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| Resolutions, Cont'd |
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She had begun telling him about how she'd met her late husband, when the plaintive opening notes to a song both familiar and long-forgotten filtered into his consciousness: |
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| Met my old lover in the grocery store The snow was falling Christmas Eve I stole behind her in the frozen foods And I touched her on the sleeve She didn't recognize the face at first But then her eyes flew open wide She went to hug me and she spilled her purse And we laughed until we cried. We took her groceries to the checkout stand The food was totaled up and bagged We stood there lost in our embarrassment As the conversation dragged We went to have ourselves a drink or two But couldn't find an open bar We bought a six-pack at the liquor store And we drank it in her car We drank a toast to innocence We drank a toast to now and tried to reach beyond the emptiness But neither one knew how She said she'd married her an architect Who kept her warm and safe and dry She would have liked to say she loved the man But she didn't like to lie I said the years had been a friend to her And that her eyes were still as blue But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw doubt or gratitude She said she saw me in the record stores And that I must be doing well I said the audience was heavenly But the traveling was hell We drank a toast to innocence We drank a toast to now And tried to reach beyond the emptiness But neither one knew how We drank a toast to innocence We drank a toast to time Reliving in our eloquence Another 'auld land syne'... The beer was empty and our tongues were tired And running out of things to say She gave a kiss to me as I got out And I watched her drive away Just for a moment I was back at school And felt that old familiar pain And as I turned to make my way back home The snow turned into rain ~ |
| Same Auld Lang Syne ~ Dan Fogelberg |
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| He thought back on some of his recent Auld Lang Synes... The first year he'd been in Sunnydale came to mind. Not that he and Dru had particularly celebrated the changing of the calendar. Another twelve months come and gone in an immortal existence were a pittance scarcely worth notice. But the new year would have fallen after Drusilla's healing in the Du Lac Ritual, and while he, himself, was unfortunately incapacitated by way of organ collapse. He recalled that it had been to compensate for his invalid status that he'd conceived the idea of assembling The Judge for Dru's amusement. Bloody fool thing...hurried up Angelus' return, which changed everythin'. Not that he'd wish it otherwise now, with the benefit of hindsight. Still, he marveled at the long chain of cause and effect that had been set up, culminating in his present position. 'F'only 'twas as obvious what happens next.... Three years later he remembered vividly...Buffy was living back at home while Joyce was recovering...or so they'd thought...and had the Scoobies in for a celebration. It was low key, what with the Nibblet there and Captain Cardboard recently departed town. He'd observed from outside, yearning to be near her, and hating that he'd let himself be such a slave to his emotions. But slave he was, so he alternately stood or sat in the shadows, wondering what it would be like to be welcomed inside. Last year, of course, he'd been only vaguely conscious of the passage of time, whilst being taunted by The First, and pummeled at will by its Turok-Han minion. What that 'real' vampire had in strength, it more than made up for in daft...tryin' to drown a non-breathin' thing like me! Weeks had passed before Buffy had come for him.... 'Course, Buffy came for me year before that, too, mor'n once...Had a right raunchy good time that night, an' inta the wee smalls. He recalled wistfully how, when he had finally tired her out sufficiently that she'd slept, he'd lain awake watching her, and whispered to her all the endearments that were clearly forbidden in their deeply disturbed new relationship. He sighed at the memory, and realized that Em had fallen silent and was now looking at him quizzically as he sat preoccupied with his own thoughts. "So, I've been trying to be polite over here, and not ask what your story is, wandering around down here without any company, and ready to be taken in by a stranger, sitting and brooding like --" Spike cut her off, deeply insulted, before she could finish, "I. don'. brood!" " -- you are." she continued. The offended vampire attempted to defend his demeanor, " 'S not broodin' to sit an' take stock o'things at the turn o'the year." Em didn't seem to be buying it, as she crossed her arms, and continued to probe him with her eyes. He shifted his position under her scrutiny, but was unable to comfortably ignore he, and found himself floundering to explain away his indifference to the festive atmosphere. " 'S just I'm not one for holidays much...out for a walk, I was, an' ended up 'ere...." It sounded weak even to him, but it was the best he was coming up with. "So, there's a girl that's not with you that you're missing. I'm just trying to figure out if she dumped you, or if she's just not here in town...." |
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