Let the Long Night End (Complete)
Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 3:02 am
”It is not flesh and blood, but the heart, which makes us fathers and sons.”
Welcome, all. As I promised, I intend to let a little of my own fresh blood trickle down into the pot of creative writing here. See what comes of my witch's brew. Progress on the first full chapter (or 'parts' as they are codified in the story itself) is ongoing: deadline for release is December 8th - 9th, and it will be a quite sizable chapter I expect when it is all said and done. An eight-part tale, followed by an epilogue. I would like to offer an immediate summary, but first I think it's best to let the excerpt below speak for itself and go into further detail should I indeed be hitting the right notes for you readers out there. Prove that I know what the heck I'm doing before I start breaking the mold, so to speak.
The link to the fanfiction will be added to here and also posted separately when completed. For now, have a taste of what is to come...
EDIT: http://let-the-right-one-in.com/fancont ... -night-end
Old (And Very Rough) Teaser Draft Below
Let the Long Night End
Part I: God Only Knows (Oskar)
I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I’ll make you so sure about it
‘Cause God only knows what I’d be without you
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” – Og Mandino
∆
1982, New Year’s Eve.
Snow crunches beneath the heels of worn, thick boots on a frosty winter evening. It is dark, save for the scant sliver of light against the crescent moon and the handful of stars glittering stubbornly in the sky. A boy, warmly dressed in a silver parka, and dark pants, pushes branches away with gloved hands. A faint clanking and jittering comes from something inside his backpack, fastened securely to his shoulders. Just a little further now…
He liked to make this trip at least twice a week, when the weather allowed. But Michigan was notorious for its blizzards, and despite his consternation he could not in good conscience justify wading through five or six feet of snow, in a forest no less, for all of a few precious minutes of solace. Not because he was unwilling – quite the contrary. But each time the boy prepared to step outside and brave the harshness of the wilderness, a pair of large, brown eyes would appear in his mind’s eye, followed by the face he adored so much. Please, those eyes would say. Don’t be foolish. I’m okay. Take care of yourself. Please.
Today, though, he pushed the warnings aside – painful though it was to push any thought of his friend away. His companion. Today was too special to let cold or snow stop him. So, he took a cab past the city limits of Detroit and rode for several hours in silence, toying with an old Rubik’s Cube well worn by time and use, as he liked to do. He was very proud, because he finally discovered the right method to get three sides to be solid colors – once he had almost made it to four, but was dismayed when he discovered a single line of green running along the end of an otherwise yellow square. He imagined that his partner (wasn’t that a better word than ‘friend?’) was proud of him, too, and rubbed a spot on his cheek where he thought might’ve been kissed if she were there.
The hike had been hard, and the wind was against him, stinging his nose and cheeks. He had to squint his eyes and wipe them free of tears every few minutes. But the warmth that grew in his chest kept the cold of the outside from driving him back. Today, tonight, he would see Eli, and neither nature, man, or God above would keep them apart. His pace quickens when he finally spies his destination; a small hide-away cave, lit by a beam of moonlight as if to guide him. God, perhaps, had no interest in keeping these two of His children apart this night, and for that Oskar was thankful. Hurrying his steps as he became increasingly aware of the numbness in his fingers and toes, Oskar scurried to the cave’s mouth, ducking his head to avoid hitting it against the low ceiling.
Shaking snow from his gloves, he kneeled down to the mostly bare stone ground and slipped out a torch from his pack, clicking it alight. The beam shone bright and true, and he stepped confidently, if slowly, deeper into the mouth of shadow before him. The shrill shrieking of the wind outside faded the further he crept, and he listened intently, ears alert for a sound of a different timbre…there!
Soft rumbling from the farthest corner of the cave, where the sun couldn’t reach at any time of day. His torch-light fell on the curled shape of a young child, wrapped in blankets and head rested gently on a pillow, a stuffed bunny held tightly in the child’s arms. A purring child. Even now, Oskar never ceased to feel a surge of excitement and fulfillment at the very sight of her – his Eli, sound asleep. Away from the bite of the freezing winds, Oskar could feel himself warming again. Or maybe it’s just Eli, making me warm inside.
Setting his torch to the floor, pointed up so as to illuminate his surroundings somewhat, Oskar slipped off his pack and set it down, resting his back against the call adjacent to Eli and letting himself slip onto his rear. He checks his watch, bought cheaply from an odds-and-ends shop because it was broken, but fixed thanks to a little teamwork and Eli’s surprising depth of knowledge about the strangest subjects. A sigh he didn’t realize he’d been holding in slips out suddenly, leaving cool relief in its absence.
“Just in time,” he smiles, glancing at her coyly – more for his benefit than hers, given her state. “Five minutes to midnight. Thought you should know.”
He busies himself with chewing on a small piece of bread and cheese, and grabs a handful of snow from outside to stuff into his mouth, enjoying the taste of melting snow. The clock ticks down, and Oskar imagines that somewhere close by a bell is chiming and a man with a great and booming voice declares tonight to be a Happy New Year. Confetti flies into the air, people dance, and the world is together and at peace. It was a pretty thought.
He crawls over to Eli, careful not to disturb her from her spot, and plants a single, long kiss against her cheek, feeling his lips lose their warmth as they meet cold flesh. For some reason, the idea that he is giving his warmth to Eli is pleasant enough that he gives her a second kiss, then retreats. He lets the tips of his fingers rest for a moment against the spot, then moves back. “Happy New Year, Eli.”