Kane's Cosmic Quest for Pleasure

The night was warm and clear, with a scant breeze. It had been since early morning. The leaves were starting to turn in the far-off hills and the sky was so brilliantly clear that it was hard to make out the stars in some places. A soft glow came from the house across the street and the trees rustled softly. "It'll be a good harvest this year," he thought as he stared up at the sky.

He'd been sitting on his porch for hours now, so long that he could feel the frame of his chair digging into his backside through his pants. He wasn't thinking about anything in particular but he couldn't get up and go inside yet either. Maybe he didn't want to go inside? But why not? He knew why not, he just didn't want to think about it anymore. Just a few more minutes, he told himself, I'll go in soon enough.

There was a sound behind him and a shadow fell across his lap. "Kane?"

He sat up quickly and turned quickly to see who had called his name. There was no one there but he could hear someone moving around in the bushes at the end of the yard. He stood up and started walking towards them, wondering if it was one of his neighbors or if some kid had broken into their yard to try and steal something. He could hear them rustling around further back into the hedge and then suddenly they popped out right in front of him again - a flash of red hair and green eyes staring at him before she ducked back down into the bushes again. She must have seen him staring at her earlier because she didn't pop out again after that. Kane kept walking along the edge of their yard until he got to where they were hiding behind a large lilac bush that blocked off most of their yard from view. When he got there though, there was no sign of them anywhere. He looked down at their feet poking out from under the bush but they were just shoes lying in the dirt, nothing else around them except a little bit of crushed grass where she must have been standing before she darted off again. He walked back over to their fence looking for any sign that she might have gone over it but there was nothing obvious except for her footprints leading away from where she must have climbed over it from their side and then stopped abruptly as if they hadn't carried on very far at all.

Just as he was about to turn back around towards his own yard, something caught his eye - something shiny on the ground near where her shoes had been lying not too far away from where he'd found them earlier. He walked across to where they'd been standing earlier but now all that remained were two small holes dug into the ground right where her shoes would have been resting in one place or another, like kids playing some sort of treasure hunt game or something as they poked around looking for something they'd hidden themselves earlier that day when they'd been out playing outside in their yard. But what would be hidden way back here? And why would anyone be wearing those kinds of shoes out here? Her mom must have given them to her though because those weren't exactly what you'd wear if you were going anyplace outside unless you wanted to look like an idiot for leaving your fancy shoes outside on purpose as some sort of signal that you're home? But why would you do something like that?

"I know who you are."

He whirled around so fast that he almost lost his balance and fell face first onto her shoes but managed to catch himself against the fence instead before he went sprawling onto her lawn instead like some sort of drunkard or something - yeah right! At least it seemed like forever before she managed to get herself together again after practically falling out from nowhere just like some kind of crazy ghost or something - well duh! Of course she would have heard him say her name earlier when he turned around and saw her peeking out from behind that lilac bush! Shit! What kind of fool did she take him for anyway?

She straightened herself up slowly, brushing herself off with both hands before finally fixing her hair into place with both hands as well before looking up at him with those dazzling green eyes, "I've been watching you for a long time now," she told him calmly, "and I know all about your quest for power."

He started backing away slowly towards his house without taking his eyes off her until finally he made it through the gate and stepped over onto his front porch again before turning around so quickly that this time he ran right into his front door hard enough that it made quite a clatter as it bounced closed again behind him after leaving him leaning against it with one hand while knocking on it weakly with the other hand next to his head while trying to catch his breath while gasping loudly just like some sort of big ol' fish flopping around on dry land!

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly from behind him after waiting patiently for nearly half an hour for him to answer her knock on his front door which probably didn't happen until much later by which point who knows how long after that it took for him just be able to raise himself up off the floor without passing out first...

"Nothing," he mumbled between gulps after wiping away tears from beneath each eye using both palms pressed together flatly against each cheek before turning towards her and wiping away more tears using only one palm pressed against his mouth instead while still gulping loudly enough to drown out any words she may have tried saying while listening intently between gulps as well as eagerly anticipating whatever words might follow next...

"You're hurt," she said firmly after laying down carefully onto her stomach next to him carefully avoiding making any noise whatsoever while stretching forward at first so gently towards him with both arms extended slightly outward beginning with both elbows bent encouragingly positioned low enough near their sides while reaching forward even further still until their fingers finally touched lightly against each other's neck anyway before withdrawing quickly just barely touching such lips ever so softly with both fingertips simultaneously before withdrawing even further still after having noticed how badly bruised both cheeks appeared beneath those tear filled eyes redder than stop signs making hers look even greener by comparison...

"No."

"Yes," she insisted softly pressing one finger against one cheek then softly brushing her fingertip across another cheek tenderly afterwards before repeating herself once more as best she can manage courageously doing everything she can not only remain resolute but also valiantly stay strong despite how badly damaged such cheeks might appear with dried blood caked beneath each eye surrounding each swollen black eye making hers look even greener by comparison...