuck!" The junkie shouted, as he turned around and started running.

"Get back here Jumper!" An Australian voice shouted out.

The effects of the H hadn't completely worn off and Jumper could feel his body slowing down.  It wasn't long, before he had collapsed onto the cold ground and fell asleep.  The Australian man and two of his cronies caught up with the sleeping junkie, picked him up and carried him back to the Needlepoint van.  Once Jumper had been thrown in the back, the Australian man's two cronies got into the front seats.

"That's the problem with junkies.  They always sleep on the job." Strike joked, before slamming the doors shut.
****
Jumper woke up to find his hands tied behind him and  two bald man pushing down on his shoulders.  "Where am I?" To him, it looked like he was in some type of disused factory, but he wasn't sure.

"We're in my headquarters."

Jumper bent his head to the van with big red letters parked outside.  "Why do you have a Needlepoint van?"

Strike walked up to Jumper and crouched down.  At this level, the junkie could see his very rough stubble and fading brown hair with a few tinges of grey.  "You talk too much, but since you asked, we stole the van.  It's much easier to drive round the city, without raising suspicion."

"What do you want from me?"

Strike growled and kicked Jumper in the knee  "What did I say about talking too much? You owe me £200, now where is it?"

"I aint got it.  Your guys must know that. They must have searched me when I was asleep."

Strike turned to Victor, one of his henchmen.  "It's true, boss.  We searched him from head to toe.  He hasn't got anything on him."

"Did you search <i>everywhere</i>?"

"Trust me, boss.  We searched <i>everywhere.</i>

Strike signalled to his henchmen.  "Let him go."

Before Jumper could speak, the Australian had picked him up and was pushing him against the wall.

"Where's my MONEY?!"

"I aint got it."

"I gave you forty bags of H to sell and you smoked it all."

"I swear I didn't.  I never smoked nothing." Jumper protested.

"ARE YOU FUCKING LYING TO ME," Strike roared, before ramming his fist into the junkie's stomach, "now where is my money?"

"I'll...get....it....to you." Jumper had been winded by Strike's punch and could barely speak.

"I gave you 3 days to get my money.  Why shouldn't I just kill you now?" Strike was no longer shouting, but softly whispering.

"I swear, Strike.  I'll get...you the....money."

Strike signalled to Victor, before rubbing his stubbled chin.  "Get him to his feet and hold him."

"Strike, come on, man-" Before Jumper could finish, the Australian man had punched him across the face.

"Stop talking," Strike shouted, before punching Jumper again, "I want my fucking money!
You got that?"

Jumper nodded meekly.

"I want £200, plus £200 interest.  You understand?!"

"I got it."

"Just so you don't forget." Strike punched Jumper twice more around the face, before ordering Victor to let him go.  The junkie staggered forwards, before falling forwards.  The Australian shook his head, despairingly.

"What a fucking lightweight.  Victor, take him back to Basset's car park.  If he hasn't paid us in a few days, he's dead," Strike knelt down and whispered into Jumper's ear, "you hear that, you filth? You're fucking dead, if you don't pay me."
****
Aiden woke up to see his pocket watch lying on the floor.  It must have fallen out of his grasp and he wondered why Jumper hadn't stolen it.  Aiden stood up and walked out of the car park, where he saw his friend lying on the ground with dried blood on his face.  The eighteen year old walked up to him and tentatively prodded him with a foot.

"The fuck happened to you?"

"Strike happened.  He wants £400 in the next few days, or I'm a dead man."

"£400? I thought it was £200?"

"Well, £200 interest...."

"Why do you owe him that much anyway?"

"I smoked £200 of his H..." Jumper explained, sheepishly.

"Are you crazy? How can you be so fucking stupid?" Aiden exploded.

"When he gave me the H to sell, I had just finished smoking the last of my stash.  I was coming down with withdrawal symptoms and becoming all kinds of fucked up.  I couldn't resist."

"You stupid bastard....the fuck do we now? I have £15 on me....that's nowhere near enough and I doubt this watch will sell for much."

"Nah man.  We can't sell that.  It's your grandfather's."

"Do you think we can go to Needlepoint for help?" Aiden asked.

"Do you think we can trust them?"

"I don't know.  They should be on our side.  It is their jobs to make sure people like us stay alive.  I reckon they should be able to help us."

"No way, man.  If we tell them, they'll have to tell the police.  We could get done for possession.  That's 7 years in jail."

"7 years in jail would be better than whatever Strike will do to us."

"Hold on, mate.  I have to ask.  Why are you helping me? This aint your fight."

"When I'd fallen asleep earlier on, you had the perfect chance to steal my pocket watch, but you didn't.  You've had so many chances to mug me, but you haven't.  So, how much time do you think we have?"

"4 days, at the max." Jumper guessed.

"This is what we do, for the next three days, we do everything we can to get that £400.  In case, Strike is watching us, we don't make contact again until we meet at 7 PM in 3 days time at Bell Park.  Agreed?"

"Agreed."
****
For the next three days, the two junkies did everything they could to scrounge together £400.  They tried speaking to other distributors and dealers in the area, but everyone knew that Strike had put a hit on Jumper and they wanted to stay well clear of him.  Both Jumper and Aiden had long cut ties with their former lives and could no longer turn to their families or their old friends.  For a brief while, the two boys tried mugging any unfortunate people they came across, but they were in a dangerous area and people rarely carried round large amounts of cash.
****
When Bell Park had first opened, it had been a very popular attraction.  Families had flocked to it, in their masses, but the initial euphoria had soon worn off and everybody had forgotten about the park, which meant it had become rampant to the deviant in society.  Aiden had chosen to meet there, because it was only a few streets away from the Needlepoint centre.  Once he saw Jumper enter the park, he walked up to him.

"I didn't get nowhere near £400.  I swear, Aiden, it was so hard not to spend this money
on H.  I've been fighting withdrawal symptoms for ages."

"How much money did you get?"

"£20."

"I got £15.  So that plus the money I have and your money, is only £50.  Would that be
enough?"

"You know, Strike.  He's gonna want all of it," Jumper scrunched up his hair in frustration, before batting his left ear, "we're gonna have to go to Needlepoint.  We aint got no choice."

"This is what we're gonna do.  You wait at Basset's and I go to Needlepoint, alone.  They
might help us. They can send a van round to you, to pick you up."

"Why can't I come with you?" Jumper protested.

"If Strike is watching us, then we can't risk him following us.  Now go wait at Basset's and don't leave for any reason.  I'll be along soon.
****
Once Jumper had left Bell Park, Aiden started running to the Needlepoint centre.  As he ran, he took out his pocket watch and could see that it was 7:30 pm.  He just hoped he would be fast enough.  As the junkie burst through the doors of the centre, he ran up to the counter where a woman with strawberry blonde hair and freckled skin was sitting behind.

"Anna, I need your help." Aiden panted out.

"Oh, so now you want my help?" Anna retorted.

"Yeah.  Look, do you know Strike?"

Anna waved away the security guards that were coming to remove Aiden from the building.  "Yeah, I've heard of everyone's favourite drug lord.  What about him?"

"My mate owes him £400 and Strike is gonna kill him for it."

"Where's your mate, then? Why are you here and not him?"

"We couldn't risk Strike following us here."

"Alright, I'll pull some strings, call in a few favours."

Aiden's eyes lit up with delight.  "You're gonna help us?"

"Yes, but only because I don't wanna see two more junkies dead, when I knew I could've saved them.  You do realise I'm gonna have to tell the police about this?"

Aiden reluctantly nodded.  It was just the price that he and Jumper had to pay.  "What are we gonna do?"

"I might be able to take you and your mate into protective custody.  Where's your mate staying?"

"Basset's car park."

"One of my boys should know it.  Right, I want you to wait in the squatting house, yes I know about it, and I'll send a van to pick you and your mate up."

"Why can't I wait here?" Aiden protested.

"If Strike has followed you, then I can't risk putting everyone else here in danger.  Go to the house.  A van will be along soon."

The eighteen year old nodded and turned around.

"And, Aiden, be careful.  I heard that Strike stole a Needlepoint van.  Before you get in one of our vans, make sure it's one of us, driving it.
****
It took forty minutes for Aiden to reach the squatting house.  Now he was inside, he was waiting by the front window, clutching onto his knife.  It was half 8 now and a van hadn't arrived yet.

What the fuck was taking them so long?
****
At 8:40, two white vans with big red letters left the Needlepoint car park and took different routes to reach the rendezvous points.

At the same time, an Australian man drove a Needlepoint van away from a disused factory, in order to collect his debt.
****
Jumper's twitches were now rising out of control.  He was being overpowered by his withdrawal symptoms and had to keep pacing around the area.  He kept rubbing his eyes and shaking his head.  It had been well over an hour, since he had last spoken to Aiden.

