Day 63 - Flower Story

Flower Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

“You bite down you bite down, and you take you take a piece a piece a piece of me.  You bite down and always leave me on the floor, waiting, hoping and holding out for more.  You bite down and take a piece but it’s never gonna fill the hole.  You leave me behind, but then you always come back for more.”

-- From the 2007 Sheila Lee album “Soul Stranger.”

James knew a Rose.  He had dated a Tulip.  And this girl was Lily.

Lily told him that she was in a punk band, but he couldn’t really tell.  Maybe that was a joke.  Maybe.  He wasn’t sure.  He was bad at telling jokes.  She seemed way too straightedge to be in a punk band.  He could smell her perfume and her hair looked like it was gelled or had hairspray in it.  If she were in a punk band wouldn’t her hair be messed up, or shaved, or have some color in it or something?  Or was he just behind the times?  He couldn’t keep track of the new trends anymore.  But that’s how it was getting old.  He always felt out of date.

She was young and probably had no business talking to him.  James had a baby face and a youthful exuberance, but still, he knew he was older and she should have realized it too.  Maybe she didn’t care, he thought.  Maybe she liked older guys.

He wondered why flowers always doubled as girls names.  He had never met an orchid or a sunflower.  So obviously this wasn’t some sort of real rule.  Although still, he could imagine girls being named either of those as well. But the point remained that men were never named after flowers.  Or at least he couldn’t think of any.  Maybe it was on the parents – forcing their child into a stereotypical gender role before the kid ever had a chance to figure themselves out.  Fathers could still be suckers for “girlie” names for their daughters, but they never thought that way when it came to their sons.  Men were men and a man’s name was manly enough.  No one had to name their son Bulldozer or Jackhammer.  Although Hammer would make a good action hero name.  But nobody would actually name their kid that.  It would sound ridiculous.  But girls could be Bell or Hope or Lilac.  Maybe girls could be named anything and it was just that men had such a short list.  He knew someone was named Rock, but that was probably an actor or a stage name.  He thought more men would probably take names like that if they thought they could. How man Jets or Racers would be running around if men got to name themselves?  What an awful world it would be.  Men would probably try to have super cool names.  ‘I’m Top Gun Die Hard.’  ‘Nice to meet you Top Gun, I’m Terminator The Good the Bad and the Ugly.’  Men could be ridiculous.

James caught himself. He was off on a tangent in his own mind.  She had been talking for who knew how long and he had not been listening.  He was bad about that.  Part of the problem with spending so much time alone – you let your mind wander and wander some more. There were a lot of hours to fill and exploring the random vagaries of thought certainly filled many a dull moment.

But this was not a dull moment.  This was a moment with a beautiful woman.  He should have been excited.  When he was younger he would have been excited.  Now?  Now he got tired earlier and liked naps and snacks and would often rather just lay on a couch than struggle to find the energy to go out night by night on some random adventure.

“Are you okay with being tied up?” James asked her.

Lily shook her head and paused for a moment. They were in a hallway and he had his arm around her.  She didn’t remember them leaving the bar.  She could taste that bitter salty taste on her lips of someone’s sweet sweat.  Was it hers or his?  The last half hour was a blur and she could only remember moments.  She probably had too much to drink.  She should probably leave.  Still… he was pretty cute.

“I’m sorry.  If that’s too forward—”he was worried because of her silence.

“No.  You just didn’t look like the type of guy that was into that sort of thing.”

“I didn’t say I’d be getting tied up.”

“The night is young.  Never say never.”

She smiled and he smiled back.  He truly liked her.  This would be fun.

In a moment of orgasmic fury James bit down.  Lily wanted to cry out but she lost her strength and her voice in the same moment.  Instinctively his jaw tightened and he bit down harder.  Sharp teeth sunk into her soft and tender neck.  She had never had an experience like this before in her life.  James had had this experience many many times over the years.

Warm blood trickled down his throat and it was good.