Saturday, April 10, 2010

Heartbeats.

Heartbeats.

Heartbeats. Rapidly beating within his chest. Thump-Thump. Thump. Leaning over I carefully descend upon his fallen form. Fear pulses through my veins. Thump-Thump. Thump. His heart is pounding like a stampede of charging mustangs. Fearless. Fast. Strong. Violently hammering against the chest cavity. Kneeling over his wounded trunk, it’s the only thing I can hear. Sounding a battle cry. Loud. Fierce. Filling the quiet with its intensity. There is no other sound to match the strength of this constant beat as I move in closer. Delicately removing his shirt to assess the damage. Life flows out from the unconscious man swiftly. Deep irregular breaths escape from the still frame. Face strains to take in oxygen. Lungs fill and expel air passionately as though they are grasping at life. Rhythm grows erratic. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. My hand rests calmly on his exposed chest. Fresh blood covers the heaving tour de force. The cavity swells and shrinks below my palm. Fingers carefully touch the fleshly warmth and trace a pattern with intermittent taps. Tap. Tap. Tip of the index dances to the beat of another drum. Tap. Tap. Providing guidance to a pulsating engine that’s running full throttle. Thump. Thump. Slowly the uncontrollable tempo matches the pace. Thump… Thump. Steady beats of a drum. Beneath the surface the wild beast is calming. Thump… Thump. Breathes grow shallow. Wounds continue bleeding out profusely across the trunk. Thump. Eyes closed and lids flutter. Face becomes still. Thump. Pressing my ear against his chest for aural confirmation. I can feel the thin hairs against my face and smell the blood on his skin. His slowing heartbeat now matches my own. Thump. Reaching across the torso without removing my head from his chest I grab for his wrist. Thump. Pulse is weakening. Hand lays limp in my hold. Focusing. Straining to listen for the sound. Thump. Blood pools around the base of my chin and swims before my eye. Shiny crimson liquid coating the corners of my face as I find connection with the fading reverberation. Thump. Without lifting my head I move a hand over his nose and open mouth. Thump. Air lingers in the lungs. Pressure forms beneath my hand. Thump. His body jerks out a choke for air. Steadily I hold my grip while the body gradually calms. Lungs fall with permanence. Heaviness against my palm fades. Heartbeats softly lessen to nothing.


400. There aren’t very many. Hopefully there will be more. As of late I’ve been trying to catch up on the writing as I can not move the furniture. And I’ve been researching new things, yes like dentistry. There’s really only three story related things I want to or can write at the moment and then there’s the other thing that I haven’t quite figured out. Enjoy. m.

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