What the fuck was taking him so long?

At that exact point, a white van with big red letters drove into the service road, which led to Basset's car park.  Jumper could see the van, but he couldn't see who was inside it.

"Who is it?" He called out.

A voice called back answering his question.  Jumper sighed and left the car park.  He walked up to the van and climbed into the front seat.  There was nowhere else he could go.

It doesn't matter what  happens now, it's over for me.   Jumper told himself, as the van drove away, followed by a blue light and the sound of sirens.

****
At the same time, as Jumper was being picked up, a van with big red letters drove into the courtyard of the squatting house.  Aiden could see the van, but he couldn't see who was inside of it.

"Who is it?" He called out.

A voice called back, answering his question.  Aiden sighed and put away his knife.  He picked up his shoe box and left the house, before walking up to the van and climbing into the front seat.  There was nowhere else he could go.

Whatever happens now it's game over.  Aiden told himself, as the van drove away, followed by a blue light and the sound of sirens.

*Author's Notes*

With thanks to my cousin Harry and my friend Zayd for helping me edit this.  This is probably my darkest story since Barbed Wire.  I originally started this in my writer's group, where we were exploring the theme of symbolism and I wrote this based on the emotion of loneliness.  I use aterisks to signify paragraph breaks.  The ending is a cliff-hangar.  You can decide what happens to Jumper and Aiden.

Drone

Children's laughter tinkled into Edward Bozleby's ear.  He knew that up above him in the woodland canopy there were mechanical drones searching for him.  That wasn't the only trouble he was in.  Despite the low humming of the drones, something made Edward freeze in his tracks.  Around him, the giggles of children were leaking out from the trees.  Edward had heard of these things, but he had never seen one.  These were fairies.  Not the happy, dancing fairies, which replaced your lost teeth with one pound coins, but demonic twisted creatures who epitomised evil.  Edward jumped, as he heard a beeping up above him. The drones, which were dripping with the government desire for omniscience, had caught up with him.  He started running again.  He was being chased by creatures, as old as the devil himself and technology, as modern as UAV spyplanes.  How had Edward become trapped in between these two clashing worlds?
****
Until a few days ago, Edward was the wealthy CEO of Black Hole Enterprises, which had provided software for the military.  That was before another weapons company Eclipse had hacked into it and had corrupted the software.  This had bankrupted Edward's company and had turned him into an outcast.  He knew that people loyal to him would be trying to clear his name, but for the moment, he was on his own.  Whoever Eclipse were, they were good.  Even though they had destroyed Edward's career in less than a week, they had made it look like a conspiracy, which had been going on for months.  For reasons unknown, Eclipse had only revealed themselves to Edward and they had used a couple of middle managers to scapegoat for the company's bankruptcy.  A thought flashed across Edward's mind: if he wasn't the one to blame for the downfall of his company, then why the hell was he the one on the run?
****
Edward decided to stop running and conserve his strength for a while, despite the penetrating cackle of the fairies in one ear and the repetitive beeping of the drones in the other.  The irony was that his company had designed the very entities that were chasing him.  The ministry of defence had commissioned his company to create these drones in order to collect surveillance upon any external threats.  So, because of this, Edward knew the strengths and weaknesses of every single drone.  He also knew that the spy-bots weren't in use yet.  Only a handful of them had been constructed and they all had their weaknesses, which had yet to be smoothed out.  The constant beeping was one of the biggest faults of the drones, especially when they were supposed to be creatures of stealth.  Something cold ran down the back of Edward's neck and for the briefest moment a hand brushed across his shoulder.  Edward resisted every urge to turn around and lash out at whatever he was touching him.  Instead he took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Who is that?"

"My name is Stella Ingriss."

Edward's relief was obvious.  "I thought you were a fairy."

Stella didn't look impressed.  "Do you really believe in them?"

Edward turned around and looked at the woman he was speaking to.  She was blonde and in her 30's.  Her face had retained a youthful vitality, but her eyes were watchful and cautious.

"Stella Ingriss, I know that name, Stella, Stella." A staccato clicking of his fingers accompanied Edward's thought process.

"I am...well I was a middle manager at Black Hole enterprises," Stella suddenly stamped her foot in frustration, "how have I only just realised? You're the CEO of Black Hole enterprises: Edward Bozleby."

"I was the CEO of Black Hole enterprises; that was until Eclipse happened."
"Who are Eclipse?" Stella asked.

"They're the reasons we're running through this woodland."

"You never said whether you believe in fairies or not."

Edward ran a hand over his balding head.  "I'm not sure what I believe any more...I mean just a week ago I was still the CEO of Black Hole.  I still had a full head of hair 15 years ago and I didn't need glasses, neither did I have this great swollen belly."

Stella could see the insecurity of the man and thought it would be best to change the subject.  "We had best start moving."

"Where are we supposed to go? We're trapped within this forest; if we leave then the drones will find us."

"That's the point.  If we stay within the forest, we can stay hidden.  The drones won't be able to spot us." Without another word, Stella decisively marched forwards.  Edward noticed that she was still dressed in formal clothing, but decided that now wasn't the time to discuss it.  For a brief while, the two walked in silence.  Edward was slightly intimidated by Stella's brisk manner.

Without stopping, Stella abruptly asked, "earlier on, why did you think I was a fairy?"

Edward shrugged, despite the fact that Stella wasn't looking.  "I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I presumed it was a fairy.  I was relieved, when I found out that it was you."

This caused Stella to stop and turn around.  Confusion was etched across her face.  "I never put my hand on your shoulder.  I never touched you."

Edward's eyes flashed from side to side.  "Then, who did?"

A child laughed and then another joined in and then another and then another and another and another.  Not before long, there was a whole chorus of children giggling and smirking.

"What the hell is that?" Edward demanded.

"I'm not waiting to find out.  Let's get out of here." Without another word, Stella charged forward and the former CEO had little choice but to follow.

Behind them, a fluttering of wings sounded in conjunction to the laughing chorus.  Stella had a good ten years upon Edward and now the fat man was struggling to keep up.  Reluctantly, the blonde woman stopped behind a tree and waited for her former boss to catch up.  She tried to ignore the laughter and the fluttering of wings.  As Edward finally reached Stella, something flew past the two of them, slicing the air in half.

"We have to leave this woodland." Edward said, decisively.

"We can't.  Your bloody drones are still out there searching for us." Stella snapped.

"But if we stay in here, the fairies will catch us." Edward hissed.

"There's no such thing as fairies! They're just made-up stories Edward!" Stella snarled.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

"What the hell do you call that then?"

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

"Hold on, Stella.  What the hell are you doing here?"

"Now isn't the time Edward! We have to move!"

"We can talk now.  Why are you here?"

"Your bloody drones chased me into here!" Stella snapped.

"But, why this particular woodland? Why the same one as me?"

Panic and frustrated flooded Stella's eyes.  "We can talk about what happened after we have moved." The two humans started to run again.  The fairies were beginning to surround them, although they were moving so quickly they weren't visible to the naked eye.  All around them, the fluttering of wings, the laughter of children, the chanting of nursery rhymes were building up to deafening levels.  There was the snarling of teeth, the sun reflecting of the wings of the fairy, the slightest sight of a claw and the never-ending chanting.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

The chanting of the fairies reminded Edward of the nursery rhymes he had heard when he was a young boy. When he was a child, his parents had told him stories about the fairies, about how children will be snatched away without a trace, about how adults were driven to insanity by the child-like laughter.  Edward suddenly realised how ridiculous he was being, for thinking of such a trivial thing now.  He had to put all of his energy into running.

Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Vaguely, Stella was aware that the fairies were now singing a new nursery rhyme.  Did she believe in fairies now? Something snapped between her feet, but she carried on running.  Something cut across Edward's cheek, but he carried on running.  Something metallic flew up above the pair, but they carried on running.

Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

The fairies were no longer chasing the pair, but flying alongside the both of them.  The woodland was their territory and they easily slipped in and out of the trees.  Leaves were afraid to settle on the tarnished floor.  There was a massive crashing, as two drones broke through the woodland canopy, but the chanting of the fairies was so loud that neither human heard it.

Itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.  Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

The two drones were still chasing their prey, but they were struggling to keep up with the speed of the fairies.  The creatures were little more than blurs.  Tinges of green and brown were smashing through yellow sunlight, whilst solid black floated menacingly on.  More and more fairies joined the chase, vastly outnumbering the two spy bots.

Ringa ringa roses.  A pocket full of posies.

