Night and Day

    by Mrscage

    At night…

    - I don’t want to let you go… let time stand still this way. Candy... don’t go! Candy! Candy!....................

    Damn it, that dream again! Why am I torturing myself? So useless… Everything… everything… meaningless… I… I should drink something. At least I’m smart enough to keep a bottle always close to my bed, a glass of whiskey… Oh what the hell, forget about the glass, tonight the bottle would be just fine…it will feel good, warm… What time is it? Hard to guess, almost morning? Or is it still just midnight? Does it matter? I wish nights were not that hard, I forgot long time ago the meaning of a good night sleep… I spend all my nights thinking of her. Cursing her!

    - DAMN YOU CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Well good job Terry, what will you drink now that you throw the bottle to the wall? Probably I could find an open place somewhere…
    It’s good to be outside, a little cold… Already December… When was the last time I saw her? Spring? Why am I so obsessed with time tonight?! Does it matter? Spring? Autumn? Aren’t they all the same? Always cold, no matter what…

    - WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS CITY? THERE ISN’T ANY PLACE TO DRINK?!

    Drink… drink… drink! Is there anything else that I can think about? I won’t drink tonight. It’s useless; it doesn’t even help me to find sleep anymore and it certainly doesn’t help me forget about her… How will I make it through the night?

    - Candy… if you won’t come back to me… please stop torturing me… stop haunting my nights… Damn it that Sun! Rise! rise and make me forget!

    **********

    I shouldn’t cry. I shouldn’t…. I’m a strong girl! Smile! Smile Candy! Smile...Look at me with that fake smile on my face, I look so scary… Who am I trying to fool at three of the morning? Can I fool myself now, like I do during the day? At the daylight… I can hide everything! The hardest thing is to hide at the dark of the night when there is no one around… when I can hear the sound of my
    heart’s crying. Why does it hurt that much? I thought I would forget…

    - What did you do to me Terry? Is this a spell that works only at night? You chose her! And I keep crying for you!

    I’m so weak… Candy who can beat everyone… Candy who can keep smiling no matter what… Candy who is so selfless that she can throw away her happiness… what happens to her at night?! Where is she now? When I look at my myself, all I can see is someone in deep pain… It’s not me! It can not be me!!!

    - Oh… what have I done?! Breaking the mirror in the middle of the night, I hope they didn’t hear the sound of it…

    **********

    Good, finally it’s morning, let’s have a coffee, and go to the theater for the last rehearsal before the premiere tonight…

    - Good morning, Robert, what a beautiful morning, isn’t it?

    **********

    Finally morning! I have to hurry up to prepare the breakfast…

    - Good morning Ms Pony, Sister Maria! What a beautiful morning isn’t it

     **********

    Another day...

    - Oh… I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening to you Susanna…

    And here she goes again, she talks and talks and talks…. And I have to act as if I was interested. Oh good, time to leave for the theater is soon. Another duty visit is almost done! Doesn’t she realize that I keep visiting her only by duty? I won’t marry her… visiting her, staying at her side, is just a promise that I keep… A promise that I made to Candy. You can not buy love with money and you certainly can not buy it with emotional blackmail!

    Just half an hour to go…. Then I’ll leave her for today. I can be whoever I want at the theater. I remember that day with Candy, in Scotland, when I told her about my dream to become an actor. I still feel the warm sun and hear the birds singing… I wanted to become an actor because I could be anyone on the stage, I could freed me from myself! And now the only place where I can be myself is on the stage…

    - Yes, it is…

    It is what? I just approve her words without listening, I hate it when she asks me “isn’t it so, Terry?”, she wakes me up from my daydreaming… Fifteen minutes to go… I just should keep nodding and smiling.

    **********

    - Want to bet? Catch me if you can!

    Racing to the Pony Hill with the kids… God how I love this! Feeling the breeze caressing my hair, the snow under my feet, the cold burning my face!

    - Hey! Are you coming or not?!

    They are so sweet, so innocent… When I had their age… I was dreaming of a family, of love… I used to think life was going to be amazing, that I was going to be a princess! Fairytales… never… come…true!

    - I won! I won! I told you I was faster then you all!

    Look at their faces, all red, running on the snow is not easy but they are all laughing, their laughter gives me the strength to carry on. What would I do if I didn’t have them? I finally found peace at Pony Home after all those tears and cries… all those heartaches…

    Who is that man coming here? I can not see well his face… he is tall and… oh my God it’s Terry!

    - TERRY!!!!! TERRRYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

    I should run faster! It’s Terry! Terry came! He came to me! He…. Oh… Albert…

    I’m so ashamed, how could I mistake him for Terry?! What will he think now? He is always so nice, look at his smiling face… Oh I’m so glad that Albert came to see me!

    **********

    Night and day…

    No, it can not be… she can not be here… Just my imagination playing me some tricks. I must concentrate on the play. Oh my God! Can it be possible? Could she be here?… there… sitting in front of me, among the audience? No… No way!…

    - What? My turn? Oh… yes right, the play… No… no, I’m fine, just a little distracted.

