Drabble: Out of the Past (Mick, PG)

[allegrita]

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: This one's for PNWgal. Rated PG.

Out of the Past

The memory of her face comes shimmering out of the past, and everything else just falls away. I can almost see her – her dark hair curling around her face, that red dress, the mysterious look in her eyes… when she looked at me that way, I couldn’t wrap my mind around anything but the sweet temptation in her smile.

I fell hard for her, and the world changed totally. I thought our life together would be amazing, but that promise of love became nothing but betrayal and disappointment.

My deepest regret. The mistake I can never forget – or forgive. Lilah.

[PNWgal]

Oh ALLE...

I absolutely adore anything to do with Mick and Lilah, and this was just so beautiful.

The memory of her face comes shimmering out of the past, and everything else just falls away.

This reminds me of that scene where Mick's thinking about Lilah in those lace curtains. He tells Beth he thinks it was love. There's no "think" there...it was love, and all three of them ended up getting hurt.

Thank you, sweetie, for this.

[maggatha3]

I fell hard for her, and the world changed totally. I thought our life together would be amazing, but that promise of love became nothing but betrayal and disappointment.

Oh my, I really thought Mick was thinking about first meeting Coraline , that night at her party...where she was wearing the red dress and looked at him with that seductive smile of hers...Then again , this voice over is so soft and passionate and full of remorse...I could only have been for Lilah!!

[allegrita]

Thank you, sweetie, for this.

You're welcome, honey. And thank you, for the lovely comment.

Then again , this voice over is so soft and passionate and full of remorse...I could only have been for Lilah!!

Well, I have to confess that I was a little bit sneaky. But I agree with you... Mick's voice when he spoke about Lilah was filled with guilt and remorse, but also with so much love and longing.

[jen]

Now that is a reversal.

Lilah was a gentle warmth that healed, restored and gave him a glimpse of the future that could be his only to be snatched away from him.

Coraline became the raging infection that burned him up. The man he was was destroyed and remade in the fires of his creation.

Yet that journey into darkness is what enabled him to last the decades of waiting, and then rescue his future, reclaim himself and his future.

[librarian_7]

Very sneaky, Alle! I was convinced it was Coraline, also...

I do like this. Mick had a weakness for those brunettes, didn't he? Right up until a certain little blonde caught his heart.

Nicely done. And lovely to see a new piece from you.

Lucky

[fairytoes]

I was convinced it was Coraline! Very well done Allegrita.
I really like this.
Thank you.

[allegrita]

Now that is a reversal.

Lilah was a gentle warmth that healed, restored and gave him a glimpse of the future that could be his only to be snatched away from him.

Coraline became the raging infection that burned him up. The man he was was destroyed and remade in the fires of his creation.

Yet that journey into darkness is what enabled him to last the decades of waiting, and then rescue his future, reclaim himself and his future.

What a great description, Jenna! Yes, I really think Lilah would have made Mick a very happy, normal, human man. But he just wasn't fated to have a normal, human, happy life...

Very sneaky, Alle! I was convinced it was Coraline, also...

I do like this. Mick had a weakness for those brunettes, didn't he? Right up until a certain little blonde caught his heart.

Nicely done. And lovely to see a new piece from you.

Lucky

Thanks, Lucky! It's always struck me how very much Coraline looked like Lilah. Maybe poor Mick was trying to recapture a little of the joy he had to give up. But he seems to have moved on to redheads after Coraline, and yeah, then there was that blonde...

I was convinced it was Coraline! Very well done Allegrita.
I really like this.
Thank you.

Thanks fairytoes! I love drabbles. They make you choose your words so carefully... they're almost like poems. And, like poems, they can really pack a lot into a small package.

[librarian_7]

I consider a good drabble very much a "prose poem" (yeah, that sounds like a contradiction, but it works here).

And hey, if he'd REALLY moved on to redheads, he would have stayed with redheads....

Lucky

[Lilly]

Drabbles can have such impact, if done right. This one...is definitely done right.

That first line is killer. One of the best openers I've read. And the 83 words that follow fulfill that promise. I can't believe you managed such clever misdirection is such a short passage, but you pulled it off brilliantly. And it only heightened the payoff in the end. I truly believe that this was his biggest regret -- one that set him on a path of self-loathing long before he became a vampire.

Beautifully done, Alle.

[allegrita]

Drabbles can have such impact, if done right. This one...is definitely done right.

That first line is killer. One of the best openers I've read. And the 83 words that follow fulfill that promise. I can't believe you managed such clever misdirection is such a short passage, but you pulled it off brilliantly. And it only heightened the payoff in the end. I truly believe that this was his biggest regret -- one that set him on a path of self-loathing long before he became a vampire.

Beautifully done, Alle.

Lilly, thank you so much! What an amazing comment. I agree that loving and losing both Ray and Lilah had a huge impact on Mick's life. I honestly don't think he ever would have ended up playing Coraline's party if Ray hadn't been lost, and then come back. I think that experience broke Mick in a fundamental way, and opened him to the life that led him to Coraline.

One thing I wanted to mention was that, having looked at the beautiful, true-color pics posted recently of Lilah, I've realized that she had auburn hair, not dark brunette as I had thought. So I've slightly changed the drabble, replacing "raven hair" with "dark hair", to make it more accurate.

[Lilly]

[nutmegger911]

This is absolutely beautiful, Alle. Such feeling packed into such a short piece.

The memory of her face comes shimmering out of the past, and everything else just falls away.

What a romantic opening.

I think that experience broke Mick in a fundamental way, and opened him to the life that led him to Coraline.

I completely agree.

[allegrita]

Thank you, nutmegger!