Edward was exhausted and he couldn't run any further.  "Stella!" He called out, breathlessly.

The blonde woman stopped and started to walk back to her former CEO.  She was absolutely exhausted, as well.  She could only speak in small pants.

"We can’t...stop....now.  We have....to...carry on...."

Edward pointed all around him.  "The fairies have stopped chasing us." He was right.  The fairies had now formed in a circle around them.

Ringa ringa roses.  A pocket full of posies.

Stella was slowly getting her breath back.  She could clearly see the fairies now and could no longer deny their existence.  They were vicious looking creatures with teeth like jagged shards of glass and ill-looking skin with green and brown patches.  They looked nothing like how they did in fairy-tales.  They were skinny beasts with thin skin.  Stella and Edward could see every single bone in their small bodies.  Only their wings, with their own iridescent, shimmery quality, looked anything remotely like the stories, these creatures were associated with.

Ringa ringa roses.  A pocket full of posies.

"Why do they keep singing these nursery rhymes?" Stella demanded.

"I heard that fairies were once children who had become tainted and twisted over time."

"But why have they stopped chasing us? Why are they surrounding us?"

"Maybe they were waiting for them." Edward pointed towards the two drones which had now caught up with their prey.  The CEO and his former employee were standing back to back and the drones were hovering on either side of them.  They were spherical machines, which were coloured an intense black with silver circuitry.  There was a certain coldness about them, which was found in the majority of machines.

"Can your drones hurt us?"

"No.  I never designed them to have weaponry.  They're just for surveillance."

There was a clunk and grinding of metal.  On either drone, a hypodermic syringe appeared out of a hidden compartment.

Edward loudly groaned.  "I'm guessing Eclipse have made a few improvements."

"Shutup Edward! Look at the fairies." Stella pointed to the creatures all around them.  The fairies had started flying in a circle, surrounding the two humans and the drones.  Loose mud was being drawn into the air, as the fairies continued to chant.

Ringa ringa roses.  A pocket full of posies.

The fairies were picking up speed and were almost a blur.

"STELLA! GET OUT OF THE CIRCLE AND STICK TO THE GROUND!" Edward had to shout to be heard.  The two humans ran in opposite directions and the fairies briefly parted to let them pass.  The fairies were flying faster and faster and the drones were becoming confused.  Little specks of dirt were invading their circuitry and clogging up their mechanics.  Edward and Stella watched in amazement at the dust storm, which the fairies were whipping up.  Particles of loose mud were being forced into a spiralling funnel, which shielded the drones from view.  The chanting of fairies sang in correlation with the grinding of the mud on the metallic body of the spy bots.  There was a sudden thump, as both drones crashed to the ground.  The fairies stopped flying and all dispersed, except for one.  Stella ran over to Edward and they waited for the fairy to approach them.

"I suppose we ought to thank you, for what you did to those drones."

"They were in our territory and they had to be dealt with." The fairy spoke in a childlike voice.  It was also telepathic.  As it spoke, its mouth refused to open.

"We're in your territory?" Stella tentatively quavered.  She knew she was taking a risk, by saying this, but it was one that had to be addressed.

"The drones were a threat to us.  You are not." The fairy was still hovering above the ground.  Edward didn't think it had set foot on it for many millennia.

Edward stepped forward this time and addressed the fairy.  "You're right.  We don't mean to hurt you.  Eclipse chased us in here.  We had nowhere else to go."

"Eclipse?" The fairy questioned.

"Have you heard of them?" Stella asked.

"You have to leave our woodland now." The fairy evaded the question.

"What? But Eclipse will still be chasing us.  We're safe in here." Stella protested.

"That is why you have to leave.  We can't risk any harm coming to us."

"Harm is exactly what's going to come to you.  Eclipse is going send more drones and much worse through this woodland to find us."

"We are in control of the four elements: water, the earth, the fire, the very air you breathe.  We can look after ourselves, but you have to leave now."

Edward smiled sadly.  "They're right.  We should go.  They did protect us from the drones after all."

Stella pointed to the mid-afternoon sun.  "Can we at least rest here for a while? We've been running for hours."

The fairy reluctantly nodded.  "You can stay here until dark."
****
The two humans had stayed in the woodland, until the middle of the night, at the grudging acceptance of the fairies.  Edward and Stella had wanted to make sure that nothing else was chasing them; during this time the sky had stayed free from any hostile invaders, but the pair knew that it was time to leave.  The fairy that had talked to them earlier had appeared to the two humans and had led them to the edge of the woodland.  It hadn't spoken to them for the entire trip.

"How do you know so much about these fairies, Edward? I barely believed in them."

"I remember, my parents telling me about them, when I was a boy.  They told me about this mystical woodland that I should stay away from.  Maybe Eclipse drove me into here on purpose."

"Who are Eclipse?" Stella asked.

Exasperatedly, Edward shook his head.  "It's difficult to explain.  My father had Black Hole before me and I knew that him and Eclipse had a strong rivalry.  I'm guessing he must have wronged them badly and now they're taking revenge."

"This is where we leave you now.  Good luck."

Behind the two humans, stood a line of fairies which began to quietly sing another nursery rhyme.  However, the coldness had left their voices and they sounded like a chorus of jovial children.  Edward and Stella walked out of the forest and into the starlit darkness.

Twinkle, twinkle little star.  How I wonder what you are.
Twinkle, twinkle little star.  How I wonder what you are.

*Author's Notes*

It's been a while since I've written a short story.  And this isn't one of my best...This was something I originally wrote for my writer's group.  It was more just a creative unleashing task, rather than anything else.  I was given the name Edward Bozleby, the location of a mystical woodland and I was told write about government drones as well.  The fairies are of my own creation, slightly influenced by folklore and the like.  I use asterisks to signify paragraph breaks.

Spring and Summer

Lily Summers groaned, as her alarm clock beeped into life.  She tried to remain asleep for a few more seconds, but it was hopeless.  She sighed, as she pulled back her cosy duvet and lazily rolled out of bed.  Rubbing an eye, she stumbled over to the bathroom to have a quick shower.  After she had stood under a jet of hot water for five minutes, she felt much more motivated to finish her early morning routine.
****
With a bit more life and energy, she walked back to her room and sat down by her Vanity desk, which was by no means neat and tidy.  On one side of the silvery desk were Lily's hair brush, straighteners and all kinds of hair related products.  On the other side was all of her make-up.  It was 7:10 now, which meant that Lily could have stayed in bed, until at least half seven, but that would have meant going to school with the queen of cowlicks sticking out of her long fair hair.  No.  Lily picked up her hairbrush and started brushing her hair.  She had always been told that her hair looked gorgeous and soft, so she put pride in maintaining that idea.  After she had brushed her hair and added various products to it, it was time for make-up.  Lily never wore a lot of it to sixth form; her friends had always said that she was a naturally pretty girl, so she didn't see the point in unnecessarily lathering herself in cosmetics.  Some simple mascara and eye liner would do the trick.   As Lily leaned into the mirror to apply the eye make-up, she noticed a slight spot on her cheek.  This didn't particularly bother her, as she could easily cover it up with foundation, but she wasn't comfortable with anyone seeing her imperfections especially...Lily smiled and closed the bottle of mascara.  It was time for clothes now and she wasn't in the mood for anything too flashy or flamboyant, so she pulled on a simple t-shirt and some skinny jeans.  The whole process took roughly twenty minutes and now it was time to go eat.
****
At 8:00 am, Lily left to go to her sixth form. The school was a few streets away from her house, so it was only a twenty minute walk.  It was a pleasant enough journey too.  Even though the temperature had dropped a little since the summer, there was still a very warm breeze.  Brown, green, yellow leaves started to fall down from the tallest of trees.  Autumn had begun.
****
It was the first day of year 13 and as Lily walked into the sixth form, she headed straight to the common room and to the corner of the room, where her two best friends, Alex and Jess, were lounging on the leather sofas.  The three girls were always talking with each other, either in person or on their phones, so they were soon immersed in conversation.  Today, Alex and Jess were talking about whether there'll be any cute guys moving into year 12, from the year below.  Lily laughed and agreed in all of the right places, but she rarely suggested anything.  Her interests were vested in other people.
****
The electronic bell rang out and the students slowly trudged into their form rooms.  No matter what year a pupil was in, they rarely looked forward to the first day of school.  The three girls reluctantly left the common room and Jess said her goodbyes to her two best friends, as Alex and Lily were in a different form class to her.  All of the tables had been pushed to the sides and the chairs had been arranged in a semicircle.  The form tutor was sitting on her own in what should have been the straight edge of the semicircle.  Once everyone had taken their seats, the teacher stood up.  She was short and a little round.  She had very short brown hair, which had been spiked up. When she spoke, she had a bass voice.  She was wearing trousers, a formal shirt and a knitted grey jumper.

