Heads Up

Kris
Kris
Jul 10, 2017 · 5 min read

Jon wandered through life with his head down. Not the “put your head down and work” but the avoid eye contact at all costs kind. He created conversations in his head and imagined weird things happening to him. As much as anyone could tell, he lived in his head.

An avid reader, Jon would sit for hours in arctic tundras, vast meadows, and high castles. Each night he tells himself that tomorrow he will be daring and go talk to the first person he sees. The days roll by, yet Jon still walks with his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. Because what if he looks up and is scared of what he sees.

In the city its easy to slip around in the crowds of people. Jon’s life consists of work, a job at Amazon, answering phones, kindly asking people if they have plugged in the router. After work he makes his way south towards his favorite book store. The bookstore is owned by a sweet old lady. Mrs Ward, her clouded blue eyes and grey curls, always eager to show Jon the next best seller.

“This ones been selling like hot cakes,” Mrs Ward says, pointing towards a Romance novel.

“Oh you know I’m not the romantic type,” Jon responds. “I haven’t had a date in, what, three years now.”

“What are you talking about not the romantic type? Everyone has a little romance in ’em, just got to find the right one. Got to put yourself out there ya know?”

“Yea easier said than done, Mrs Ward, but if you insist,” says Jon, grabbing the romance book.


Delilah, staring down at the ground, lets the lines of the sidewalk hypnotize her. She stops to notice the leafs of the different trees, the sky and how the clouds gently move around, and the different flowers, how they splotch the Earth with color. She enjoys getting lost in nature’s details, but she would rather not get lost in another human’s details.

A small bell rings out as Delilah makes her way into the bookstore.

“Oh hey Delilah, good to see you. How are you?” Asks Mrs. Ward

“Im feeling a little nervous,” said Delilah. “How has the book been selling.”

“Your book has been selling great. In fact, a nice gentleman came in earlier and purchased a copy.”

“Its funny how the story of how my heart was broken is the story that will sell the most. I have to be broken to pieces for me to write at my best. Why is that?” Asked Delilah

“I dont know much about writing but I do know that when we hurt we let our emotions spill forth. Some use their mouths, some their bodies, and others their writing. You just happen to use written words as your medium,” replied Mrs. Ward.


Days pass quickly as fall makes its decent into winter. Jon sits in his studio apartment with the romance novel in hand and a cup of coffee by his side. Only a few pages remain. Jon finishes the book, closes it, and feels a sense of loss. He has grown with the protagonist. He felt what she felt, seen what she seen, and heard what she heard. Jon, tucking his chin to avoid the chill, heads south again to the bookstore. His gaze down towards the ground, still.

Delilah is pleased with how well her book has been selling. Her morning was spent at the bookshop talking to fans, signing some books, and drinking her favorite chia tea latte. Tired and with all her words for the day spent, she heads north, back home. She looks down, letting her thoughts run wild.

Jon, walking with slow lumbering steps, crashes into someone. The dull thump of heads colliding, the feeling of something hot spills over him, the book hes carrying flips open and tumbles to the ground.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Jon says, before looking up.

“Oh no that was my fault, I should have been paying attention,” replies the unsure voice of some lady.

Looking up, Jon sees a lady with short blonde hair adjusting her thick rimmed glasses back onto her face. Her face, Jon notices, has a generic quality to it, nothing out of the ordinary. Except for her eyes. Her eyes look like they’re made of hardened honey and they have a tired quality to them. He has heard someone call eyes like hers: kind. She has kind eyes.

Delilah, noticing the book he dropped, asks, “Did you like that book?”

Terran, embarrassed by being caught reading a romance, blushes and replies, “Yes, the characters were developed beautifully, and the story is about a lady who is caught between her love for writing and a man. The man has money so he tries to convince her not to work and that her writing is taking up to much of his time, but I don't want to ruin the ending for you.”

“Oh don’t worry about ruining the ending,” she laughs, “I’m the author of that book.”

“You wrote this?” Terran asks incredulously. “It’s a great book, do you have any other books?”

“Well I do, but this is the only book that has been published. Im glad you enjoyed it.”

“Hey, what did you spill on me anyway?”

“That would be a chia tea latte, my favorite.”

“Can I buy you another one?” Terran asks, with all the confidence he can muster.

She looks at him with her head cocked to one side, as if she's thinking. Jon’s heart threatens to beat out of his chest, he starts to look towards the ground again.

“Yea, I would love another one.”

Jon’s eyes snap back up, he smiles, and sticks his hand out to properly introduce himself. Jon, now, with his eyes up and his heart open, thinks he is ready to take in the world around him.

Delilah’s heart began to heal as the dates with Jon went on. Soon they were walking hand in hand, noticing all of life’s beauty. Beauty, that alone, they were to blind to see.

Kris

Written by

Kris

Wondering when to wake up.

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