Glenn: A Multi-User Domain (MUD) story.

I'm re-posting this here because I found it in another blog, tucked away in old, old posts, and I'm afraid of losing it.

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Glenn never told me his last name. He was a slight boy, with serious eyes. He was Xenx and he was Bremen. He loved Dalenn unconditionally.

He wanted nothing. He offered everything he had. He took her hand and led her to places in the Labyrinth both wondrous and strange. He set up picnics at waterfalls he knew she would love. He gave her faerie wings and great iron swords. He weakened monsters and mobs, then stood back to watch her bag the glory of the kill. He stood between her and dragons, and piled gold at her feet. He basked in her joy, heart beating proudly when she laughed. He knew he had made that sound burst from her lips, and he was content.

Lyn gave him nothing. She was seduced by security and reality, and didn’t think he was going to be anything but binary code and ascii roses. She dismissed him as a young man who fancied himself in love with Dalenn. He had never met Lyn, never breathed in her strawberry-scented hair, never tasted her apple-glossed lips, never cupped the curve of her hips. Never rolled in the grass by the waterfall she loved. His devotion made Dalenn blush. Lyn couldn't understand any of it. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

Glenn made Lyn cry, though Dalenn would never tell him. His matter-of-fact tone when he spoke of his broken family and violent father made Lyn ache in unexpected places. Glenn scared her with his stories of blind rage. He would beat and bruise until the red wash left his eyes. He would take down larger contenders because for a while, he was a merciless machine. He was so much younger than she was, but had lived twice the life. She wanted to hug the pain away... or fuck till all that filled the room was gasping breath, no place for anything else. If only she could reach him somehow... But then again, it wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.

When it came down to the crunch, Lyn took the easy way out. It was Dalenn who loved you, Glenn. Sweet, gentle Dalenn, with sunshine in her laugh and starlight in her emerald eyes. Lyn's brown eyes had never met yours. Nick was security. Nick was real. Nick didn't make her ache in any unexpected place. Lyn chose Nick.

Nick eventually broke Lyn’s heart.

Ah well... Life moves on as it always has, laughing at how we thought we were going to die from that little bit of pain. She thinks of him when she least expects it, that slight boy with the serious eyes. She still has a picture he sent her from their days frolicking in the other world. She wonders if he ever found a girl who loved him unconditionally, who wanted nothing, who offered everything she had.

The email address doesn’t work anymore. I know. I’ve tried it.