"Hello, class.  I am Miss Laxton.  Before the rumours start, I just want to say that I am not a lesbian, not that there's anything wrong with it, of course."

There was a ripple of nervous laughter.  In a cheerful way, Miss Laxton had put a stop to people's stereotypical thoughts.

"I have a wonderful fiancee and I'm comfortable with how I look.  You don't need to have short hair and a deep voice to be a lesbian, you know." This caused a more open ripple of laughter, as some people looked downwards in embarrassment.  Even though, it had only been a few minutes, Lily could tell that the class were warming to the form tutor.  She thought that the class respected how Miss Laxton had openly, confidently and directly addressed her appearance.  She wasn't embarrassed about it at all, nor should she be, Lily told herself.

"Since, it's the first day of term, I think that we should go around the room and say our names, what year we're in and what we're studying.  So I'll start.  My name is Miss Laxton and I teach year 12 and year 13 Geography.  Could you carry on, please?" She gestured towards Lily.

The girl nervously picked at a nail.  "Hi everyone, I'm Lily Summers.  I'm a year 13 and I'm studying French, Philosophy and Ethics and Geography."

"You'll probably have me then.  Lucky you," Miss Laxton commented, "nice to meet you Lily.  Next?"

"I'm Alex Bailey and I'm also year 13.  I'm studying French, Philosophy and Ethics and Art."

Miss Laxton feigned a look of shocked sadness.  "Why aren't you taking Geography? Do you not like my subject?" It was obvious, that the teacher was making a good-natured joke, but this did not stop Alex from turning red and pulling at her blonde curls.

"Welll....I...uhh...well."

"Sorry, Alex.  I'm just teasing you."

The schoolgirl was now turning red, as she giggled in embarrassment, along with her classmates.  The next three students were also year 13's, but the fourth one was the first year 12 to speak.  Lily had been watching the girl from the very start and thought that she looked very introverted.  She had strawberry blonde hair tied up in a simple ponytail and there was a cute little dimple on her right cheek.  Lily thought that something about her, made her look different to everyone else.

"I'm Ellie Springs.  I'm a year 12 and I'm studying history, English Literature, German and Geography."

"Good to have you on board, Ellie.  Next?"

Once everyone had introduced themselves, people started to quietly talk amongst each other.  Alex began speaking about her classes for the new year, but Lily was only paying half attention.  The rest of her was concentrating on Ellie; Lily's thoughts were lost in wonder.
****
Lily didn't have any lessons in the afternoon and so she told herself that she only had to survive the morning.  Her first two lessons were fairly uneventful and now it was break  time.  Lily would have usually gone to the common room with Alex and Jess, but she saw Ellie sitting alone in the reception area and decided to join her.

"Hi.  I'm Lily Summers.  I'm in your form group."

Ellie smiled her recognition.  "Oh yeah.  I remember.  Can I help you with something?" When the girl talked, Lily noticed that she was wearing braces.

"I just thought you'd like some company.  Did you come from the lower school?" Ellie shook her head and Lily could see her ponytail swishing from side to side.

"No.  I came from a different school.  I'm the only one from my school here."

Lily bit her lip pensively.  "Ah.  Don't worry about it.  Even though, I came from the lower school and I already had a few friends, I was worried they'd leave me for other people and I'd be left on my own, but that never happened.  In fact, I made lots of new friends."

"Thanks for that.  I'll keep that in mind."

"Right, well I'm going to find my friends now, but you're welcome to join us."

"Thanks, but I'll just stay here for now."

"Ok.  If you ever need any help, then just come and find me.  I guess, I'll see you around." As Lily left her new friend, she couldn't help but notice, that Ellie had a little bit of blue in her hazel eyes.
****
A month later and, for the most part, everyone had settled well into the sixth form.  Ellie had made a few friends in year 12, but mostly she hung around with Lily and her friends.  Ellie got on well with Jess and Alex, but she had strongly bonded with Lily.  Lily thought that this was because Ellie was trying to repay her new friend, for how kind she had been at the start of term.
****
It was a rainy day and now drops of water were running down the windows in the common room, which Ellie was now leaning her head against.  Her friends were there, as well.  Lily was absent-mindedly tracing around Ellie's spread hand, which was resting on a table. She could vaguely hear Jess and Alex talking about boys...again.  Did they ever talk about anything else? Lily thought boys were fine to have as friends, but they were useless, when it came to relationships.  Maybe she was thinking too far into it.  She took a quick glance at Ellie and was glad to see she was also taking little interest in Jess and Alex's conversation.  Lily was hoping her interests lied in other people too.
****
It was now two months into the Christmas term and Autumn was coming to an end.  The majority of the trees had been stripped to the core and their leafy clothes, brown and crinkly, now littered the ground.   A vicious winter breeze was now cutting through the atmosphere and a icy frost had settled onto the ground every night.  With the change in the weather, Jess and Alex could also see a considerable change in their best friend.  When Jess was with Lily in Geography, she could see her friend was daydreaming a lot more, as well as idly twisting her hair.  It wasn't as if Lily was the most committed student, but she knew when to concentrate and when not to and she rarely concentrated anymore.
****
Alex had never thought of Lily as the most feminine girl, but she did have a very feminine figure.  She was skinny, with a moderate amount of fat.  Similarly to other girls, at the sixth form, she alternated between wearing skinny jeans and leggings.  However, recently, Lily had solely been wearing the tightest of tight jeans.  It was if she was trying to show off her figure for someone. Was she trying to impress a boy?
****
It was a Saturday and outside it had been bitterly cold.  For the past few days, the temperature had been well below zero.  Every morning, a mystical fog almost shrouded the small town from outsiders.  The three friends were sitting on Jess' bed.  There were pictures of good looking men across the walls and a few clothes lay scattered across the floor.  In one corner of the room, a small vanity desk stood with a polished mirror, where Jess could style her raven black hair.  Lily had always thought it had looked so full and soft.

"Have you guys seen Cody in the lower year? He's so cute." Jess confessed, in a dreamy tone.

Lily didn't look very impressed.  "You have talked to him, right?"

Jess looked very defensive.  "Of course I have.  I've talked to him a few times."

"Do you like him?" Alex queried.

Jess pulled on the sleeve of her jacket.  "Yeah, I think I do.  I hope he asks me out."

"You do know, you can ask him out.  Girls can do that."

"I can't do that.  Anyway, Alex how's it going with you and Jake?"

"It's going really well, but I want to talk about Lily.  I think she might like someone." Alex teasingly poked her friend, who started to turn red.

Lily looked downwards, as she picked at her nails.  "What makes you say that?"

"Just the way you've been dressing and you're wearing more makeup than usual.  Jess told me that you're always daydreaming and I always see you fiddling with your hair.  So, who is he?"

Lily briefly hesitated.  "Guys, I do like someone, but she isn't a boy.  She's a girl."

Jess' eyes widened.  "So...you're a lesbian?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"But, I don't understand.  You've been with boys before."

Alex turned to Jess in annoyance.  "That really isn't the issue right now-Lily, is the-"

"But, I still don't get it.  I mean...how long have you been gay? How did you know you were gay? You've been with-"

"Jess, stop with the questions," Alex sighed, "Lily, is the person you like Ellie Springs?"

"How...how do you know?" Lily asked in shock.

"Thinking about it, it actually makes sense now.  Whenever I see you two together, you're always twirling your hair and staring at her with a daft smile on your face."

"You're always laughing at her jokes too, even if they're really bad." Jess added.

Lily was becoming very embarrassed and desperately tried to backtrack.  "Come on guys, that doesn't mean I like her."

"Oh, I think it does," Alex disagreed, "I don't know how it works for girls, but those are sure-fire ways to let boys know you like them."

"We've been friends for,like, ever.  Why are you only telling us now?" Jess protested.

"I was afraid to.  Especially, in the lower school, boys always used "gay" as an insult.  Eugh, you're such a gaylord, you're such a faggot.  I know it isn't the same for girls, but it's still not great."

Jess put one arm around her friend's shoulders.  "I can see your point, but that was just banter.  It's not as if the school was homophobic."

"I know, but still..."

Alex grasped her friend's hand.  "I'm sorry.  I should have realised and been there for you."

Lily looked into her best friend's eyes and there was a moment of pure trust.

"So, do you think Ellie likes you back? Do you think she's a lesbian too?" Jess asked.

"I don't know.  I really hope so, but she might not be.  It's difficult..."

"What you said before about me and Cody is right.  You should say something.  If you don't say something, then she might think you're not interested and find someone else." Jess encouraged.

