Muse 112: Until they died.

found via tumblrpost

The first set of scans said he was okay. He was lucky. His wife replied thank you before she brought him home, bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs for support. He was asked to come back in a two weeks for a second check-up; for another x-ray scan that would rack up the numbers on his credit card. So when his wife asked about the coming appointment, he told her he felt fine. He didn't have to go anywhere, not when it cost so much just to stay alive. He reassured her that he felt fine, even pressed onto his ribcage and held in the cough to delay the illusion, and smiled. Smiles work for everything as long as you hold them up long enough. He waited a few more seconds and refreshed his lips with a strain. 

She believed him until he started coughing red. 

Muse 106: On the Radio

"I have a surprise for you," she whispered right into his ear.

"Yeah?"

He smiled and she liked how she could feel the air change for the sake of that smile. Before she could sit up, he wrapped his arm around her and held his hand out. Where is it? His eyes eagerly searched like an astonished child but all she did was laugh. She kissed him on the forehead, like a mother, and told him he would find it soon. Then she said she would miss him for the next few days while she was at her work conference. He promised her that he would miss her too; he would miss her the same way people looked for a song on the radio. No other song would do.

And those were the perfect goodbye words before her friend came over. In those moments, it didn't matter what songs played on the radio. She wasn't here to listen. Songs are metaphorically the best lies, the most beautiful lie a boy could tell.

Muse 88: Home

found via yuli.bow

Things weren't so difficult he decided. The country was foreign, but the scenery was breathtaking in that way. He loved how he could look out the window and hear the sounds of people passing. They were so alive, and full of soul. He didn't have to strain and stress over every syllable. The cars seemed to be a different shade than the ones from home - a duller, nostalgic color that was oddly admirable. The man inside that buggy could've been once a general, now enjoying the calm of the day. As he watched the world spin around him, he ate his cereal. Nothing moved too fast or too slow, and this was exactly how he wanted to live.

Muse 80: The Ring

found via lauryn holmquist

He asked for sex after he finally put his Blackberry away. Recently the days feel longer while our relationship feels shorter, but somehow there's always time for sex. When our bare skin is touching, the moment is silent, and it seems like this deep rooted intimacy is the only time we can come together without any distractions. For once he chooses to ignore the vibrations from his phone and the way it rings incessantly. It bothers me though. I can't think about him with the constant buzzing. Even when I wrap my legs around him, I can't stop wondering who is calling. How important is the call? He moves faster, and I wonder if it's because of his urgency to climax or answer the phone. 

Muse 78: Simple

found via Tyler Landes

There was still something different about her. Nothing about her face, her voice or the way she dressed begged for attention, but there was still something that drew him to her. He didn't understand it until he stood outside in his backyard. The trash cans piled up around him, waiting to be moved as someone else's problem. He craned his neck upwards and looked at the sky where a million stars were waiting for him. The answer dawned on him as he felt calm for the first time in his hectic life schedule. The stars, yellow on blue, were simple as black and white.

Muse 75: Conquer

found via sandy

The secret that no one ever revealed to him was the same secret that no one truly knew. He understood that his two scrawny arms, and even his body, probably one that rivaled Tom Sawyer's, could not hold up the world. As he stood on the hill that overlooked the Hollywood Bowl and the other million scattered lights, like stars, across the city, he wondered sadly why stories of Atlas existed, and more importantly, why nobody listened to them. He was pretty sure, even more sure, that the world was so heavy that only anti-gravity could hold it down, that nobody was meant to bear the world on their shoulders. The truth was, he realized, as he titled forward on his toes, feeling the cool summer breeze brush up against his neck, the secret behind it all was not how to rule the world. It was always light the city.