ooo. a dream
The forest was almost fantastical, and she sat there surrounded by life. The canopy above was dark, but it let through streams of light cascading from the sun above, illuminating the dancing leaves and falling buds. She breathed and smelled all manners of things. The dampness of the grass, the wood, and the soil all reached out to her, embracing.
The wind gently travelled up her nostrils with scents of faraway places but also of pure familiarity. The wind softly travelled to her ears, bringing voices that were so dear-tough but kind, loving, humourous, serious, and silence. She felt absolute safety, in this clearing of forest. The trees protected her.
She opened her eyes and smiled at the scene before her. Almost mundane, a rudimentary table cloth--red and white checkered even!--was underneath her and a picnic basket was before her. Her little square of domestic simplicity was surrounded by six flowers, all very familiar. She knew in her heart if not her mind that these flowers were her friends. Her companions. Her answers in times of need.
The food was strange, but to her, classic. She laughed at finding her favourite red bean paste. She purred as she tasted sweet potato. And in her quiet moment, she longed to share it with familiar eyes, a familiar smile, a familiar tough exterior she wished to crack. She raised a glass of clear water to her lips and inhaled the flowers.
She blinked, and suddenly the picnic was gone. She blinked and suddenly the sun went out. She blinked and saw a shadow flash across the corner of her eye and a harsher wind began to blow. She stood up and for the first time, was afraid.
“Hello?” she called. “Is anyone there?” She shivered and hugged her arms to herself. The wind turned cold.
A sigh came from the darkness that was suddenly before her. A sigh?
She started towards the sound but hesitated at the darkness. She didn’t like the dark. The dark was liked least of all.
It came again, only softer, like it was going away, farther and farther from her, and she suddenly couldn’t bare it. “Come back!” She cried, and unknowingly, and almost with a brashness, ran into the dimness.
She ran for eons. Past all the faces she’d ever seen in her life. A kind gaze and a soft laugh, like a brother. A serious smile of a friend. A girl she admired more than anyone, but also sometimes wished she could beat. Just once. And a boy.
Who was so much stronger than she.
The faces turned into the flowers. The flowers turned into eyes. And the eyes all converged before her into a single eye, and that eye became an orb.
She gazed at the orb with wonder, but also with hatred, and that confused her since she never knew that anything could be so beautiful and yet sparkled so coldly. She knew it was the answer though. Knew it was the key.
But when she reached out a delicate hand to touch it, the orb suddenly shone brighter than the brightest star, and then it exploded, sharp, cold, and into a million shards that all coursed through her body, piercing her skin, her heart, her mind, turning her vision red, and then the darkest of blacks.
She inhaled because she couldn't scream.
The wind gently travelled up her nostrils with scents of faraway places but also of pure familiarity. The wind softly travelled to her ears, bringing voices that were so dear-tough but kind, loving, humourous, serious, and silence. She felt absolute safety, in this clearing of forest. The trees protected her.
She opened her eyes and smiled at the scene before her. Almost mundane, a rudimentary table cloth--red and white checkered even!--was underneath her and a picnic basket was before her. Her little square of domestic simplicity was surrounded by six flowers, all very familiar. She knew in her heart if not her mind that these flowers were her friends. Her companions. Her answers in times of need.
The food was strange, but to her, classic. She laughed at finding her favourite red bean paste. She purred as she tasted sweet potato. And in her quiet moment, she longed to share it with familiar eyes, a familiar smile, a familiar tough exterior she wished to crack. She raised a glass of clear water to her lips and inhaled the flowers.
She blinked, and suddenly the picnic was gone. She blinked and suddenly the sun went out. She blinked and saw a shadow flash across the corner of her eye and a harsher wind began to blow. She stood up and for the first time, was afraid.
“Hello?” she called. “Is anyone there?” She shivered and hugged her arms to herself. The wind turned cold.
A sigh came from the darkness that was suddenly before her. A sigh?
She started towards the sound but hesitated at the darkness. She didn’t like the dark. The dark was liked least of all.
It came again, only softer, like it was going away, farther and farther from her, and she suddenly couldn’t bare it. “Come back!” She cried, and unknowingly, and almost with a brashness, ran into the dimness.
She ran for eons. Past all the faces she’d ever seen in her life. A kind gaze and a soft laugh, like a brother. A serious smile of a friend. A girl she admired more than anyone, but also sometimes wished she could beat. Just once. And a boy.
Who was so much stronger than she.
The faces turned into the flowers. The flowers turned into eyes. And the eyes all converged before her into a single eye, and that eye became an orb.
She gazed at the orb with wonder, but also with hatred, and that confused her since she never knew that anything could be so beautiful and yet sparkled so coldly. She knew it was the answer though. Knew it was the key.
But when she reached out a delicate hand to touch it, the orb suddenly shone brighter than the brightest star, and then it exploded, sharp, cold, and into a million shards that all coursed through her body, piercing her skin, her heart, her mind, turning her vision red, and then the darkest of blacks.
She inhaled because she couldn't scream.