"I know, but it's just not that simple."

There was brief silence amongst the three girls, which was broken by Alex's sudden laughter.

"What?" Jess and Lily asked together.

"Do you know Miss Laxton? Short hair, deep voice? She teaches Geography and she's mine and Lily's form tutor?" Alex asked Jess.

"Oh, the lesbian?"

"That's the funny thing.  She isn't a lesbian.  At the start of term, she made a big speech about how she isn't a lesbian and how we shouldn't be stereotyping her."

"How is that funny?" Lily asked.

"Well, it's funny, because even though Miss Laxton has short hair and a deep voice, she isn't gay and you have long hair and a high voice and you are gay."

"I guess you can't judge a book by its cover." Jess commented.

"Or a woman by her hair." Lily added.
****
The year slowly crawled into the month of December and Lily's town had virtually been drowned in a thick blanket of snow.  Everyone was making a big deal out of it, simply because it was rare for it to snow that early in the month.  Luckily, this gave Lily and her three best friends a three day weekend and so the four girls walked to the local playing fields.   There was also a series of ski slopes there, which had long been abandoned to nature.  If someone had seen the ski slopes from afar, then they might have described them as a miniature mountain range, with snow-capped peaks.  Ellie and Jess had brought their toboggons in order to make the most of these snow days. The girls had made sure they left their houses, as early as possible, in order to get to the untouched snow first.  The park had taken the brunt of the snowfall and the girls found it to be a spectacular sight.  The snow covered field, as white as purity, stretched on past the horizon and the naked trees had donned white pyjamas.  Every time the wind blew through them, a fresh scattering of snow drifted onto the ground.  The four girls ran over to one of the intermediate slopes and started throwing snow balls at each other, but Alex and Jess soon left for one of the more advanced slopes, in order to leave Lily and Ellie alone.  Once the other girls had left, Ellie dragged her toboggon to the the edge of the slope and told her friend to get in the back.

"Are you ready?" Ellie asked.

"I'm a little nervous..." Lily confessed.

"Hold onto me.  You'll be ok."

Lily gratefully wrapped her arms around her friend's waist and wanted to leave them there forever.  The two girls pushed the toboggon off and they started their swift descent down to the bottom of the slope.  Ellie slightly lost control and fell backwards into her friend who was a little annoyed that this had happened.  She had the person she loved in her arms and couldn't do a thing about it.  Lily abruptly stood up and walked to the top of the slope.

"I want to be more adventurous with this whole sliding thing.  What should we try next?"

"We could do it lying down or maybe standing." Ellie suggested.

"You can do it standing, I'm definitely not."

Ellie smiled at her friend.  "Awww, are you scared?"

<i>Yes, I am absolutely terrified to tell you, that I love you,</i> Lily thought in her mind, but instead she said, "well you do it first then.  I bet you're as scared as I am."

Ellie accepted the challenge and brought the toboggon to the lip of the slope.  She put one foot on the front of it and the other foot at the back of it.  Carefully, she shuffled it forward, before taking one look back at her friend and gesturing at Lily to give her a push.

"See you on the other side," and with that, Lily gave the girl she loved a hearty shove down the ski slope.  The journey seemed to be going well, but near the bottom, the front of the toboggon caught on a hidden object, which caused Ellie to somersault straight onto her back.   Lily panicked and rushed down the slope.

"Oh my god, Ellie.  Are you ok? I pushed you too hard, I'm so sorry." When Lily reached her friend, she knelt down and leant over her.

"Don't worry, I'm alright.  I'm ok..." This was true.  Ellie was a little shook up and breathing heavily, but she hadn't damaged anything.

"Oh good, I just thought..." Lily lost her train of thought, as she stared into Ellie's eyes.  For a moment, there was a tension between the two girls and Lily desperately wanted to lean in and kiss her friend, but she knew she couldn't, so, instead, she bit her lip and backed up a little.  Ellie sat up and saw something was troubling her friend.

"Is there something wrong?" Ellie asked.

"I....I have to tell you something.  Oh...I...I...uhhh..."

"Maybe you should say it really quickly?" Ellie suggested.

"Ireallylikeyoucanwegoutsometime?" Lily nervously blurted out.  She had said it so quickly, that the sentence had lost all of its coherency.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that."

Lily took a few deep breaths, as she built up her courage.  "I like you.  I mean, I really like you...more than a friend."

"What do you mean? Do you love me?" Ellie asked, confusedly.

"I....ummm...oh...I suppose I do.  Yeah I ...l...l...love you." Lily was still so scared and was hesitating before every word.

"So, are you...?"

"Yes, Ellie.  I'm gay and I like you...and I really hoped you...l..l..liked me too." Lily bit her lip in anticipation.  It was breaking point now.

"Lily, I'm so sorry.  I mean, I do like you, but only as a friend.  I'm not a lesbian.  I'm sorry..."

Lily felt the world slip through her fingers.  Her mind was falling through a void of darkness.  She couldn't speak or hear or see, but she could feel though.  She was overwhelmed by anger, by sadness, by despair.

<i>How could I have been so stupid? Of course she doesn't like me.</i>

Lily stood up and started pacing around.  Ellie was anxiously watching her, when Jess and Alex returned.  They could see that this was not the happy ending they were hoping for.

"What's happened?" Jess asked, although she already had a pretty good idea.

Lily still couldn't speak.  She fell into Alex's open arms and started sobbing into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, guys.  I think I should leave now," Ellie approached Lily and tentatively stroked her arm, "I'm really sorry, Lily.  I hope we can still be friends.  I'll see you guys in school." Ellie turned away from the girls and started to walk home.  She was so sad for Lily and hated to see her in that state, but she knew it was best to leave her alone, for now.

Through broken sobs, Lily cried..."she does...n't like me....I'm such an ...idiot."

Jess took her friend by the arms and turned her around, so they were in eye contact.

"Hey! Don't ever call yourself an idiot for liking someone who doesn't like you back."

Alex nodded in agreement.  "Jess is right.  You'd be an idiot if you never told her how you felt, but you did.  You took a risk and that does not make you idiotic."

Lily smiled and lay her head on her Alex's shoulder.  She was still very upset, but was glad that her friends were there to comfort her.  Tears were still rolling down her face, but they were slowly coming to a stop.  Jess gave her best friend a big hug.

"Let's go back to mine and you can hear me going on and on about dreamy Cody is.  It might cheer you up."

Lily chucked.  "Sounds good."

With their arms interlocked with each other, the three girls walked across the snow covered field, which had long lost its purity.

*Author's Notes*

This story is supposed to be the counterpart of Lip Ring.  I hope that people can draw parallels between the two stories.  I had written about two gay boys, so I thought I'd write the complete opposite of it with a lesbian story.  I hope this was realistic.

Road Untravelled

The road stretched on endlessly, until the black tarmac eventually faded into the horizon.  Alastair Ford was preparing himself for the long journey ahead.  He was hoping to sneak away from Lucy, before the sun rose, but his second wife had caught up with him at the last minute.

"What are you doing, Alastair? Why are you here?" She asked.

"We've all lived long lives.  I have done evil in mine.  I need some time alone; just to think." Alastair replied, mysteriously.

Lucy frowned.  "I don't understand."

"I don't expect you to.  It's a long story."
****
She was twenty five years old and she was beautiful.  She had rich chocolate coated hair and mysterious, intense eyes.  She walked with confidence and left many men in a lustful dream, but it was a twenty three year old Alastair that had caught her eye.  Things had happened so quickly after that.  They had flirted.  They had courted.  They had married.  Alastair had been so young at the time, he had been completely oblivious to the evils of his first wife.  In retrospect, he knew he had been a naive fool.  His first wife had been a vicious Venus fly trap who was slowly baiting her jaws.  Alastair had fallen for her every trick.  He had become completely enamoured by her.  This had proved to be his undoing.
****
"I still don't understand.  Please come inside and let's talk about this." Lucy urged.

Alastair and his wife lived in an English country house in the middle of nowhere.  They had been living there for long over ten years.  The pair walked into their home and into the kitchen. Lucy picked up two mugs and turned on the kettle.

"Please explain to me why you have to do this.  I need to understand."

Alastair affectionately stroked his wife's hair.  "It's complicated and messy."

"Tell me about this first wife of yours.  Why have I never heard of her?"

"You never ask for anything Lucy; you're a complete giver and that's why I fell in love with you.  Simone wasn't like that at all."

"I understand, but why am I only hearing about this now?"

"I'm not proud of what I did to her or of what she did to me.  I've never wanted to talk about it before."
****
Alastair had been with his first wife for two years, but it had already turned into a loveless marriage.

