Again and Again

By Daniel Blade

This body of work contains pages of living emotions and memories collected and kept alive by writ when much would have been forgotten. They are a glimpse of a young life at the end of the 20th century containing potent love, passion, desire, humor, friendship, dreams, hopes, sorrow, loss, tragedy, death, and many intricate moments of the journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781304883582

Book preview

Again and Again

Again and Again

Narrative and Poetry

By Daniel Blade

Copyright

Again and Again

Copyright © 2014 by Daniel Blade

ISBN: 978-1-304-88358-2

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

All characters appearing in this poetic work are fictitious.   Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Part 1: The Beginning

Prelude

May 1992

The area was normally dim because there may have been missing bulbs in the overhead lights.  I never looked.  Or the wide hall may not have been lit because someone liked it that way and turned the switch off.  I lowered myself into my cross legged, guru position against one of the large columns and waited for the 4th period bell to ring.  After eating lunch, I usually would walk down to the foreign language area and relax before my German class.  It was my senior year, and there was no point in staying at the cafeteria because all my close friends had graduated the previous year.

You like that?  Melissa asked.

My thoughts drifted, the question echoed in my memory from my previous shift at work the night before.  I looked over from my place at the end of the aisle leading into the line for my cash register to see what she was referring to.  Melissa was holding one of the magazines on display in her aisle with it hanging open. 

She looked up from the big picture of a man kissing a woman just below her collar bone.  The woman in the picture had her head thrown back appearing to enjoy the man’s affection, but it was not the picture that had really gotten my attention.  It was Melissa’s tone of voice when she had asked me the question.  It sounded like an accusation by someone who was put off by the possibility that I would like it.  I probably perked an eyebrow up.

I did not know Melissa very well as we had only been working together at the grocery store for a short time.  I smiled to myself, I was indifferent to the picture, but instead I thought Melissa was quite attractive.  In all honesty, I was not sure how to answer her question with the way she asked it.

Of course you do, she said in the same tone as she looked back down at the magazine and began flipping pages with an air of irritation.

Sure, I said a bit confused by her behavior.

So you broke up with your girlfriend a month ago? she asked sounding bored later in the evening.

Yes, I answered.

So why not ask someone to prom that you know? she asked.

There isn’t anyone I want to take, I replied honestly, so I had decided to ask her to go with me.  I had done so a few minutes before.

Melissa sighed and stuffed some candy back into the rack that someone had taken out and failed to return properly.  She didn’t look at me.  Okay.  I’ll go, she said, since you don’t have anyone else to go with you.

I smiled. Great! I said with a hint of excitement.  After all I was interested in getting to know her better.  As we worked together, we would chat when there was nothing to do, and although it had only been a half dozen times or so she was the only girl I really had interest in taking with me.

I had taken a risk and asked another girl who actually went to my school, but unknown to me she was still dating a guy in my class who was taking her.  She wanted her younger sister to come along and asked me to take her, but her sister was pregnant.  I could just imagine myself in my tux escorting a sophomore with her pregnant belly pressing against the tight fabric of her dress.  I declined the offer.

Breaking off a relationship a month before prom was not the wisest choice, but the relationship was very bad.  The breakup had taken its toll too as my ex had been my first real girlfriend, and we had dated for well over a year.  I did not want to take anyone to prom that reminded me of her.  The wounds were deep and were slow to heal.

Yes, Melissa had brunette hair, but it was slightly lighter, and she did not have the same way of fixing it.  I actually, really liked Melissa’s style.  She pulled her hair back and braided it for work.  Somewhere in my thoughts I assumed that would be the way she would go with me to prom.

I was snapped back from my memory when the bell rang for class.  Checking my watch, I had seven minutes left to loiter, and I would always wait for the last thirty seconds before getting up to make it by the tardy bell.  My teacher loved that.  I spent a few more minutes thinking that Melissa was nothing like my ex-girlfriend until my thoughts were once more interrupted.

Hi.

I looked up to see the familiar face of Tamie as she walked by.  She was a junior.  We had been passing one another during this passing period for most of the semester.  I found her very attractive with her long blond hair, green eyes, and the body of a dancer.  One feature that really drew my attention was her lips.  Years later I would discover why.

Our interaction started with eye contact, smiles, and then a simple greeting.  Tamie was very sweet, happy most of the time, but some days I could tell she was sad.  We never said more as there was very little time in our big school to get to the next class.  She remained at the edge of my awareness until the same time every day when I would pass her in the hall.

The night of prom arrived, and despite one attempt to back out Melissa agreed to go.  It was an awkward phone call the week before, but as there wasn’t anyone else I could take she reluctantly agreed to go.  That put a damper on my enthusiasm, but I showed up at her house in my borrowed 1984 black, Chevy Camaro on time ready to go in my tuxedo.

I had the pleasure of spending a short time with her sarcastic and mean father while she finished getting ready.  I can’t blame the man for being an ass to me, after all I was taking his daughter out to a prom, but at the time I had no idea why he had a problem.  I found out, even though she was a junior, she had gone to her school’s prom with someone the weekend before.  Waiting for her to appear was very uncomfortable with the glaring eyes of her dad cutting into my throat.

Ten minutes took an eternity, but they did pass none-the-less.  I stood up as she came down the hall into the living room.  I almost ran out the front door when I saw her.  Melissa had fixed her hair exactly like my ex-girlfriend.  My heart dropped into the pit, but I did my best to keep a neutral or better face.  Maybe I should have let her out of our agreement after all.  There was nothing else to do but complement her, and I got us out of there as quickly as possible.

I took Melissa to a very nice dinner and the prom, and I was happy that I brought a beautiful girl (despite the hair) with me that attended school somewhere else.  I always enjoyed being mysterious.  We had a great evening despite my car breaking down when we arrived at prom, and the ordeal of being rescued by friends including my best friend William. 

By the end of the night, Melissa’s attitude toward me completely changed.  She was shocked by the bond that formed, and she said she felt like she had known me forever.  I may have even kissed her if my friends had not kept their head lights on us set to high when we dropped her off.  We planned to get together again and had a few nice phone conversations.  Then a couple of weeks later she stopped returning my calls.  It turns out, Melissa had gotten pregnant the weekend before at her school’s prom.

Enchantment of the Rose

May 1992

An hourglass sits in the lonely space in time,

The sea of eternity extends beyond any limit of distance;

Only a few grains remain to pass through.

Then the rivers of time