#heaven

To love is to get a glance of heaven, then why am I in hell?

~

Sitting patiently under the giant sign, near the junkyard filled with demolished cars, the red lights above me flickered dangerously. I mentally counted each time the ‘E’ would turn off and back on, and I didn’t even realize it until I heard a car stop behind me. The tires scraped against the gravel, and with a high pitched chirr, it ceased. The door of it opened with a slight creak, and as soon as the person stepped out, I sat up.

“Your parents are looking for you.” The man’s voice was coarse, but soft. When I glanced back at him, his eyes pierced blue, and his hair shone blonde. Though his appearance seemed more Eastern than Western. “And how do you know my parents.” Devilish creatures they were, hoped that was obvious since I’d rather be at a car junkyard than in their hellish home. “They called me, told me you’d be here-”

“That didn’t answer my question.” I stopped him just as he finished his sentence, and he frowned miserably before helplessly sauntering my way. “Who am I kidding. I just wanted the yard to myself.” He sighed, dropping down on his knees next to me. I smiled, knowing that the answer would be somewhat similar to what he said.

“Name’s Jeremy.” He introduced, and I reached my hand out to his open one. “Alice.” I told him my name, and he smirked before looking off to the empty space of the sea ahead.”That’s a nice name.” We both sat in a silence that was filled with the sound of the white waves crashing into the edge of the sharp cliffs, right where the junkyard ended. It wasn’t an awkward silence, it was just lack of conversation. We were strangers, and he tried to convince me that my parents were worried about me for once.

I stood up and glanced around, seeing a glimpse of my little secret that no one else has ever really seen. The people who work this place don’t really touch it. They say it’ll keep their hopes up that this place will get better. “Do you want to see my home?” I meant that loosely, but he seemed to take is literally. It was just a place for me to be, instead of out in the open where people can see me staring at a broken sign.

He stood up slowly and followed as I ducked under cars, slid through from the drivers to the passenger, and then through the last place, a door made of old car doors.

“Wait, Alice.” I turned back and he frowned, holding his hand out to the back of my black shirt. “This isn’t a good idea. I just got out of a relationship and-”

“I have no interest in loving. Not anymore. It just doesn’t work for me.” I mumbled, and he shook his head. “I-I’m sorry for thinking that you were trying to-”

“Jeremy. It’s fine. Just… Come on. I’ve been told I’m a good listener.” He continued to struggle to keep up with me. I pushed the door open and inside wasn’t really much. Old couches with new blankets, walls made of stacks of cars, lazily covered with sheets to keep the wind out. “Sit, please.” He chuckled under his breath before he gracefully fell onto the cushions.

His eyes widened and he wiggled around. “These are surprisingly comfortable.” I sat in the other chair, draping the blanket over my head before wrapping it around my arms. “Now, speak. I wish to hear every detail. And please, be honest, you can tell this beautiful stranger everything.” I saw him smile, his pearly whites were easy to see compared to the dusty and faded red sofa. His plum colored lips formed a small smile, and he took a breath to say something, but stopped before he started. After a couple seconds of him repeating that, over and over again, he laughed softly.

“Sorry. I didn’t see my afternoon going this way.” He apologized, and I shook it off with a gentle smile. “I get it, I didn’t see mine turning out this way either. And remember, we’re strangers. I can’t go off telling the world your story if I don’t know who it’s about. That’s unfair, and cruel.” We locked eyes for a moment, and his bright blue eyes looked down to his clasped fingers.

Jeremy did good in telling me everything. He didn’t leave out any details, of course some specifics, but they could’ve been for the best. He told me everything, how he felt when he was with his woman. Then how he felt afterwards, then how he felt when he met me.

“To love, Jeremy, is to get a glance at heaven.” I poetically announced, and he glanced over to me, but I looked away to the great grey sky that never seemed to fade to the blue I was so used to seeing. “But I was born in hell.” I closed my eyes, feeling the warm tear slip and run down my cheek. The silence was thoughtful, just listening to the noise of the waves hitting the rocks once again, and the breeze howling through the cracks of the cars.

“Then why am I in hell, Alice?”