Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

shuffling self-consciously, leaving dirty brown marks across the thick cream carpet fibres.
    Opening the door, with a hushed exhalation of breath, he quickly entered, pulling Jacob along with him into the cool depths.
    CHAPTER 8 – The Cleansing
    I can't help it.
    I realise some of my actions are compulsive or obsessive, but there is nothing that can wholly distract me. They laughed at my diary keeping, but these journals are now what keep my thoughts sharp. Likewise, my routine may be constricting and weighty but I have an eternity to complete it, so I will seldom be driven to distraction. And if I am? Well, I eventually stop and return to my routine. There is nothing else.
    I maintain all of this with meticulous precision, from cleanliness to Duty, all in their specific places in my life. The former is not even important: good hygiene is one effect of my immortality. However, it is the value of the routine that provides the benefit. It's the indulgence of scalding water over the nerves, with scents and warm cleansers, that provides such luxury!
    In hindsight, I knew I shouldn't have slept by the fire – I probably got dehydrated and started reliving my nightmares. If I can't cope with such stimuli, how can I cope? I awoke the next morning feeling hollow inside, and that is not a good sign. Pathetic really. But I'll still carry on.
    Ha! As characters from some of those books say, there's a little violin – whatever that is – playing for me somewhere.
    ~ Jeremy, November 20 th , Journal Number-
     
    The afternoon sunlight cast the room in a golden luminescence. The large bath (enough to fit four, quite helpful in the current situation) and the other amenities shone, reflecting the royal colour throughout the room, onto the marble objects and whitewashed walls. A dark canopy of trees greeted the base of the landscape through the frosted-glass walled-window. The large globe of the sun rested in the centre of this surreal window scene.
    The sight would often make Jeremy breathless; today however, he was focused on a more ensnaring sight. Leaning forward to turn on the taps of heated water and pouring in a large dollop of cleansing scent, Jeremy's head ducked down enough to catch sight of the enigmas dangling playfully under the dirtied robe in the rising heat. Jacob was insensible to Jeremy's distraction as he stood uncertainly in the middle of the cool room, looking out at the lowering sun on the horizon.
    Looking through his peripheral vision, keeping track of Jacob, Jeremy rambled out instructions. "Jacob," the subject started at hearing his name spoken with such an authoritative, unusually deep gruffness, "take the robe off. Put it by the door. The bath is full and ready, so get in while I get everything else we need."
    Jacob quickly did as instructed, perplexed at the sigh released from Jeremy as he turned away after staring at the bath. Evidently, Jacob's comments when they met had made a lasting impression and so, with chagrin, he entered into the blissful depths. As the light coating of bubbles floating across the surface of the water covered him, he risked a glance over at Jeremy, watching him reach into a cabinet for materials for washing. The near-boiling water kept him from becoming too ashamed at his underhanded tactics earlier as it scalded his balls.
    He let a loose a small smile as he could see the ridiculousness of his benefactor in the oversized, soiled red jumper. What a sight we must be , Jacob thought selfishly, momentarily forgetting the genesis of his situation. Yet he schooled his expression after recalling his reprehensible liberties at the expense of his host: I'm nothing to him. I should just be thankful for what he is giving me and be ready to leave when Jeremy tires of me .
    Jacob tucked his chin into the fragranced bathwater, realising how exposed he now was, leaning forward, and sitting naked in a stranger's bath. He knew he should not trust Jeremy, not after his parents' incident, but he could not resist the kindness that Jeremy seemed to selflessly give. A tear fell from Jacob's eye, mingling with the water and hiding his confused feelings. Perhaps his parents were reasonable to try to end their desolation, but he would never depreciate himself and hide who he was, even if it meant his continued suffering and humiliation. Otherwise, there seemed little else to live for, other than his principles and a hope of others like him.
    A clattering and a clang sounded behind him along with