Story excerpt about some peculiar beings and their time on Earth…
“Have you got a light?” Something about the homeless drunk’s raspy breath lingered with her as she walked past. She paused and turned around. David continued to walk on a few steps, oblivious to her distraction. “So I told him, he could take the chaise but the restoration prints were mine!...Hey Jess, what...” he turned around and looked at her. Her gaze was on the drunk; it was as if she was mesmerized. “Jess, what’s wrong?” he started back towards her but she held up a hand. “You go ahead,” she said without turning around, “I’ll see you inside the club.” David sighed. This wasn’t the first time this had happened but it was still unnerving nevertheless. She sensed his hesitation. “I’ll be fine, you go on and meet the others. Order me a drink,” she turned around and flashed him a smile. As gay as he was he couldn’t help melting when she did that; a warm glow would start to seep down from his ears to his neck like liquid gold, drenching and soothing his veins. All he could think of was pleasing her. “Fine, go do your angel of mercy thing!” he said rising from his reverie. “Just know I’m not going to wait around, I need to hit that dancefloor like a jackhammer,” he rotated his hips in a caricature of stylized copulation. She laughed and waved him off. As he walked away she turned back to the vagrant who had nestled himself in a small alley just before the club. The neon from the sign flashed rhythmically, lighting half his face in a garish hot pink. From a distance he looked heavy-set but as she approached, she noticed his frame was thin. Maybe even muscular. She tensed slightly. He wore two coats, it might have been three. An overgrown beard was matted with the grime of the city and tiny wisps of white streaked his long hair. His pants were tattered and worn and on his feet nothing. She walked up to him and then knelt down to eye-level. He didn’t meet her gaze. He seemed nervous and his breath started to become a bit shallow but that lingering quality was still there. “I might have a light,” she paused waiting for him to respond. “But I feel you might have much more.” He started breathing rapidly, his exhales pulsating rhythmically as if trying to mimic the intense bpm emanating from the club. If she wasn’t careful he might try to run. “Hey, I won’t hurt you...I’m here to help,” she reached out and held her hand palm upward in front of his face. He looked down at it almost fearfully. She blew gently across her palm as he breathed in. He suddenly caught his breath as if he had inhaled a moment from a glorious past and never wanted to let it go again. For the first time he looked at her and she saw what she needed to see. In his eyes glowed the embers of a purple fire. One that might have once consumed an entire planet. And as he started into hers, what he saw made his pupils wide with awe. “Light…” he said and raised his palm to meet hers. The tiniest of sparks started to appear over his calloused hand.
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