    I must concentrate on my role and do my best. I know it’s not her, it’s not the first time that I mistake a curly haired blond girl with her. Where she was sitting? At the third row… But?! She left?! Was that seat empty from the beginning, I just imagined someone sitting there? CONCENTRATE ON THE PLAY TERRY!!!! Concentrate on the play…. And calm down…

    Finally the play is over…

    - Thank you Robert, yes I couldn’t concentrate well in the beginning but it seems that the audience didn’t see it, I agree with you, this play is going to be big success…

    It’s good to be a star, I don’t share my dressing room with anyone. The fans are waiting outside… I don’t want to see them today, I don’t feel like giving fake smiles to girls right now… I know that if I go outside now, I would be looking for Candy among them… even if I know that she is not there… No need to torture myself right now. I should wait a little, they will probably be tired after a little while and leave. Let’s light a cigarette and wait…

    **********

    Smart girl…I’m a smart girl… I left the play early and took my place here, now when he will come out to greet the fans, he will see me! I won’t be left behind among all those girls, like the last time! He will surely hear me too… We will talk… Terry and I… after all that time… I have to talk to him, even if it’s the last time… I need this… Albert was right, I’m glad I listened to him. My life in Pony Home maybe calm and peaceful but it’s not really living… it’s like waiting… Waiting for something to happen… Waiting for a prince to come and kiss me… a prince to take me with him… When I was a kid, it was good to dream of my prince of the hill… He was my prince… but it turned out that he was just Albert, a good friend, a brother… but not a prince... A prince never comes to rescue a poor little girl… Fairytales never come true… I have to be strong and start living. Talking with Terry will hurt. He will tell me that he loves Susanna, that he is happy with her. I will cry… But it’s fine… I already spend my nights crying, what I have to loose? At least I will stop waiting for him… Today is the last day that I wait for him…

    - Where is he? Why doesn’t he come out? It’s cold…

    The girls started to leave. I heard two of them saying that Terry escaped from a back door… NO!!!!…….. please… God, don’t make him leave before seeing me. I wouldn’t have the strength to come again, I can not go to see him in his apartment… what if Susanna opens to the door? I can not… It’s so cold… Terry…

    **********

    - Don’t tell me that there are still girls waiting for me! When will you lock the doors? Oh, I still have an hour? Good…

    Those fans!… It’s been almost an hour and they are still waiting… They can wait until morning if they want to. I don’t want to go home anyway. Going home… That place is not even my home! I was going to buy a big apartment for me and Candy. We were going to be a family and I would go home every night, to my wife… She would sleep in my arms every night. And look at us now! I wonder if other arms are holding her tight… The Dandy? Albert? Or any other guy.
    - STOP IT TERRY!!!!!!

    Stop it, idiot! Don’t torture yourself…and it’s a good thing if she found someone to make her happy, it’s a good thing if she is married now.

    - I made her promise to be happy… I…made her promise…
    It’s almost midnight… I have to go… they will close this place.

    **********

    It’s almost midnight… and I’m alone… he won’t come. He is probably already at home, in Susanna’s arms.

    - Candy, you idiot!

    I came all the way here, I spend hours waiting for him here… what for? What was I hoping?

    - He… he… left… and… I … couldn’t see him….

    I can not hold the tears anymore! I don’t want to… I… where will I go now? What will I do? I found myself walking in the snow all alone… one more time… and this cold… is it the weather or my heart?

    What? Footsteps? Who can it be? A thief? Oh no… I can not deal with it now… Please God, protect me… I must walk faster…

    **********

    Please do not turn your face…. You look so much like her from behind, your hair… Now I follow girls in the middle of the night? What if
    it’s her?! Don’t be silly Terry… what would Candy do here? She walks so fast… I won’t follow her all night long, will I? She must be scared… I have to talk to her. When she’ll turn her face, I will see that it’s just a girl who has nothing to do with my Candy… She probably doesn’t even have freckles…

    - Excuse me, miss…

    **********

    What? This voice…

    **********

    She stopped like she knew my voice… Oh my God… can it be possible?

    - Could you turn to me? You look like someone I know…

    **********

    That’s his voice! Oh my God… can it be possible?

    **********

    She is turning around, my heart will explode, it beats so fast….

    - Oh my God! Candy! It’s you!!!!

    **********

    It’s him! It’s him! IT’S HIM!!! And I’m in his arms… I didn’t expect him to take me in his arms like that… I thought he would be surprised and ask me what I am doing here… but he didn’t ask anything… I’m in his arms! I’m in his arms!

    **********

    She is in my arms! She is in my arms! It’s her! And she is in my arms!

    - If it’s a dream… I don’t want to wake up…I want to sleep forever… night and day…

    - Oh.. Terry…. I…I…

    - Shhh… don’t say anything, just kiss me…

    - No Terry! Stop!

    - Stop? Why? You’re here… you came to me…

    - You’re with Susanna, you’re going to marry her, I can not kiss you, I just came to make things clear and to…

    - Oh shut up…

    He is kissing me… his lips… so tender… I…. Her lips in mine… forever… sealed…

    - Let’s go home… you will catch cold here

    - Home?

    - What do you think? That I would let you go now? I won’t make the same mistake twice Candy, you’re here, you’re with me, you love me… and you will spend all your nights with me starting from tonight!

    - What?! No way!!!

    - You’re going to be my wife Freckles, no matter what, you’re going to be my wife… Our life just started… and I love you…

    - But your duty… Susanna…

    - I have only one duty Candy… and it is to make you happy… I made that promise to myself long time ago and I failed… but I will make it up to you.

    - But we need to talk…

    - We will have all our days to talk from now on… Now, no need to talk… we just need to be in each other’s arms. Come here Freckles…

    The snow was falling in the streets of New York. A couple was walking hand in hand, the woman was talking while the man was laughing. They were meant to be together, you could see it just by looking at them. It was the first one of all the nights that they were going to spend together… and it was the night of the first day of their life together… Fairytales never come true but the truth can turn to a fairytale sometimes….

    The End