XCIX | Stalemate

❦

While we were gone,

the sun had set,
the street lamps came on,

and the moths
have come out to play.

'You don't know
'what love means,
'do you?'

I tell Jerry.

He shrugs.

Tom gives him
a can of Red Bull.

'I don't particularly want you
'to tell me what you think.

'You're free
'to disagree with
'what I'm saying.'

I face him
straightforwardly
too.

Jerry's always been
happy,
friendly,

but maybe my comment
about the tunnel

he's trapped in

hurts.

Believing there's a definite end
but not finding it

hurts.

No one knows this
better than I do.

I also
have no way
of proving

a truth more complex than me.

I can't show him evidence.

Besides,

truth...
if it exists,

why does it need to be defended?

'Same here,'
I say instead.

Stubbornly,
'I still want us to be friends
'but if you really hate

'who I've become,
'who I've decided to be,

'then I'll respect that.'

I'm not giving up.
Jerry stares at me.

I stare back just as seriously.

Looking at him
like this,

he's more mature
than I remember.

His dark eyes
carry heavy conviction,
his mouth slightly
curved upwards,

as if he's already won
the argument.

He usually does.

I don't know why
I bother fighting with him

about what he knows
better than I do.

[Read the full story at novelconbini.com!]