The Quill of Lil (original) (raw)

White Circles

She sat there in the empty theatre. Everyone had gone home long ago, gone home for their three or four hours of sleep, before they had to be somewhere the next morning. She preferred the theatre like this. It was quiet and peaceful, with all the lights off except for that one circle of pure white light. She sat in the middle of that circle; some nights she sat there for hours. People would ask her what she did in there after everyone left. She always replied with her the same two syllable answer: I think. She would never discuss exactly what she thought about. She just wasn't the talkative type. The one thing that bothered her more than anything was someone asking her to share her feelings and thoughts.

But one night things changed. Not quite everything, though. She still sat there, but for once she wasn't alone. She knew it, too. Something about it felt different. She could feel his presence, although she couldn't actually see him.

He was there for a reason. He knew she stayed there until late at night, and so he stayed behind one night to find out why. He hid himself in the back of the top tier of the auditorium, and didn't move.

She tried to go about her usual routine that night, but found that her gaze always shifted to the spot where she somehow knew he sat. He saw her eyes shift up toward where he crouched, and knew that she knew he was there. He realized she wasn't used to someone else being there, and so after a few minutes he silently got up to leave. He walked out of the doors to the balcony, and down the stairs. At the base of the winding staircase, he found her blocking his way. She was dressed, as usual, all in black, and so all that he could see was her face, but she spoke to him, ever so softly.

Do you want to know?

He nodded, and she took his hand in hers and led him toward the white circle on the stage. They stepped into the ring, and immediately he knew why she chose this spot to do her thinking. Encased in the circle, you couldn't see anything else. It was as if the world had disappeared from existence, and with the world he felt his cares leave. She took his other hand, and the two of them stood together, hands clasped, the last people on Earth, sharing a special bond. She drew him close, and whispered softly into his ear.

Do you understand?

And he did. One could think of anything and everything in that small circle of pure white light.

He returned every night after that. They would sit there, back to back, not speaking, just trapped in their own thoughts. Sometimes all night long in the empty theatre. And they liked it that way.