week three | dates

[showhost]

You worked up your courage and asked someone out on a date! Good job!





Now you have to hope the producers are kind re: where they send you.

Comments

1/2

[willandaway]

[genuine!! honest opinion! that is what he is looking for, and he has no doubts that she'll give it to him, regardless of what it is. a tiny smile and a nod, and his gaze flicks back down to his journal as he opens his mouth, and--]

[leans in]

[I'm gonna be real, I can't write poetry for SHIT, so I ain't even trying]

[. . . but Will sure can!! he doesn't start with the title; instead, he launches right into the first verse. it's. . . a ballad, of sorts. a narrative told in poetic form, with eloquent verbiage and vivid images painted with words. it's a story about a couple who fell in love and lived by the sea, spending their days walking along the shoreline and fishing amidst the waves. it's clearly told from the man's point of view, because the descriptive focus is on the woman, who seems to share many traits with the ocean itself. a shimmering blue gaze, a smile that reflects the sun like water, an embrace as warm as the sand. . . and a tempestuous personality that displays her passion]

[one day, the woman leaves on a journey across the ocean, to far away lands where her love cannot follow. she promises to return, and he believes her. . . but on the night her boat sails into the horizon, a terrible storm whips the sea into a mad frenzy. the next morning, a piece of her boat washes upon the shore, and the man grieves]

[he grieves, but. . . he still believes her. she promised she'd return, and he believes]

[every day, he leaves his seaside shack to stand on the shore, allowing the water to lap at his ankles, gaze trained on the horizon as he searches for her boat. every day, the villagers tell him that he is foolish. that he should give up. that she is lost. they tell him that the village is moving further inland to escape the ocean's rage. they insist he come with them, that they need him to help provide food and protection for those who cannot care for themselves]

[. . . the plea tugs at the man's heart, for he knows what the villagers say is true. he is a kind man who has always given his all to the people around him. and yet. . . he doesn't listen]

[the villagers leave, and he remains in his shack, still wandering the sandy shores as he waits for her boat to return. . . completely alone]

[the years pass. the man grows older. not a single day passes that he does not sit on the beach, finding comfort in the warmth of the sun and sand around him that reminds him so much of his lost love. and then one day, when he is gray and wizened. . .]

[a boat appears on the horizon, a tiny little shadow against the vast blue sky. at first, he thinks he is hallucinating. she has been gone for so long. but after all that time. . . he never stopped believing, and he knows he must believe in this, too. and as the boat slowly glides onto the shore, he can see her at the front. his love, with her bright blue eyes and now grayed hair, stepping off her vessel, her feet leaving small indents in the wet sand]

[I'm home, she says]

[and the man moves to embrace her. to hold her close, as thought he never intends to let her go again. she smells of salt and brine, but it fills his entire body with warmth and love]

[. . .]