Post by Castle Court Jester on Apr 30, 2023 22:52:39 GMT -6
Heart
Johnny always loved Karen right from the start
and he promised one day she would hold his heart
although she denied his advances politely every time.
Still, Johnny and Karen basked in the friendship they shared together.
Over the course of time Johnny would still hint to Karen
his feelings for her and always Karen would compassionately
let Johnny know how she knew his love for her was true.
Karen always let Johnny know how much she cared for him as well,
just not in the same way he cared for her.
And Johnny knew this as well but he also knew
that she would still hold his heart,
at least some day anyway.
It was, after all, part of the deal he had made
on that crazy night that seemed darker than any
he had ever known before in his life.
Johnny and Karen had such a close friendship
but sometimes over time even the closest of relationships can fade,
become hard to maintain,
especially over long distances.
Eventually Karen moved to Minneapolis leaving Johnny with a broken heart
still in the little town of Westbenton, Connecticut.
For a time Johnny and Karen worked hard to maintain connection,
first talking on the phone together every Friday evening for a couple of hours
which eventually turned into every other Friday to once a month from there.
In time their connection ended altogether.
Johnny probably took the loss the hardest
but it would be unfair to say that the loss
hadn't gotten to Karen too,
at least somewhat anyway.
Maybe Karen just dealt with it better than Johnny did.
Johnny would reflect on everything that had happened
between he and Karen.
What went wrong and why?
He would lie in bed awake tossing and turning,
mulling over it all until he would finally pass into sleep.
Johnny would dream of that deal on that wicked night,
at that crazy place with the candles burning everywhere,
the smell of incense, the strange people chanting somewhere
where Johnny never seemed to be able to see where the chants were coming from.
One late evening, at his little house out by Sutter Lake
Johnny sat on his porch drinking heavily,
looking at pictures of he and Karen.
Johnny smiled while looking at the pictures through teary eyes.
Here the scene changes from Johnny on his porch,
the porch light on, moths and other bugs flying around it,
with an almost full, orange-yellow moon hanging in the night sky.
The scene goes to us seeing Johnny's house from a distance
and us hearing a thunderous gunshot blast cracking the night air.
Time goes by as time does and we see Karen
walking to her front door from inside her home in Minneapolis.
Someone is ringing her doorbell.
The postal carrier hands her a package with a friendly hello
and a reddish tint in his eyes.
Karen looks at the package label.
The package is from Johnny back in Westbenton.
Karen is surprised.
She hasn't thought of Johnny in quite a while!
Karen places the package on the small desk table in the foyer.
She opens the box and lifts out something bundled in heavy cloth.
Karen sets the bundled cloth on the table.
There is also a handwritten card inside the box.
Karen picks the card up and reads it:
“Karen, my love. I always told you that you would hold my heart.”
Love, Johnny.
Puzzled, Karen undoes the bundled cloth and she screams.
--msl2023
Johnny always loved Karen right from the start
and he promised one day she would hold his heart
although she denied his advances politely every time.
Still, Johnny and Karen basked in the friendship they shared together.
Over the course of time Johnny would still hint to Karen
his feelings for her and always Karen would compassionately
let Johnny know how she knew his love for her was true.
Karen always let Johnny know how much she cared for him as well,
just not in the same way he cared for her.
And Johnny knew this as well but he also knew
that she would still hold his heart,
at least some day anyway.
It was, after all, part of the deal he had made
on that crazy night that seemed darker than any
he had ever known before in his life.
Johnny and Karen had such a close friendship
but sometimes over time even the closest of relationships can fade,
become hard to maintain,
especially over long distances.
Eventually Karen moved to Minneapolis leaving Johnny with a broken heart
still in the little town of Westbenton, Connecticut.
For a time Johnny and Karen worked hard to maintain connection,
first talking on the phone together every Friday evening for a couple of hours
which eventually turned into every other Friday to once a month from there.
In time their connection ended altogether.
Johnny probably took the loss the hardest
but it would be unfair to say that the loss
hadn't gotten to Karen too,
at least somewhat anyway.
Maybe Karen just dealt with it better than Johnny did.
Johnny would reflect on everything that had happened
between he and Karen.
What went wrong and why?
He would lie in bed awake tossing and turning,
mulling over it all until he would finally pass into sleep.
Johnny would dream of that deal on that wicked night,
at that crazy place with the candles burning everywhere,
the smell of incense, the strange people chanting somewhere
where Johnny never seemed to be able to see where the chants were coming from.
One late evening, at his little house out by Sutter Lake
Johnny sat on his porch drinking heavily,
looking at pictures of he and Karen.
Johnny smiled while looking at the pictures through teary eyes.
Here the scene changes from Johnny on his porch,
the porch light on, moths and other bugs flying around it,
with an almost full, orange-yellow moon hanging in the night sky.
The scene goes to us seeing Johnny's house from a distance
and us hearing a thunderous gunshot blast cracking the night air.
Time goes by as time does and we see Karen
walking to her front door from inside her home in Minneapolis.
Someone is ringing her doorbell.
The postal carrier hands her a package with a friendly hello
and a reddish tint in his eyes.
Karen looks at the package label.
The package is from Johnny back in Westbenton.
Karen is surprised.
She hasn't thought of Johnny in quite a while!
Karen places the package on the small desk table in the foyer.
She opens the box and lifts out something bundled in heavy cloth.
Karen sets the bundled cloth on the table.
There is also a handwritten card inside the box.
Karen picks the card up and reads it:
“Karen, my love. I always told you that you would hold my heart.”
Love, Johnny.
Puzzled, Karen undoes the bundled cloth and she screams.
--msl2023
