We Can't Work it Out

“You all right?”

“I’ll be fine,” I replied.  “Right now it’s so surreal that it doesn’t feel like it’s really happening, so I mostly pretend it’s not.  Just keep doing what I always do.  How about you, how are you holding up?”

“I don’t want to talk to either of Them,” my sister groaned, hopping up and sitting on top of the wall next to me.”  “They’re both acting like brats.  If only They’d both swallow Their stupid pride and really talk to each other. . .”

“Fat chance,” I growled.

A pause.  “Do you think They’ll work it out?” my sister asked.  She’d pulled her knees up to her chest and was rocking back and forth, chin resting on her forearms, staring off into the darkness, her dark eyes reflecting the blackness of the water stretching off into the distance.

“I don’t know,” I tossed a rock into the water and watched the ripples fade away into the distance.  “It’s not like the fights They used to have.  This one’s serious.  I don’t think They’re going to get together again after this one.” I hefted another chunk of rock and tossed it in the air, watched the little iridescent sheens of the minerals inside sparkle and glitter in the silver light.  “I worry about Him,” I admitted.  “He hasn’t been away from Her for so long that I wonder if He’ll make it through all right.  He knows it too, and He’s getting desperate,” I said softly.  “He still thinks that They have a chance to work it out.  That if They can just get some time alone together, They’ll be able to solve all their problems and be happy again together.”

“Do you think so?” she asked after a long pause, kicking her legs over the black water below.

I passed the rock between my hands back and forth meditatively, my mind going back over the last couple of days.  “No,” I admitted.  “He’s looking at the wrong problems.  It’s not just about this and that any more.  It’s about Him and Her.  And He doesn’t want to admit that anything about Him needs to change.  Besides, He’s going about it the wrong way.”  I flung the rock into the distance with a vengeful little flick of my wrist.  “You know, He tried to convince me to talk to Her on His behalf?  But He didn’t want me to say that He’d sent me. . . wanted me to talk to Her as if it were my idea in the first place. Well, I don’t like that.  Keeping secrets, going behind Her back. . . and He thinks that’s going to get Him back in Her good graces?  Bullshit.  But then, that’s the way He always works, doesn’t He?  Always has to be the one in control, always seems to think that if He can take control of everything, that if He can only have everything His way, it will all work out perfect.  Well, He can’t and it’s not going to!”

“Don’t say that,” she replied angrily.  “You’re jinxing them.”

“Stop that,” I growled.  “You can’t honestly tell me that He doesn’t make you sick and tired.  I mean, I love him, but I can’t stand to be around him.  All these mind games, all the times He’s acted like a total asshole. . . I can’t relax when He’s around!  And honestly, I’m glad that She finally decided to do something about it.”  I picked up three rocks, one after the other, and tossed them into the water.  Splish.  Splash.  Splish.  “I don’t really care if They stay together or break apart, but I just want this to end,” I said bitterly.  “Frankly, I think I’d be happier if He was gone!  It would make my life a lot easier, at least!  Let me live my life the way I want to without always worrying if He’s going to suddenly walk in and start grabbing on to things and taking over yet again!”

“Shut up!” my sister shouted angrily.  “You really want Them to break up!?  It’ll destroy Them both!  They’ve always been together!  It’ll. . . it’ll. . .”

“No, it won’t,” I replied.  “It might break Him, but not Her.  She’s stronger than that.  She’s stronger than He realizes.  She’ll be fine.  He’s the one who’s afraid of losing Her, but He’d rather not admit that, so He’s putting all the blame on her the way He always does.”

“You make Him sound like a bad guy!  But He’s not!  He’s misguided, maybe, and not always the most considerate person, but He’s got good motivations!  You can’t argue with that!”

“I’m not arguing His intentions!  I know they’re good!  But that doesn’t excuse the way He goes about doing things!  And I’d rather not put up with it any more!”

Silence.

“It’s really not going to end well, is it?” my sister said softly.

“No,” I replied.  “It’s not.  There’s going to be a lot of tears shed over this, and we’re all gonna get hurt some way or another.  All we can really do is hold on and pray, I guess.”

“But to whom?”

“I don’t know.”

More silence.

“I’d better get going,” my sister said.  “He’s going to need my help.  He’s been so angry recently. . . it’s all we can do to keep Him from doing something stupid.”

“Same here,” I replied.  “She’s depressed and doesn’t want to admit it.  We just try and stay with Her and make sure She’s not alone ever.”

My sister stood and stretched out her wings then, the scintillating feathers reflecting the primordial light of the Big Bang across the crystalline landscape.  “Will we wind up fighting like Them too, brother?” she asked sadly.  “Will we wind up caught in that stupid fight of Theirs?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, picking up my flaming sword and folding my own wings behind my back.  “But if we do, I intend to help Her win.”  I held out a hand.  “Come with me, sis.  Don’t do something stupid that you’re going to regret.”

My sister gave me a cold, hard look.  “You know, brother, even you can be wrong sometimes.”

“Suit yourself.”  I turned back to where the others stood arrayed in serried ranks, wings held high, halos polished to mirror shines, flaming swords held at attention.  I never looked back.  It never did to look back in situations like this.  It was better just to turn away from that which you had lost and cut it free from your life, no matter how hard you wanted to hold on.  Otherwise, it would pull you under like a drowning man and take you somewhere you never wanted to go.