Title: Braving the Greens
Fandom: Original
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: OC/OC
Rating: G/K
Summary: Is it brave, or foolish, to stay?
Word Count: 600
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 362: Brave
Warnings: Not really looking for an answer I know y'all can't give, just trying to work through some stuff and make the Muses come...
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.









Am I brave to live without you,
Or am I just a fool,
A fool willing to let slip through
Her fingers, her heart, her life
The greatest blessing ever
Bestowed on her?

Am I brave to stand up to you,
To call you out when I think
You're doing things you shouldn't be,
To ultimately judge you?
What right do I have,
To be the judge, juror, and executioner?

Yet if I do not,
Who will?
I've watched so many men
Drink away their lives,
But you're putting the bottle down
And picking up the pipe.

It's a plant.
I've seen it work miracles for you.
But when the pantry's going bare,
And you're still reaching there,
Where does it end?

Living out of storage,
Living out of cars,
Living in rags,
Living with just the bare necessities,
And I'm not talking the random fun things
Of a bear and a mancub.

Where does it end?
Can you help,
Can you not?
I know you're sick,
Inside and out.
I know you're hurting.
And I know all these doctors do
Is quack, quack, quack.

I need help.
We all need help.
But everybody judges.
Nobody sees.
Nobody frees.

I thought you were that freedom for me,
And I for you.
I thought together,
We could conquer anything.
Our dreams, together, finally,
We would realize.

Products of abuse,
Both of us, our entire lives,
I don't want to hurt anymore.
I don't want to hurt or be hurt.

Deep down, I know
You're not doing this to hurt.
Just the opposite, in fact,
You're doing this not to hurt,
You're doing this to be free.

How many other men would still raise
When hit by a semi?
They'd be bedridden, but you're still
Trying to work, trying to fight,
Trying to live.

Or are you?
Are you giving all you can,
All you are, to the other lady
By the name of Mary Janey,
Or is she simply a means to an ends?

Are you trying to live,
Trying to fight, trying to deny
Your pain, so intense
No other could survive?

Are you trying to build a future,
Or are you just waiting to die,
To succumb to the inevitable?

I wish I knew.
I wish I could understand.
For you to live is to be in pain,
But is it ever going to end?

No doctor can resolve
The hurts you're going through,
No medicines touch you,
And she is a plant,
Created by God,
Made illegal by man.

You're honest, you're true.
About most things.
I know you love me,
But do you love me enough?

Can we overcome this?
Can we build a future together?
Can we actually have a future together,
Or will it all fall apart
In the smokey remains?

There are days you can't stand,
Nights you scream and cry,
Writhing in pain.
She eases you where I,
No matter how hard I try, cannot.

I've seen the records,
Heard the doctors talk,
But I still feel adrift
With no real answers.

I wish I knew.
There's so much,
I wish I knew.
I wish I had the answers
For you, for me,
For us both.

But I can not,
I do not, and no
Magical being is coming
To save us from each other,
Ourselves, or this world.

No help is coming.
We're all we get.
Can I count on you,
To fight, survive, grow stronger,
Or all both our dreams
Going away in the smoke
Of the leafy green,
The lady who really can
Ease your pain
But take you too?

The End