"Simone, honey, could you take the car to be serviced?"

"No, I have to do the paperwork." Simone had rarely used pet names and when she had, it was out of malice or manipulation, rather than affection.

"Simone, sweetheart, I'm going to be late home from work, could you pick up some dinner?"

"If you're coming home late, then you can pick it up yourself."

Even though Simone had never performed any favours for her husband, she had been never hesitant about asking them.

"Alastair, can you pick up my dry cleaning?"

"Of course, honey." 

"Can you buy some champagne for a work thing? I'll pay you back."

"Certainly, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry to ask you this, but I'm going to dinner with some friends.  Can I have some money to pay for it?"

"Yeah sure."

"Really? It's going to be very expensive." Even though, Simone was trying to sound very apologetic, she kept fluttering her long eye lashes and speaking in a sickening sweet tone. Alastair remembered looking straight into his first wife's eyes.

"I'll do anything for you."

"Aww, well, aren't just a complete sweetheart? So, I'm going to need about fifty pounds for dinner."
****
The sun was slowly rising over Alastair's home.  Lucy was staring at her husband, slack-jawed.

"Wow, you must have really loved her.  She sounds like a manipulative...you've never been that flexible with me."

"I know that it's important to show control and authority now."

"Did you not know she was taking advantage of you?" Now that they were both awake, Lucy was toasting some bread in a subtle gesture to convince her husband to stay at home.  As Alastair was considering his wife's question, he self-consciously rubbed the face of his analogue watch.  "Love blinded me."

Lucy was now furiously scraping some butter across a piece of toast.

"What happened afterwards?"

"It just deteriorated.  Everything fell apart."
****
<i>As Alastair had been swinging his 5 iron, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.  The movement distracted him and it was a poor shot.  The ball stopped rolling a few feet short of the hole.  Alastair's golfing buddy, Edward, frowned at his friend.

"You're off-form today.  That should have gone straight in." 

"Simone just texted me.  She wants me to pick her up after work."

"Are you?"

"Of course I am."

"Simone has got you whipped." Edward remarked.  The game of golf had been completely forgotten about.

"No she hasn't.  We're married.  We love each other."

"I'm sorry to have to say this, but she is taking complete advantage of you.  How much money has she "borrowed" from you? Has she paid any of it back?"

"She will.  I know she will." 

"How long have you been with Simone? Three years now? And in that time, she hasn't done any good for you."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I've seen what Simone has become.  I'm telling you this as a friend, just be careful with her." 
****
Lucy smiled sadly.  "I'm guessing you didn't listen to him."

"Edward was my friend and I knew he was just looking out for me, but I couldn't believe him."

The pair were alone in their house; they didn't have any pets or children.  A crow cawing broke the early morning silence.

"I still don't understand why you feel the need to leave home.  What had Edward noticed in Simone that was so bad?"
****
"Alastair, honey, I want to talk to you." Simone beckoned.  She was sitting by the kitchen table.

Alastair had noticed the use of the pet name and knew that his wife wanted something, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.  He walked over to Simone, but didn't sit down.  He wanted to stay standing, to give the impression that he was in control.  

"What is it?" He asked.

"Alastair, sweetheart, I think instead of having two separate bank accounts, we should have a joint account."

"Why? So you can steal more of my money?"

Simone had feigned a look of pure innocence, but her eyes were darting around, searching for an escape route.  "No! Of course not! I just think it'll be more convenient and we're married too.  It's the right thing to do."

"No.  You want to do it, so you can steal more of my money." 

Simone had suddenly shot out of her chair and was staring her husband straight in the face.  She started speaking in an icy tone.  "More? I have never stolen a penny of your money."

"Really? What about the ridiculous amount of money you've "borrowed" from me, but never paid back?"

Simone tried to subtly soften the tone of her voice.  "I told you, I will pay you back.  I would never steal from you.  I wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"Except steal all my money."

"I thought there was a time when you would do anything for me?" Simone had given up on trying to sound apologetic and had let the ice creep back into her voice.

"Just shut it, Simone.  Shut up!" Before Alastair was aware of what happened, he had slapped his first wife, the woman he loved, around the face.  Simone looked on in a shocked horror, before storming out of the house.
****
Lucy's hands had flown to her mouth.  "You hit her? That's not like you at all.  I can't believe it."

Alastair sighed and sank lower in his chair.  "I never meant to hit her.  I was so angry, so mad."

"I don't know what to say.  I would like to think that you had a good reason for it, but I'm not really sure."

"This is why I need to leave home.  I've been dwelling on this for so long.  Maybe I was in the wrong.  Maybe I was in the right." Alastair stood up and walked to the door. Sunrise had just finished and a car roared past the country house on the black tarmac road.

"Wait! There has to be more.  That can't be everything.  What happened between you and Simone?" Lucy urged.

Alastair paused at the front door.  "We only stayed together for a few more weeks.  At one time, it seemed like she had forgiven me and we were going to be alright, but then I lost my job and that was when she left me."

"Simone left you because you lost your job?" Lucy questioned in disbelief.

"Well hitting her didn't help things either, but that wasn't everything.  I don't know how, but she got into my bank account and stole a considerable amount of my savings."

"Are you saying she's a gold digger?"

"Yes.  I think that was her plan all along.  Me becoming redundant and slapping her were just catalysts."

Lucy walked over and tightly clasped her husband.  "Was she ever caught?"

"No.  She's still out there."

"Wow.  Maybe you were in the right."

"Was I? Was I really?" Alastair reluctantly broke free of his wife's arms.

"One more question.  Do you still love her?"

"Love..." Alastair began and then stopped.  He took one last look at Lucy, before taking a deep breath and a first step onto the black tarmac road, which stretched endlessly onto the horizon.

*Author's Notes*

This was something else I wrote for my writer's group, when we were studying the device of flashbacks.  I was given two prompt cards to serve as inspiration for this, a long winding road and a picture of a posh, fancy woman.  I'm not sure how well I captured the flashbacks.  I tried writing the flashbacks in past perfect tense, to differentiate them from the main story.  I suppose this is more of a character drama than anything.  You can decide for yourselves whether Alastair still loves Simone.

Lip Ring

People who saw John Foster, described him as a punk.  He had long brown hair down to his neck and had  piercings, in his nose, eyebrows and lips.  For college he had to remove the majority of them, which left a multitude of minute holes in his skin.  On his right shoulder was a tattoo of a screaming skull.  Outside of college, people thought he looked very aggressive and unapproachable.  Similar to any teenager, he loved listening to music and whenever he got the opportunity, he would plug in his earphones and scream in melody, with one of his favourite hard rock or death metal bands.  His obsession with this genre of music led to many people thinking he was very hostile and peculiar.  However, he had a caring and supportive personality.  He had a very small circle of friends, who he enjoyed socialising with, but not even they knew his darkest secret.
****
It was a Tuesday afternoon and John was in his history classes.  He was finding it difficult to concentrate; not because he found the birth of Communism boring, but because he was distracted by Rudy O'Connor.  John had only been going to college for two months, but he had always watched Rudy from afar. Perhaps he should try and approach him.  John packed up his things and was about to walk over to the empty seat besides Rudy, but he hesitated and sat back down again.  John sighed and nervously pulled on his lip ring-one of the few piercings he was allowed to wear.  What was he so afraid of? Rudy was just a boy.
****
John had finished college and was with his two best friends, Abbie and Brian, in his bedroom.  On the walls were posters of some of his favourite rock and metal bands, such as Asking Alexandria, Deep Purple and Avenged Sevenfold.  Hanging in his wardrobe were band shirts, he had bought from all of the concerts and gigs, he had attended.  John and his friends were sitting on his bed.  Abbie was constantly dying her hair different colours and today it was bubblegum blue.  As soon as he had gotten home, John had reinserted all of his piercings and now there were pieces of metal in various positions, across his face.  It looked like a bizarre mixture of flesh and metal.  He didn't want his parents to hear their conversation, so he reached to his Ipod station and played Bullet for my Valentine, one of his favourite heavy metal bands, at full blast.

"I have something to tell you.  Something I have been keeping secret for a long time."

"Oh my god! You're pregnant?!" Brian joked.  He was a closely shaven skinhead with a lot of spots.

"No I'm not, but you're close."

Brian suddenly looked very confused.  "Ummm....you're going on an epic quest to find your long lost brother?" He pondered.

Abbie rolled her eyes and slapped Brian across the head.  "What is it, John?" She asked.

"I'm gay." John nervously tugged on a small hoop in his ear.

Upon revealing this secret, there was a reflective silence.

