[Lindel]

Would You Be Mine?

It's a beautiful day-- the man zips up his sweater and slips on his shoes to this musical phrase;
There's a tune that'll play while he welcomes the neighbor he greets with a grin and his usual wave
Once two's time is due, and they've said their adieus, the man tells him, "My neighbor, stay tuned", and he'll stay..
..He'll stay stuck to the screen, past the very last scene-- for his neighbor could never dwell moving away..

♪ ♫ ♪

Will wasn't a grown-up. He spent his days brainlessly scarfing potato chips, stuck at the sofa
He'd watch "Rogers" re-runs-- a bunch of the old ones. His legs stretched, relaxed; his lips, chugging a cola
My son's in some coma, his mother thought, worried. The man only moved once, to thrust his remote up,
and point at the screen. Yet my boy's twenty-three! 'Cause she'd serve him banana nut muffins and doughnuts,

As William kicked back, numbed by shows on TV-- fueled in sloth from the lack of strict discipline acted
Unphased by the sun-lit sky's flicker to blackness; the shadows, the shapes, and the minutes that passed him
The morning turned midnight as quick as a flash did; still, Will had not known the transition had happened
'Til slowly, his arms dropped his chips and his bag, his 'lids closed, and his consciousness slid into absence..

At three, Will woke sweating and stricken with panic; the sound of fuzz shrieked from an image of static
He reckoned, That darned left antenna is spazzin', then crept toward the screen to start fixing the 'rabbit
by twisting its ears.. Though it didn't appear the set's picture had cleared, from within this contraption,
A whisper was heard, and Will grimaced and gasped as two arms flew from his television, and grabbed him

The TV screen beamed him inside to his pleas and his cries; bitter yelps, though no help arrived later
He fell on his face in some strange, dormant place, staring up at a man who said, "Welcome, my neighbor,"
Who smiled as his head turned demonically crooked, but held out a hand, which seemed worthy to trust
..and since Will shan't refuse Mister Rogers, he took it. Plus, 'twas all a dream, which'd be surely abrupt!

After being pulled up, William gestured him speak, so he said, "Will, my boy, it's a pleasure to meet you;
You'd grown oh-so-close to your set and your screen that my sweatery sleeves could outstretch and retrieve you."
They'd talk; stiffly walk 'cross the neighborhood block, as Will thought, He's alright; this here Fred is a neat dude,
Then asked when the man planned on setting him free, and Fred said, "Oh, my Will, I can never release you..

By clutching your sofa for several weeks, you've created our bond. Although yes, you can peak through
the screen at your living room's couch, nothing's getting you out-- so please, join me for breakfast, and tea too."
In vexed disbelief, William, pressing his teeth, started pinching throughout all his flesh as his screams grew
from petulant squeaks to malevolent shrieks, 'cause this "dream" was, in fact, truly present, which he knew.

He cried, "Mister, sir, if your lesson's how I-- should go stepping outside-- and watch less of your re-runs,
I vow that, if ever unleashed from-- this screen, I'll say 'Hey' to my neighbors, and cherish the sweet sun!
I'll greet Granny Greene as she knits on her porch.. and she sits with her york-slash-her-poodle, Miss Muffin!"
Fred chuckled a good, hearty giggle of sorts. "William, come have some warm apple strudels and crumpets--"

"Enough, you sick bastard!" Will darted away down the lane as Fred yukked, and Will'd run through his laughter,
more wild than the wails of the succubus after she's warped one's pure chaste through voluptuous matters
..................................and untruant pastors succumb to it faster than sugarcane jolts of columbian jaguars.
He searched every street, found no exit, then screeched out his lungs 'til his yaks were all bloody and raptured

But once he had mastered the chaos within him, Will took a deep breath, then glared at the glass window
Which floated in mid-air and swayed to his motions. His legs arched one side, his arms hitched in akimbo
His mind dwelled on breaking it open. He'd pick up a stone, bring his arm back, then give it a quick throw
The window's glass then broke-- a boulder to bits as the boy shook and gaped; the man's grinning crescendo'd

The man then made sick innuendos of triumph, like wheezed laughs and knee-slaps while gripping his shinbones,
plank-bent at his torso from ***kling too hard, with a hot-turned face, crimson-tint pigment in skin-tone
Will, writhing with anger, then hit it with six blows, but howled as his knuckles bled, clenching his fists thrown
He body-slam bashed it 'til every last rib broke, then charged with a head-butt.. and hemorrhaged his temp lobe

* * *

A spray of Will's consciousness streamed like graffiti and bloodied the block of the neighbor he'd known

First faded, his name, but the last he forgot was the plot and the place of his fave episode

He remembered it well; when Fred Rogers bought brunch at the diner and taught him good etiquette there

(Oh, where is that diner? Oh, where is that diner? Oh, where is that diner? I've never been there)

* * *

Fred frowned with a tsk at the kid on the concrete, who's forehead was marked by a dent and was trickling
Blood steadily poured as Fred crept to the corpse, slid the sweater he wore-- off, and picked it up gently
Fred sniffed it a bit, rubbed his head in the dampness, then reckoned, Will really was thin. This could fit me,
then headed back home, where the sweater would spin in his washing machine for a rinse and some cleansing..

There's streaks of maroon on the glass of the screen. William's mother tries wiping them off with her Kleenex
When all of a sudden, Will's program flicks on, and Will's mom thinks, Oh William.. my god, it's your v-neck!
She's awed-- but not 'cause the man's dragging a body, but 'cause of what hangs in the back of his closet
She murmurs: "The size, and the brand, and the cotton-- it's almost just like what Will's grandmother got him."

* * *

It's a beautiful day-- the man zips up a sweater and slips on his shoes to this musical phrase;
There's a tune that was played while he welcomed the neighbor he greeted with grins and his usual wave
Since two's time is due, and they've said their adieus, the man tells us, "My neighbor stays tuned", and he'll stay..
..He'll stay stuck to the screen, past the very last scene-- for his neighbor could never dwell m̛͞҉͈͈͎̜̝̜͍ò͙̦̹̯̺ͅv̨̹̼̹̗̝͞i̶̫̮̝͚͉̩̟̼̘n͏̷̮̤͕̖̺̯͘ ͡ͅ ̖͇̜̥̤͕g̸̤̤̻̙̫̪̯̤̯̜̱͚̕͟ ҉̡̙̮̼̺͎̦͖́͝͡a͘҉̨̰͚͇͙̣̱̻͍̖̯͞w̙̯̠̹̦̥̣͎̻͖̱͓̩̕͞͝a ̴̞̟͓͘ ͔͉̘ͅy̷̕͠͞҉̙̱̙͖̹̥̱̼.̷̵͘͏҉̥͙̫͈̘.̢̜̦͉̝̯̝͕͖̘̭͚̹̻

♪̵̬̝̦̮̲͠͞͝ ͘͞҉̪̤͙̦̥͚̖͙͍͔̻͕̣͍̥̯̗͟♫̟̙̲͉̞̜̙͉͙͚̻̺͎͙̣̜̤́̕̕̕̕ ̧͘͏̹̗̹̖͎̻̟͎̩͜͝ͅ♪̧҉́҉͎̩̦͔̦͇̤̥̗̱͙̳ͅ