Hope it's okay I tagged you both! I don't mind if this thread is with either one or both of you guys :)
He has gone back to the place from whence he came
was how the apostle John had responded to the barbed question of the Pharisee: where is your savior now?
But that question then planted a seed of doubt within him, which grew as does any parasite that has found a host. He agonized as the branches cut into him, tender at first but hardening into splinters, drawing blood and sustenance through its abiding veins.
There were many times in history where the earth turned a shearing path along a new axis, tilting into a new world and shedding customs once thought to be immovable. Recall that the Oracles all over Ancient Greece used to deliver their prophecies in rich verse; in Plutarch's time all but one spoke in undecorated prose; not long after that, they ceased giving any prophecy at all, and so began decades of lamentation across civilizations: why does God no longer speak to us?
In his quiet way, Abraham carried the torch shared by John and these lamenters. He found himself wandering back, not to the place from whence he came, but a place he had coincided with, briefly, long ago. A place he associated with his father so strongly, that to him Wheeling Gull Isle seemed to be a mere manifestation of Bartholomew's stewardship on earth, even if the man himself was long gone and his prayers were no longer spoken there.
He gazed upon the pane of the sea, which glimmered in spades of @Blue: there was @Cobalt, and there was teal, and there was the occasional facet of pure sky, as if it had been scattered upon the water via osmosis, across the vast straight-edge horizon.
was how the apostle John had responded to the barbed question of the Pharisee: where is your savior now?
But that question then planted a seed of doubt within him, which grew as does any parasite that has found a host. He agonized as the branches cut into him, tender at first but hardening into splinters, drawing blood and sustenance through its abiding veins.
There were many times in history where the earth turned a shearing path along a new axis, tilting into a new world and shedding customs once thought to be immovable. Recall that the Oracles all over Ancient Greece used to deliver their prophecies in rich verse; in Plutarch's time all but one spoke in undecorated prose; not long after that, they ceased giving any prophecy at all, and so began decades of lamentation across civilizations: why does God no longer speak to us?
In his quiet way, Abraham carried the torch shared by John and these lamenters. He found himself wandering back, not to the place from whence he came, but a place he had coincided with, briefly, long ago. A place he associated with his father so strongly, that to him Wheeling Gull Isle seemed to be a mere manifestation of Bartholomew's stewardship on earth, even if the man himself was long gone and his prayers were no longer spoken there.
He gazed upon the pane of the sea, which glimmered in spades of @Blue: there was @Cobalt, and there was teal, and there was the occasional facet of pure sky, as if it had been scattered upon the water via osmosis, across the vast straight-edge horizon.
September 17, 2024, 11:26 AM
He was a man unlike any she had seen before — and from where she lurked among shadows, Blue felt herself grow warm at the ears and filled with some odd frenetic fluttering just beneath her breastbone. Suddenly shy and unsure of herself, she lingered. He was pretty. And Blue, she was only a plain girl, too thin and too pale and lacking any luster to her fur.
But this island is mine, she reminded herself, slipping from the shadows in silence. His back to her, the man watched the sea. Her own indigo gaze lingered at the dark curls round his nape, passing over him and finding, lower, that beautiful brindling at his — !
Ears hot now, she averted her gaze. All plastic-made poise, the very picture of cool and unbothered, Blue drew up alongside him with eyes turned to the ocean. She thought of trying to greet him, but the words caught in her throat all dry and thorny before she even knew what words they might be. So she kept her own counsel, hoping that it might read as mysterious rather than socially inept.
But this island is mine, she reminded herself, slipping from the shadows in silence. His back to her, the man watched the sea. Her own indigo gaze lingered at the dark curls round his nape, passing over him and finding, lower, that beautiful brindling at his — !
Ears hot now, she averted her gaze. All plastic-made poise, the very picture of cool and unbothered, Blue drew up alongside him with eyes turned to the ocean. She thought of trying to greet him, but the words caught in her throat all dry and thorny before she even knew what words they might be. So she kept her own counsel, hoping that it might read as mysterious rather than socially inept.
September 17, 2024, 12:14 PM
As she approached him he readied himself to greet her, but he saw that the look on her face was distant, as if she had come here on a mission and he was an irrelevance unseen in her original design. In fact it was unclear if she was even aware of him.
He did not attempt to parse the cipher of her bearing, instead letting the silence become denser and denser, the seaside ambience lending it significance. Gulls screamed; the tide groaned.
Finally, he spoke.
He did not attempt to parse the cipher of her bearing, instead letting the silence become denser and denser, the seaside ambience lending it significance. Gulls screamed; the tide groaned.
Finally, he spoke.
I can leave, if you need space,the flap of one ear laid flush to his cheek as he tilted his head, half out of respect and half in self-deprecation.
But please let me ask one thing of you.
The angle of his muzzle revealed more of the man's face, and Blue's stomach lurched with sudden recognition. She had seen a man like him before, hadn't she? Yet even as her guts churned with the knowledge, she was struck again by the sheer prettiness of him.
She certainly didn't want him to leave — but the words were still stuck to her tongue, so she only shook her head slightly, mute as he went on. He had a question. Blue swallowed, wondering at her fading capacity for speech. After a moment, she managed a soft
Her gaze remained on the sea.
She certainly didn't want him to leave — but the words were still stuck to her tongue, so she only shook her head slightly, mute as he went on. He had a question. Blue swallowed, wondering at her fading capacity for speech. After a moment, she managed a soft
Yes?
Her gaze remained on the sea.
Yesterday, 09:07 PM
(This post was last modified: Yesterday, 09:08 PM by Abraham.
Edit Reason: wow the formatting was really messed up. my bad
)
He only perceived her answer by the movement of her mouth.
and to call his father by that name felt so wrong; he repressed a grimace but its waylaid tension flickered across his forehead; he tried to finish his question but his voice failed him again and again, a car engine in midwinter.
He laughed, sheepish, an excuse for him to breathe slowly.
Why did he ask her, when he could go to see for himself?
The dissonance was unbearable. Here he stood as a so-called learned man, a man of letters, a man of God, unable to utter his own father's name. For a moment he thought he glimpsed a lanky shadow ghosting the edge of the island, and he could not help but avert his gaze, heart pounding.
Does a man by the name of Bartholomew—
and to call his father by that name felt so wrong; he repressed a grimace but its waylaid tension flickered across his forehead; he tried to finish his question but his voice failed him again and again, a car engine in midwinter.
Does—Does he—
He laughed, sheepish, an excuse for him to breathe slowly.
I'm sorry, I meant to ask—does he still live there?
Why did he ask her, when he could go to see for himself?
The dissonance was unbearable. Here he stood as a so-called learned man, a man of letters, a man of God, unable to utter his own father's name. For a moment he thought he glimpsed a lanky shadow ghosting the edge of the island, and he could not help but avert his gaze, heart pounding.
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