Abbie scratched her head.  "I kind of figured that," seeing her friend's perplexed faces, she decided to elaborate, "I'm a girl.  I can tell when a guy is checking me or another girl out and I have never seen John look at a girl in that way before."

"You can tell when a guy does that?" Brian asked, looking like a little kid who had just been caught stealing cookies.

"Well you guys are never exactly subtle, when you do it."

"Well aren't you the clever one?" Brian muttered.

"Why do you sound surprised? I've always been clever." Abbie retorted.

"Shut up guys! I like ...a boy."

"John, I know, I'm gorgeous and brilliant, but we're friends; it wouldn't work out."

Abbie groaned and slapped Brian again.  "Who is it?" She asked.

"It's Rudy O'Connor."

"Oh, him.  He's not what I would call classically good looking."

"What do you mean by that?" John scratched his nose.

"He's very scrawny and his hair in those awful dark, curls.  And I've never liked his eyes; they're really hard, as if there's a layer of steel behind them."

"That's not true," John protested, defensively, "his eyes aren't cold.  They're deep.  There's something behind them.  In our history lessons, I try and to figure out what it is."

"Good for you, man." Despite all of his jokes, Brian genuinely cared about his friend and respected all of his decisions.

Abbie smiled at Brian's encouragement.  "Ok John, you're in his history class, have you talked to him yet?"

"I haven't.  I'm so annoyed at myself.  I need to."

"Yes you do.  You've got history tomorrow.  Talk to him then and see what he's like.  It's still early in the year."

"Thanks guys.  You really are both great friends."

"Eugh, don't go all mushy on me.  I might throw up."

Abbie recognised the humour in his comment and went to playfully slap her friend, but she stopped her hand, just before it made contact, which made Brian jump.

"Two for flinching."
****
It was Wednesday; the lesson before lunchtime and John was eagerly waiting for Rudy to sit down next to him. He was sitting in the chair next to Rudy, which had always remained empty.  This had always puzzled John; even though Rudy seemed to be popular and well liked, by guys and girls, he was always on his own.  Perhaps, he just preferred to be alone.  Rudy walked into the room and nervously pulled on one of his curls.  This made John grin like an idiot.  The boy's crush frowned, as he saw a stranger in the seat next to him.  He was intrigued though.  Rudy walked over to John and sat down; he knew he should try and break the ice.

"So...are you liking college so far?" Rudy was very interested, by this punk boy.

"It's fun I suppose.  The people are nice," John could see Rudy was on edge, which made him even cuter, "relax mate.  Just because I look like this, doesn't mean I'm going to start moaning about my life or start screaming "death to the mainstream."

Rudy chuckled.  "It's not that.  I'm just nervous around new people.  Sorry...I haven't asked you your name yet."

"John Foster at your service.  I know you're Rudy O'Connor.  I've heard about you."

"Have you now? I haven't heard a thing about you."

John's heart sank slightly, when he heard this, but he decided to stay strong.  "We need to do something to change that.  Why don't you come over to mine on Saturday? We can play some games and have some beers."

"That sounds quite social.  With how you look and everything, I would imagine you being the complete opposite."

"That is a stereotype, my friend, and you shouldn't listen to those."

There was a sudden slamming as the teacher brought a heavy text book, crashing down onto the table.  "If you've finished talking, boys, then I would like to begin my lesson."
****
History had just finished and Rudy had already left for lunch, but not before exchanging numbers with John.  The latter was now texting his friends.  His heart was thrumming with excitement and his fingers were fluttering over the keypad.

<i>OMG guys! This is so awesome.  I've got Rudy's number and he's going to come to mine on Saturday.  This is just great.  We really hit it off.  Oh wow!!!!</i>
****
Saturday could not have come soon enough.  John was trembling with a mixture of happiness and nervous anticipation.  This was silly.  He had only known Rudy for a couple of months.  The doorbell rang and the sound echoed around in John's mind.  He ran to open the door and when he saw what stood behind it, he almost died.  Rudy was standing in a t-shirt and shorts, which left his beautifully tanned arms and legs exposed.  There was a subtle watery quality about his eyes.

"Can I come in?" He asked, awkwardly.

John realised he had spent a few seconds staring at him and Rudy had seen every moment of it.  The former nervously smiled and let his crush into his house.  As Rudy climbed the stairs, he was thinking that he liked the look of John.
****
The rest of the day had been a complete blur.  Rudy and John had laughed and drank.  They had talked about trivia and bonded into the twilight hours.  Then there was the kiss.  John remembered every second of it.  It was like a scene from a movie, which he played over and over again in slow motion.   His stomach flipped upside down, every time he remembered their lips slowly dancing over each other, how on occasion, Rudy would trip over John's lip ring.  Their tongues met, mingled, caressed, loved.

"Dude, you sound like a teenage girl." Brian commented.

"Shut up  It's really sweet." Abbie retorted.

"I'm just teasing.  I'm happy for for you."

"It's amazing.  I just can't believe it.  It's only been a day.  Wow." John was rubbing his hands together and fiddling with his various piercings.

"I can't believe it either.  I didn't even think he knew who you were." Abbie remarked.

"I guess we were both looking at each other from afar.  When he said, he hadn't heard of me...he must have been lying.  It doesn't matter how it happened...it just has."

"How did you know he was gay, when you guys kissed?" Brian asked, whilst rubbing a spot.

John shrugged.  "I didn't...I just...the moment felt right and I decided to take a risk.  Luckily it paid off...if it didn't, then I don't know what I'll do."

"What are you going to do next?" Abbie asked.  Today her hair was completely black with blonde highlights.

"A date I suppose.  Is it supposed to happen like this?" John scratched his ear and inclined his head to his girl friend.

Abbie shrugged.  "Love is confusing and unpredictable."

Brian smiled slyly.  "Aww, you're in love? That's so cute."
****
It was time for history and John was already in the lesson, waiting for Rudy, for his boyfriend? Were they boyfriends now?

No.  Don't be silly John.  We're not boyfriends yet.

Rudy walked into the room and made eye contact with John.  He smiled and approached his seat.

Oh my god! Here comes my boyfriend. John was squirming with delight.

"Oh Rudy.  I can't stop thinking about last night."

"Not so loud!" Rudy anxiously looked around.

"Don't worry about it."

Rudy relaxed.  "It's been on my mind a lot too."

"This is just crazy.  I didn't even think you knew who I was."

"I know quite a bit.  I just was too scared to say anything."

John smiled and breathed deeply.  He was about to take another risk.  "Now we're...you know.  I was wondering whether you wanted to do something with me.  Is this moving too fast? Oh...I don't know."

Rudy chuckled affectionately.  "It's fine, John.  Don't worry about it.  I'd love to.  What were you thinking of?"

"It's a surprise."

"I'll tell you what's a surprise.  John and Rudy are talking through my lesson again.  Would you boys please be quiet?!" Their history teacher demanded.
****
"Am I allowed to see again?" Rudy had been blindfolded.  He wasn't allowed to know where John was taking him.

"Yes you are.  I wanted it to be a surprise."

Rudy untied the old school tie from his eyes and looked around.  "Wow.  This is just amazing.  Wow." The college boy was standing in front of a most tranquil lake.  It was completely peaceful and very quiet.  The water reflected the dark silhouettes of the skeletal trees, which surrounded the lake banks.  John took his boyfriend by the hand and started running off.  "Come on.  We haven't got much time.  Twilight is coming in."

The two boys started running down a dirt path, past fishermen who gave them strange looks before returning back to their quarries.

"John...slow down." Rudy was breathing heavily and starting to slow down.

"Come on.  We're almost here."

At the end of the dirt path was a little wooden boardwalk, which jutted out into the lake.  It was used for fishing, but today it was empty.

"John! Stop!"

"We're here now." John walked over to the board walk and sat down, before being joined by Rudy.

"I don't think I've run that fast since I was thirteen and I was running away from some homophobic dickheads.  So what did you want to show me? What is this place?"

John thought that Rudy had the softest pair of eyes, he had ever seen in any boy.  Any enigma in them had melted away and had left behind two pools of caring, kind emotion.

"Just wait and see.  This is one of my favourite places to come and just wind down.  This is where I come to be antisocial."

"Again, I would never imagine this as being you.  With how you look, I'd've thought you'd've brought me to a heavy metal gig or something."

John chuckled and rubbed his tongue on his lip ring.  "You really need to stop listening to those stereotypes.  It's true that I enjoy all of that stuff.  I mean, I do love the music and the image and what it stands for, but I'm not like that all the time.  I just wanted to bring you here."

"I'm glad you did.  It's gorgeous out here."

"And in the time, we've been talking, it's gotten even more so."

