Creative Outlet Part 3

Part 1 & Part 2

It was only a short while longer when the girl called out for the boy again. Her soul hadn't healed completely, but it had become tough in the places he'd touched. It was now safe to try and fix him.

He answered her call willingly. They talked for hours. All too soon, though, he had to go, but he left her with the promise to never be far away. On and off the boy and girl would talk, and this was good for the girl. It let her know that he still cared. With this assurance, eventually she began to notice other boys. One day, a new boy distinguished himself amongst the others. He was quiet where the first had been loquacious. He was available where the other had turned and run.

While she liked these differences and the attention the new boy gave her, the girl wasn't ready to open her soul to him as she had so eagerly done with the boy before, until unexpectedly, the first boy called out at the same time as the new boy. This greatly distressed the girl, for she could only answer one.

The girl considered the possibilities in answering the first. He had claimed her soul first. That space would always fit him best and she knew it; however, he had hurt her more than any other. She had been prepared to let him stay forever, and he had abandoned her.

The new boy, though, had all the potential to succeed where the first boy failed. Was it fair for her to deny him the chance to make a claim on her soul? She realized, though, that choosing the new boy would cause the first to drift away once again, and this made her cry.

She cried for a day.

Finally, she answered the new boy. He made her happier than she had been for a long, long time. He serenaded her, and she soaked him in, though never fully letting him enter her soul, like she had so readily done in the past. She was content with him on the outskirts, and he seemed content to be there.

One night, though, as they sat lost in each others' eyes, the girl decided she would let the boy in. She beckoned him. He came a bit closer, just lightly touching her soul. She welcomed the warmth where it had been cool for too long. But the boy didn't enter, and she didn't press him. This was enough for now. He would make a space in her soul soon enough in his own time.

However, the next day, the boy called out for the girl. She recognized the tone and began to worry. The boy said that he could not make a space for her inside his soul. It had been badly scarred by another girl, and the scab left was only just beginning to heal. Fighting back tears, the girl said she understood, and grateful that this would only be a minor wound in comparison to the gash left previously, she let the new boy go. He had his own soul to mend, and there was nothing she could do to help.

Yes, she let him go, but not entirely. She would wait, but not forever. She would wait with a tempered hope that his soul would heal in time for her to have a real chance.