lets get lost tonight

“Let’s get lost tonight.”

That was the beginning of it. And so we’d driven out to an abandoned area of the town in the hopes of doing just that. Empty shopping carts became our new method of transportation as we wheeled around until we were too dizzy to go on. Creaking, they rattled like bones and threatened to throw us off, but we held on tight, clutching each others skeletons to stay locked in our embrace. We slid down hills and over valleys, speeding down imaginary streets without any brakes. We pushed past the wind, soaring through waking memories, stopping to say hi to ghosts.

When we tired of travelling, we relocated to the parking lot of an old Wal-Mart. Your brother knew someone who knew someone else that had managed to get us a box of dusty fireworks. You exclaimed over the roman candles and Catherine wheels and I exclaimed over you. The night was damp, the air moist. But our eyes were bright and our spirits high. The matches struck easily enough and the wicks caught.

The rockets we lit soared up to the heavens to explode in the face of God, lighting up the dark.

Once everything had burnt out we reclined on the bonnet of my just bought, second-hand Volvo 850 I was so proud of. The stars gazed at us unblinkingly. You knew all the constellations and never tired of pointing them out to me. The big dipper, the little one, the scorpion, the southern cross; you could see them all in a moment.

I traced the pattern of stars on your skin, searching to find the right combination between faded freckles and barely there sun spots.

“Let’s go back,” you murmured as my fingers brushed down your spine.

You wouldn’t let go when we reached your place, so I trailed after you up the stairs, tiptoeing so as not to wake those sleeping in other rooms, holding my breath. Anticipation mingled with the air around us as we kicked off shoes, undressing in the dark. Muffled silences and smothered sounds.

We fell in a tangle of limbs, burrowing into the sheets, making our own world down there. Your lips were so soft, like the fluttering of wings and your heartbeat was trembling. Every inch of me was burning as we twisted together, and though your skin was cool and soothing against mine, a fire consumed us.

We shuddered into being.

We’d wanted to get lost, but we ended up home.

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Tags:

home, lost, love, night and skeletons