Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm Knight Hardy here on a mission to ensure that all works on YWS has at least two reviews. You will probably never see this but....Imma do this anyway.
First Impression: Well this was a really interesting little story. From the start of it there was no way to tell that this would have the kind of almost heartfelt ending that it has. Its certainly a very interesting way to end that you've got there. I don't think I quite figured out what the ending meant but the rest of it was a pretty solid story regardless.
Anyway let's get right to it,
I emerge from the bar into the chill night air, and climb the brick steps, avoiding the gaze of someone I would rather not talk to. I pass by a woman dressed in a spectacular red gown. It looks, to my eye, medieval, but I was never that keen on history, dropping it at the first possible chance, so my opinion on this count is, at best, unreliable. The man she is talking to has painted his face a deep shade of green. It is Halloween weekend, and I feel underdressed in my jeans and jumper.
Well that's a pretty decent job there with the setting being established right away and being quite clear as well.
He’s on our course, he says. He’s seen me in the lectures. I smile and act surprised and we talk lightly about the lecturers and the films and the work, and about how making people get up at nine in the morning and then expecting them to concentrate is nothing short of straight stupidity. But I’m beginning to feel slightly uneasy.
interesting that he would just get uneasy there....maybe talk about the stuff after this then mention uneasiness rather than uneasiness first and explanation later.
Eventually, the inevitable question comes up: What’s your favourite film? Being a film student, I feel ashamed at my complete lack of knowledge of any film ever deemed a ‘classic’, and of any with any political or social importance. I mean, I only watched ‘Reservoir Dogs’ for the first time yesterday, and I didn’t even like it that much. I reason with myself that that is the whole point of studying it; to learn more. But it still feels like a lame excuse.
Understandable excuse however.
He offers to buy us both a drink. I order an Archers and Lemonade. As soon as he has descended into the mass of bodies in a bid to reach the bar, my friend makes a face, and says he is irritating her. I remind her that we are living with, quite possibly, the most irritating person in the world, and that she should be thankful at least that we are not out with him. He is, tonight, at the union, covered in blood, and probably scaring people more than usual. She is not convinced, but I have at least changed the topic, and we bitch quite happily until our drinks arrive.
Oooh interesting bit of backstory that was inserted in there.
This is not a problem, however, as the bell rings and people start to move. My other housemate has turned up and is impressed that our new ‘friend’ bought us both a drink. He thinks the guy is ‘sound’. But he is drunk, and would probably consider our irritating housemate ‘sound’, so long as it was his round.
That accidental rhyme made me crack up far too much...
We’re walking up the main street, and he says ‘So, I saw you there, and I recognised you, and I thought, ‘How can I go over and talk to her?’…’ I smile and try and move the conversation onto neutral ground; I ask about his home and his music taste, tell him my favourite bands and smile when he only recognises one. I kind of like that, like they’re my own well kept secret. Even when I choose to tell someone, no-one understands, so they’re still mine. Still secret.
Well I certainly am getting some pretty authentic sounding awkward vibes from these two so I think you're job pretty well with conveying these feelings to us.
He keeps coming back to it, though, even when we’re halfway up the hill, and he says he’s tired and needs a rest. He heads for a bus shelter and sits down. I sense danger. I try to keep him talking, but he looks up at me and says ‘Can I kiss you?’ I feel the blood rush to my face, and I’m glad it’s dark. I know I must look reluctant, but I can’t help it. I eventually tell him he can kiss me on the cheek. He moves closer and does so hurriedly. Then he sits silently and stares down at the ground. The tension is unbearable. I feel slightly sick.
These little observations are done really well to show the emotional states of these two characters.
We approach my house, and he stares in wide-eyed amazement. He’s living in halls, with no carpet on the floor, so I guess my house looks a bit like a palace to him. At the front door, we both smile and hesitate, and then lean forward at the same time, so that his lips miss my cheek, and brush my earlobe instead. It’s fitting; it kind of suits the awkward uncertainness of the whole evening.
It definitely is a pretty awkward ending to this conversation and that's certainly fitting the theme that you were going for.
I lean against the wall, and sigh, and wish whole-heartedly that I had spent the evening with you. You’ve been silent for so long now.
I wonder which will die first – the leaf, or the balloon. It doesn’t really make a difference; I miss you.
And that was a bit of a twist there to end things on. Now I must know more...
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
Overall: Overall you've done a really good job with the type of conversation that you were planning on conveying and that little gesture and how it ends up connecting to so much more than it was originally meant to makes it a pretty deep story in a sense. Things forgotten across time is bit of a soft spot for me so it definitely gave me some pretty strong feelings there. Overall it was a pretty nice little story.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
Points: 258487
Reviews: 4122
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