Paragraph Contest Entry

2 Paragraphs from Interlude With the Keraunophile.1

Suddenly, somebody is staring at me, mortified. I understand, rejoice and grieve immediately. You exist. In spite of all my arduous scheming to ignore you completely, that tortured, guilt-ridden grimace triggers something in me I had considered (or perhaps hoped) to be dead. I open my arms and stumble towards you. The remorse swiftly turns to terror as you realise that I'm approaching you, and you wave me away. I make some panicked gesture at you with my hand, and turn a fast heel after my friend, who has walked on obliviously.2

“No, David, wait!” you squall. My head is reefed around and I can see you half stepping towards me, eyes aglaze and lips quivering. I jog towards you and you grab me. Time moves, but we stand still. My arms and shoulders become fixated on keeping us this way, despite the attempts at attention by my companion and the mewlings of the neanderthal sniffing at your back. You whisper, “I'm sorry”, but I do not respond. Now is not the time to tell you it will never be good enough. I kiss you hard on the cheek, and pull away. The tortured grimace has returned, but all I can achieve is a listlessly aimless shrug. We embrace again and I lock my arms around you. I am at once secure and terrified; loved and loveless; enamoured and offended.