Next Time

Serpentine Wisdom

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He's an expert, on walking away

And every time I saw his back, moving away,

I'd call out to him: "Will you be back?"

He never answered – typical to his nature.

Every time I feared he'd finally abandoned me,

The no good girl whose life he'd saved on a whim,

When we were both too young to know much of life.

Somehow, he returned every time

And I could breathe out in relief.

---

It was a careless, happy time with just the two of us.

I remember the smile that was always on his face,

As if carved by a blade but even that isn't the same anymore.

We've grown up and he's changed way too much.

His smile that was once comforting suddenly turned cruel and mocking.

---

I tried my best to hold on, to make him see

That there was someone who cared.

But it was all in vain and I know that this time…

This time he won't come back, he's gone forever.

Next time I see him, he won't be the person I knew.

Next time… he'll be a monster

---

I want to be the one who fights him

The one who gets to ask:

"What did he have to make you his minion?

A silent, laughing side-kick in his grand scheme."

I want to be the one, the only one,

To kill the monster with the face of a boy I once knew.