John directed his boyfriend's attention to the lake and skyscape.  Sunset had just started and an intense red light was reflecting of the wispy Cirrus clouds.  It was more than that.  The whole sky had caught fire.  Yellows, oranges, ambers were dancing across the atmosphere.  The whole spectacle was mirrored in the lake's indecisive surface.

John grinned, when he saw Rudy's astounded face.  "I was hoping that'd be your reaction."

"This is beautiful and so romantic." The two boys made eye contact and there was a moment of pure clarity and understanding.  The two lovers fell into a silence, as their lips talked for them.  Their eyes closed.  Their mouths opened.  John became lost in his sanctuary.  Rudy started to run a hand through his boyfriend's hair.  The lip ring rubbed between their skin.

*Author's notes*

I know this is not what I usually write, but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and a love story is about as far from my comfort zone as I can get.  I hope you enjoy it.  I did have a more comedic ending, but I decided to change it, as I thought this ending was more dramatic and more appropriate.

Barbed Wire

Carlos was flying through the water.  His serrated skin was a metallic blue colour, with dark stripes running along his sides and back.  His eyes were like periscopes; they could see every single colour in the deeply saturated sea, regardless of lighting conditions.  His teeth were a work of art, which almost sparkled in the sapphire waters.  Every single tooth looked like it had been carved out of the purest ivory and sharpened into something vicious.  They had the power and speed of torpedoes.  Carlos might as well have been an organic submarine.  The tiniest scrap of meat fell out of the shark's jaw.  It was quickly gobbled up by a pilot fish.  Carlos was on the swim.
****
The shark tracked the scent of blood to the shallow waters before a coastline.  He was initially confused, when he saw the sea life, that had amassed there.  However, it didn't take him long to understand.  Humans were catching the marine animals for food and God knows what else.  "Catching" was an understatement.  The humans were over fishing.  How they had managed to concentrate so much life in one place was beyond Carlos.  The shark's spherical eyes rolled upwards in their sockets, as he saw a giant net falling over a school of fish, trapping them.  By now the animals which were just out of reach of the woven cage, had taken notice of the shark and were now trying to escape from the ring of predators.  Carlos ignored the swimming animals and latched onto the bottom of the net.  It was only made of rope, which meant he could easily chew through it.  The shark couldn't care less about helping the trapped fish; he was hungry and this was an easy dinner.  Carlos began to smell blood, and as he turned his upper body, he saw a red liquid slowly rise from his tail-fins.  The shark guessed that the humans must have thrown a harpoon, which had just grazed him.  Carlos knew he had outstayed his welcome.  Sensing electrical pulses in the water, the shark swam away  He'd be back though.  No human could keep him away from his prey.
****
Carlos was never given the chance to return.  Whilst fishing, the humans had seen sharks, which must have been attracted by the smell of blood.  If the animals were given the chance, then they would eat all of the fish available, which was why the hunters had to keep them away.  There were men in boats on the outreaches of the shallow waters, on the lookout for predators.  Carlos was unfortunate enough to swim right into them.  He could see a shapeless grey object, he guessed it was a boat, sitting above the water and he knew that meant trouble.  At first he thought it was a turtle or another shark, but then he realised they rarely swam in such shallow waters.  Carlos growled in a confused anger, as something tore through his outer epidermis.  The wound wasn't serious, but the shark knew that he was in danger and swam away.
****
The shark felt a series of vibrations through the water and the shapeless, grey object started moving; Carlos knew that the humans were following him.   They didn't want him near their food.  The humans were moving quickly, but they were little match for the shark.  More harpoons were launched into the water.  A few drops of blood rose to the surface of the ocean.  Red and blue danced together, before the two colours became one.  Carlos was hurt, but he would carry on swimming.  He was a tiger shark and they are hardy creatures.
****
Had the humans managed to trap him?

Had he been netted like the brainless schools of Herring he had just been hunting?

No.

He was smarter than that.  He realised his silly mistake.  Somehow the hunters had managed to overtake him and had laid a cargo net in wait. The net was only made of rope, which meant that Carlos could easily chew through it. His tail fin vigorously moved from side to side, which propelled him into the woven barrier.  With one swift bite, he tore the net to pieces and carried on swimming.  The shark looked forward and could just about see the shapeless grey object silently resting on the water's surface; it seemed to be just waiting there.  For a mysterious reason, this instilled terror into Carlos.  He was furious with himself.  He shouldn't feel fear; he was the tiger of the sea.  The humans were the true sharks; ferocious, relentless, merciless.  Carlos was growing tired of this hunting game.  He expected the boat to have returned back to shore, but it was still following him.

Why?

Was this revenge?

Was he just sport?

To avoid detection, Carlos swam down to the seabed.  He was slowly approaching the boat, when something sent ripples through the water.  Carlos thought he saw a shark, underneath the grey, shapeless object, but something was wrong.  He wasn't detecting any electrical pulses and there was something more.  The shark was slowly sinking, which was strange because sharks only sank when they were dead.  As Carlos approached the pitiful creature, he noticed it was missing its dorsal fin.  The humans must have cut it off and were now disposing of the evidence.  Carlos knew he shouldn't waste food and latched onto the shark corpse before dragging it away.  Something wrenched the beast back and shifting a four hundred kilo shark took some strength.  Carlos growled, as a metal hook buried itself in his mouth.  He desperately tried to escape, but the hook had embedded itself in the roof of his mouth.  Carlos was disgusted with himself for falling for such a pathetic human trap.  The dead shark must have been bait.  He slowly felt himself rising, until he was only half submerged in the ocean.  His gills were still underwater.  The shark began to writhe in the crystal blue water, as above him, two humans began to admire their trophy.

****

A bald headed man peered over the side of the boat and stared in awe.  "Levi, look at this monster.  We've caught a fully grown tiger shark."

Levi flicked the cigarette he had been smoking into the blue waters.  "Quit your gawking, Terry.  We need to think of a way of proving that we caught it."

"Aren't we just going to kill it and take it back? That's what Mr. Craft told us to do.  We can't anger him." Terry rubbed his eyebrow in confusion.

"Don't be an idiot.  Do you think I'm so stupid, as to anger a man like him.  We just don't have the space on our boat for a fourteen foot long shark."

Below them, Carlos was thrashing in the ocean.  "We could cut off its dorsal fin?" Terry suggested.

"I don't want to dirty my hands with shark blood.  That's disgusting.  Remove three of its teeth." Levi ordered.
"You can't be serious.  If I put my hands anywhere near its mouth, it'll bite my arm off."

"Calm down.  Its jaws are still locked into the shark we used as bait.  It can't fully close its mouth.  You can remove the teeth at the sides of its mouth.  It can't bite you from there.  I'm sure Mr. Craft will reward you greatly when he hears of your bravery.  Try and find the loosest teeth.  Sharks regularly shed their teeth.  It shouldn't be too difficult."

"I don't know Levi.  I'm not sure."

"Why are you just standing there? I gave you an order! Mr. Craft doesn't like waiting."

Terry hesitantly looked at the shark.

"Are you scared? How do I explain to Mr. Craft that we couldn't get him a trophy, because you were too much of a pathetic, little coward?" Levi knew he was being very underhand, but he also knew that his colleague was extremely weak-minded.

"Bring it within reach then.  I'll get a knife." Terry hated being called a coward and was determined to prove his friend wrong.

Levi walked up to the boat's cabin and pressed a button.  Slowly Carlos was cruelly dragged from his ocean habitat, into a toxic atmosphere, before being brought within reach of Terry who was lying in wait, holding a knife.  Very carefully he reached into Carlos' mouth and rested the weapon at the base of a tooth.  Terry nervously swallowed and began to lever away at it.  This one fell away easily, unlike the next two which took some work.  As Terry adjusted his stance, he lost his footing and sliced his arm.  "I've got the three teeth.  Let it go." Levi nodded and pressed a button, which sent Carlos plunging back into the ocean.  Afterwards, he took out his mobile phone.

"Hello, Mr Craft, sir.  We did it.  Terry removed three teeth from the tiger shark."

"Good work.  There'll be two cheques waiting for you when you return.  They'll be delivered in white envelopes."

****

With the hook still embedded in his mouth, Carlos swam away from the humans.  The shark was aware that the hook would be stuck in his mouth for the rest of his life and it might affect his eating habits, but he was just grateful to escape.  Even though sharks are usually solitary animals, Carlos couldn't avoid sparing a thought for the creatures, which had been mutilated by Man.  All of them had been cruelly dissected until they had become nothing more than memories, drifting through the sky.

*Author's Notes*

I guess you could argue this is a continuation of my poem Harpoon and an extension of my environmental writings.  Not the best thing I've written.