Weds Brief

Well they are BACK,    Ben and Tom have returned.    Check out what adventures they have in store this week.    There is a little twist at the end.

Weds Brief  

This week's prompt is: "Nothing else matters" or have a scene set in an art gallery or use: fish, knife, ice or use a bucket in an interesting way or have one of your characters explain what FIFO means or have someone watch an arrest or be arrest or use: sun, mimosa, swing or "One is the loneliest number"

Lancaster wasn’t a metropolitan area like Philadelphia or New York, but it had amenities all its own. They had parks, festivals, and museums.

Yes, Lancaster had a lot to offer, a cross between city and country.  Tom and Ben couldn’t think of any place they’d rather live than here.

“Tom, did you see this one?”  Ben and Tom decided to spend their Sunday afternoon at the Museum of Art and History, nicknamed MOAH.  

“Wow, that’s lovely.” Tom took a closer look at the painting Ben stood in front of.  “It kind of looks like it could have been done in our backyard. “ Their home backed onto a nature preserve, which was one of the reasons they’d bought the house.  

“Yeah, you’re right.  The artist even captured the stream bed that meanders through.”

The two men wandered through each of the exhibit rooms. The museum was having a special exhibit about love.  So all the artwork was related to love in some way.  The painting they’d been admiring reflected love of nature.  There were photos and paintings and sculptures depicting a parent’s love for his children, an elderly couple being cared for by their grown children, and a painting of a couple’s wedding in Paris.

Ben was so engrossed with a statue sitting in the middle of the room he didn’t notice Tom had made an abrupt stop in front of him. He ran right into his back.

“Tom, what did you stop for?”

“Look at that, Ben.”

There was a sculpture entitled “Nothing Else Matters.”  Two men, one holding the other as he lay on the ground.  They wore military uniforms, and it appeared one was wounded.  Of course, like most art, it was left up to the interpretation of the viewer. 

“They’re lovers,”  Ben whispered. 

“How can you tell that?”  Tom took a closer look at the piece.  “I mean, I can see they’re comrades in arms, even close friends, but lovers?”  Tom turned to Ben, who was still mesmerized by the art.   

“I think the wounded one might be dying.”  Ben reached out and took Tom’s hand.  It made him think of images he had of Tom and his dangerous job.

“It’s okay, Ben.”  Tom squeezed his hand. Tom seemed to know where his mind had gone. 

“I know it doesn’t say what it is, but I get the impression they’re a couple, closeted ,and one got wounded by enemy fire and he’sdying.”  Ben’s voice got very quiet at the end.  He rested his head on Tom’s shoulder. There were other people milling about the gallery, looking at the exhibits.  Tom and he were so caught up with the art piece that they didn’t realize someone was watching them.  

“How about we get a bite to eat?  There’s a restaurant a few blocks over I’d like to try,”  Tom suggested.   

* * * *

A shadow followed the two men as they made their way to the exit.  The figure watched them leave and stood by the front entrance.   Tom and Ben went to their car and drove off.   

“Fags, you’re all ruining this country.  Well, I’m going to take care of at least two of them.”

TBC

My fellow Weds Briefers:

Andrew Gordon 

A.R. Von 

Victoria Adams 

Nephylim        

Cia Nordwell    

Renee Stevens 

Tali Spencer   

Michael Mandrake    

Julie Lynn Hayes