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Evening Song

By

Karen B

   The oars slipped quietly into the water, moving the small vessel through the glassy, black water. It was the dead of night, all was still, and all was quiet. Only the sound of bubbling water could be heard. Only the sounds in his mind evident. A place in the dark corners of his thoughts. Where no light existed, no shadow could survive. His boat made its way to the center of the lake. The brightness of the harvest moon rippled through the waves casting silvery beams across its surface. The shadowy figure of an owl flew across the silver sphere in the sky. It's silent wings sending an eerie chill through his bones.

   Hutch shuddered away the loneliness that filtered through his heart, yet he relished the time to himself. A cop's life wasn't an easy path to follow. Your life on the line every day. The responsibilities of keeping others safe, including his partner and best friend. The pressures of solving the case. Happy storybook endings almost non-existent in this profession.

   The small, white vessel trimmed in blue came to a floating serene stop. Hutch pulled in the oars and sat taking in the serenity of the night. How things got so out of hand this past week, he couldn't be sure. What started off as friendly banter between best friends turned to an outright boxing match. The sparring not lasting long as both went their separate ways. He needed to get away and think. How could he make it right again? What could he have possibly been thinking? Crawling into bed with Kira. It was as if his mind went out to lunch and his body took over like some sort of alien creature. He never wanted to hurt Starsky the way he did. You just didn't think, Hutchinson. Why didn't you think? His mind, returning from lunch, found out his body had betrayed the trust of his best friend, partner, and soul.

   It wasn't about the love of the sly seductress named Kira. It came down to the love of his partner. Hutch skimmed the water with his hand watching the gleaming ripples move outward. He shivered under the canopy of stars and grimaced at the pain he felt down deep in the well of his spirit.

   Every muscle in his body tensed as he fought for control. The tears of shame wanting to brim and stream down his face but he held them back. What was the price of his pleasures? The loss of his best friend, for one night of passion with a woman he didn't even love. "Hutchinson you're a fool." His voice echoed through the night and he longed for the pain and loneliness to be carried away, to be lost forever in the black hole he now found himself in.

   Hutch lifted his guitar from the rowboat's deck. He placed his fingers feather soft upon the frets, and began to pluck the strings softly. At first his eyes stared and concentrated on each cord picked. His passionate, blue eyes then gazed away from the instrument and roamed the silent, ebony waters as a song began to play upon his lips, through his fingers, emerging from his soul.

   An arrow pierced your heart, blind-sided you in the dark.

   You never thought it would come from me. Your trust deep as the roughest sea.
   I left you standing all alone, your finger in the dam as the waters flowed.
   I've spent my life trying to keep you safe. Today it was me who broke that vase.
   Maybe love's just not enough; even I let you down. I lost that edge, that golden crown

   Arrows shot through two hearts; one saw it coming. One blind-sided in the dark.

   I pulled the strings of that bow, sending the piercing pain that now flows.
   I stood and saw the hurt in your eye. I stood and did nothing when you sighed.
   Maybe love's just not enough in this worldly circus fair.
   Maybe it's just human nature, just not to care.
   You told me you loved her. I heard you say so.
   Yet when push came to shove, I betrayed you I know.

   I sit here under the canopy of stars, plucking away on this wooden guitar.
   I sit here alone without my friend near. The arrow in my heart, a dead end I fear.
   Nowhere else to go, nowhere else I'd rather be, but by your side through this life, this stormy sea.
   An arrow slammed into your heart today.
   It's I who must withdraw the pain. I just don't know the way.
   Memories from ages past all come flooding back. Like a heavy storm, a heavy rain.
   I can't believe I shot the bow; I caused the pain.
   Mortally wounded his heart lies at my feet. Showers of bullets could never do.
   Today I watched my friend's heart break in two.

   An arrow pierced your heart, blind-sided you in the dark.

   My own heart's on fire. Your forgiveness my only desire.
   I wish I were a child again, innocent and free.
   My only hope, my only prayer, is that you know how much I care.

   An arrow pierced your heart today, blind-sided in the dark.

   Hutch's lower lip began to quiver, as he placed the guitar on the vessel's deck. One last lonely glance at the silence that stretched out before him. He solemnly berated the night for not swallowing his pain. He then picked up the oars and began to ease back through the inky blackness. The nose of the boat hit the soft, grassy bank. He rose from the bench as the boat rocked beneath his feet. Hutch tried to move up out of the boat to the shore. He bent down and reached for his guitar, his lower lip still quivered at the pain he felt deep in the pit of his soul. He nearly toppled over and would have if it weren't for the strong hand that clasped his forearm steadying him and hauling him from the rowboat. Hutch felt the strong, firm grasp and looked up into the forgiving blue eyes of his partner. Starsky eased Hutch and his guitar out of the boat and pulled him directly into an embrace of friendship and forgiveness. Hutch let his body go limp as he soaked in the loving gestures of his best friend.

THE END