🫀. . . . . . . . FURTHER ON UP THE ROAD ; long walk oc writing blurb. just needed to write SOMETHING, lest i lose any skill. it’s probably so ass but it’s here… my oc dottie :). also barely proof read.
she could tell herself to go further on up the road, but that road was narrowing, and there was no space for her there. there never was, nor did she resent that. besides, there was a world beyond the road. a world that thwarted all chances of seeing it, of giving her the hopeful parts of her fantasy. it was a double edged sword, sharpened to pull her further onto the blade, and to pin her right into soil. it felt as though it was burrowing itself between her ribs now, twisting and jabbing with all the might of a persistent child. not enough to kill her, but enough to make her aware of it.
francine was gone, long gone. that should’ve been her stop too, to go out with company rather than a lonesome little bang. it would’ve been real nice too, to just stop and turn towards the lights. to have someone to hold her hand while a gun pressed against her temple — like they were personally saving space for her, in that very moment. her own spot in line, but she didn’t think god would be too fond of cuts. it would’ve been the smarter thing to try, but she found herself repeating that small mantra. ‘just a few more steps, just right up the road’.
a voice in the back of her mind pushed her to stall the inevitable, like there was a lesson that hadn’t yet been learned. maybe not so much as a lesson, but a subconscious last attempt at making it. the pitch of a friend, a hand on her bag that pulled her forward, motivation that didn’t come so easily to her. if she was lucky — like she so wished to be — then it was a ghost, something bigger than herself to shock her into fruition. all angels on the long walk had already passed, they went down with a tragic fire. desperate and loud, quiet and disbelieving, accepting. *accepting*.
a quick glance at the others around her showed that they were all in the same boat. bonded together like packs of dynamite waiting to be set off. all sparks were dimmed by the light brigade, snubbed out just as easily as they were lit. some were duds, others disproportionate with their spark, and others went out for the simple sake of being out. accepting that nothing would get better after this, that the road was in shambles just as much as their knees and feet were. their spines bent to carry the weight of their world on their backs. lives lived before the walk, family and friends, lovers and the unresolved. where would they be tomorrow? when the sun sets and they realize they can’t close their eyes anymore, that their feet were still scraping that hateful asphalt.
there was an awful admiration she held for the others around her, as much as she should see them as competition — and she inherently hated them for even signing up for something like this — she admired them. maybe it was their sheer determination that made her continue those steps, the knowledge that they might also be walking because they didn’t want to die alone either.
so she bowed her head, and shuffled on up the road, falling in line with those that were still willing to fall on that double edged sword.
