A slowly built chapter book of love, mental health, and emotional fulfillment. This quick-moving love story will come at you with an escape one can only dream of.
Chapter 1
My tongue-tied, my actions bold, I felt the truth and lived life without being told. The passage I wrote would lead towards the sea, where a secret life of travelers was plain to see. Life on the edge grew in delight, I knew how to fight while living in the light.
The rich grew passage to safer shores, but my artwork funded a peaceful life, nothing more.
I write to you now with dreams in my satchel, that this artwork is enough to bring my dream life off the mantle. The ship in the bottle comes out so easily, for I was lost amongst enemies and now no life as a memory.
My boat may be a pirate, for the rich aren’t in my history, but a life of paramour intrigues me most interestingly. My life is alone; I live on the sea of land, a man of mystery is who I’m meant to be.
I wander through the city of San Francisco looking for excitement, for culture.
A museum caught eye, looking for a keen example of my next work. What would my next work be? What would I write next?
Beautiful people everywhere, rich people, rich faces that is. Date nights and explorers of art galore as I nimbly made my way through passing crowds. She may exist still, a true lover amongst crowds, but I shall wait to find true love at a random wait.
I’ll pause, and I’ll shuffle, I’ll look for an alley. Only to tumble inside an art museum looking for a volley. As I entered, the room was large and full, a show. It was an art show; my rough clothing stood out, but I didn’t mind. I always stood out in a city.
In my modern sense, I seemed an outsider. I was awkward and obsolete. So I turned to my left and found a painted crown. I left it behind, for I do not want to take vows.
The cross to my right seemed a bit too fair, and out of sight, I continued forward down the hallway towards a heavy knight.
His armour looked heavy, and I reflected on my own, at what point would I accept a woman and as known.
Then in an instant she flashed before my eyes,
The gallery girl lost behind blue eyes.
She caught my eyes for just an instant, enough where I played myself and chased her that very instant. She is small. I’m lengthy and tall. Who knows, maybe she didn’t need them brawny at all.
I followed her down a hallway towards paintings where I hid amongst my own view. She followed a path with a glance back at me, which I noticed with a downward nod. Be polite, not a scoundrel. There stood a statue of a marble man; comparing him to myself, he was sleek, Greek, some may even say.
She approached me, and she spoke with an elegant voice.
“My name is Lila.”
And I choked. Her eyes were more beautiful than I’d ever spoke. An olive green.
“My name’s Norwood.”.
“Do you want to come for a walk with me?”
It was too quick. She’d noticed me. I didn’t seem to mind at the moment, as suspicious as it may be. She was dressed in a burgundy dress, which fit her slight curves and, once again, mysterious olive eyes and dirty blonde hair perfectly.
She grabbed my hand, soft. So soft.
I pulled away.
“Who are you?”
“I don’t know, someone that’s interested in why you’re here? You clearly don’t belong amongst these people. And I don’t love these people. So I figured we could check out some art together.”
“Alright, why don’t you like these people? They seem gorgeously dressed and kind.”
“They’re pompous and extravagant; that’s how I feel at least. So am I.”
“No, you’re not, if you don’t mind me commenting, you look beautiful. I love your glasses, you blind?”
The fuck did I just say?
“Hahaha, yes, slightly of course. But isn’t everyone a little blind?”
“A poet I see?
Did she just save me?
“Well, a reader more than a poet myself. You look the part of the poet with your satchel. Clearly you’re the artist here. Right? Please say I’m right.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Well then follow me.”
She grabbed my hand again, a slight fever dream I suppose.
We walked throughout the gallery, talking opinions on each piece as if they brought peace to us. The way she walked did something to me, her excitement, something I’d been missing for years. Her smile, deep dimples, and freckles under her metal-rimmed glasses made my smile come on subtly. Maybe she was the one I could offer my adventure to…
“This one, this one right here is my favorite.”
She pointed to a sculpture of a plane, colored masterfully in abstract colors built from plastic remnants from the sea.
“I’ve always wanted to travel. To see the world, I plan on being a traveler one day.”
My eyes lit up. This was my moment.
“I…I have this idea I’ve been keeping secret for a long time. Do you want to hear it over dinner tonight?”
“Well is it about this?”
“It’s something quite similar, it’s my dream, truthfully. But you have to understand something first, and be okay with it.” I playfully leaned on a wall nearby.
“Suspicious, but I’ll play. What time?”
“8:30 tonight at the Heavens Gate bar.”
“You’re taking me to a bar? Interesting.” She said with a shy grin and crossed arms.
Maybe it was enough, silence seemed right afterward. She scratched down her number and the moment was on.
A smile reached my face, and I nodded in her gaze. I was nervous but ready to take a chance that day.
I wrote Lila a poem, I’d meet her again. Maybe feign destiny would be blunt. Maybe…
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