Magaly from Pagan Culture is trying out a new challenge, getting her readers to write pagan styley fiction in less that 113 words. This blatantly isn't 113 words, but I thought I would share it anyway. (It isn't that Pagan either, more Urban Fantasy!) :P
It’s A Trap!
The bar isn't too busy. Enough people to make a pleasant evening, but not too many that you feel cramped and in danger of having one’s drink spilt. I walk to the bar, and smile at my favourite bartender.
I sit on a barstool, and he pours me a large glass of red wine. He knows me well so I know that I will not be harassed by unwanted attention whilst I sit there. I am wearing the classic little black dress, ala Audrey Hepburn, stockings and killer high heels. I have made some heads turn as I walked through the bar. That is how it should be, but other than that, it really doesn’t interest me.
I look at around the place, its décor is very modern, lots of mirrors and crystal, which makes for a charmingly glittery effect. There are tables lining most of the walls, with dividers providing some semblance of privacy. Plush black velvet and leather seats are filled with young beautiful people vying with each other for attention and adoration. In the corner of the bar, there is an old school Wurlitzer jukebox. At the moment it is playing The Eagles, Hotel California. Oddly fitting for this particular time and place.
I continue to sit at the bar. Occasionally I turn to watch who is entering through the doors. I am not looking for anyone in particular, but I will know him when he walks in. I have to sweetly discourage many men and a few women, who approach me for my attention. Sometimes not so sweetly, but my barman will come to my rescue if he thinks I need it. I don’t need it. But still…
Ah, there he is. He has just walked in with a group of whom I assume are his friends. They glance my way. Then look for a little longer, the men with undisguised interest, the women with undisguised envy. He smiles shyly at me, using his boyish good looks to his advantage. It works, he is adorable, so I repay him with a slight raising of my glass and small smile.
The jukebox has now started playing Soft Cell’s Tainted Love. This makes me smile more.
This new group of young people surround the pool table in the far end of the bar. It is opposite to me, so I can watch them without distraction. They know I am watching them, I see the dirty looks from the young women and the sniggers from the young men. After half an hour of watching them attempt to play pool, with the ubiquitous immature flirting from the young women, I see my boyish one pull out his wallet to head toward the bar. To me. One of the young women, the blonde one who seems to think that he is interested in her follows like a little puppy. It saddens me slightly to see a woman to act like this, but she will learn as we all do at some point.
I slowly drain the last of my wine, as he arrives at the bar. He pushes through, and manages to secure a place about arms length away from me. His puppy tries to get as close to him as she possibly can. She glares at me over his arms as he orders his and his friends’ drinks. The barman clears away my empty wineglass, and as the young man notices, he turns to me and offers to buy me another. Of course I accept graciously, and when he asks if I would like to join him and his friends, well, it would be rude not to say yes…
I carry my glass over to the pool table, the barman looks at me with a question in his eyes, but it does not reach his mouth. As I walk, the jukebox starts to play Kylie and Nick Cave’s Where The Wild Roses Grow.
The boys of the group start to snigger as I join them. It becomes very apparent that whatever age they are, they are still just boys. I watch them play pool for a while. The brunette girl attempts to engage me in conversation, and she is a lovely young thing, so I play nicely and answer her questions. The blonde one just sits as far away from me without leaving the group flinging her sulky dirty looks at me at any given moment.
One of the young men approaches me laughing and asks me if I would like to play a game of pool. I smile and ask him, what if I am a hustler? I could take you for everything you have? He goes to walk away, thinking I won’t take him up on his offer. However, I follow him to the table and take the cue from his hands.
After beating him by making it look like a fluke, they push their star player to the table. This would be James, my boy full of innocent charm. He blushes as he comes towards me. I promise him I will be gentle with him. For now. And then I wipe the table with him barely getting a shot in.
At this the ice is well and truly broken, and I spend the rest of the evening in their pleasant, but exuberant company.
As the night goes on, the ambience of the bar changes. The lights go down, and the place becomes more intimate and perhaps a little more dangerous. The clientele becomes edgier and hard, but my little group of children are too busy playing to notice. The brunette girl goes home with one of the lads who I presume is her boyfriend, and I see that the little sulky blonde one has given up on my boy and is trying her luck at the bar with my favourite bartender.
This leaves me with my boy. The remainder of his friends see that he is otherwise occupied and go home. The boy and I talk about anything and everything. His delightful chatter rains down on my ears and I smile at him as he talks.
I look at my watch as my instincts tell me that it is approaching closing time. I look at the bar, and can no longer see the blonde girl. I presume that she has left.
The boy asks me if I wish to continue the night with him. I tell him that I had already made my decision about that when he walked into the bar. He picks up my coat and helps me into it, surprising me a little with such gentlemanly manners. He finishes his drink, takes me hand and leads me out of the doorway.
The bar is set back somewhat from the main road, and the approach leading to it is insufficiently lit for safety. My young man uses this to his advantage to pull me close to him as we walk along the pavement.
There is a small alleyway to the side. He pulls me in, and looks down at me, smiling with that well known look in his eye. I raise my head to his, and feel his exploring lips and then tongue touch my mouth. I place my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me, feeling his body next to mine. He hungrily kisses down my jaw line, and to my neck. I respond in kind and run my fingers through his hair.
I reach his neck, and start to kiss it as fervently as he has just kissed mine. I hear his moan of pleasure as I nip him gently with my teeth. He doesn’t notice when the nips become sharper and deeper, and I hear his breath shudder as I start to take his blood. I hear music playing from the jukebox. It is the last song of the night. The lyrics of Queen’s Who Wants To Live Forever has always haunted me…
Song lyrics that accompany this story.
Hotel California" by The Eagles Ó The Eagles
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
Soft Cell – Tainted Love Ó Marc Almond
Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
(chorus)
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh...tainted love
Tainted love
Now I know I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
You don't really want IT any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you’ll think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way
(chorus...)
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)
Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue – Where The Wild Roses Grow Ó Nick Cave & Kylie
CHORUS:
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
As she stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
They grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped the tears that ran down my face
CHORUS
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?'
On the second day he came with a single rose
Said: 'Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?'
I nodded my head, as I laid on the bed
He said, 'If I show you the roses will you follow?'
CHORUS
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
CHORUS
Queen – Who Wants To Live Forever
Words and music by Brian May
There's no time for us
There's no place for us
What is this thing that builds our dreams yet slips away
From us
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever....?
There's no chance for us
Its all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Who dares to love forever?
When love must die
But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today
Who waits forever anyway?
