As My Colors Fade Out
My second entry for brigits_flame. My last entry did better than I thought it was going to (second place, what?!), so here's to hoping that this one does just as well :) The theme for this entry was 'It hurts when I do this'. I took a dream of mine and gave it several twists, making it more interesting and more... story-like. Again, I welcome all of your comments/criticism. Or your votes :P
Take My Hands
The wolf stalks closer, eyes gleaming in the faint orange light cast by the fire. On the opposite side of the flames kneels a young woman clutching only a quill in her hand. Her eyes are calm and she makes no move to grab the spear that lays only a few feet away. "Is this it then?" she asks the wolf. "How it ends?"
The wolf snarls at her and tosses its head, tail bristling. The growls almost seem to form words, "Not you, me. You must go." There are more growls but that is all they seem to be.
"Ahh," she says. She seems to understand the growls and body language as no one else could. "You wound me and say there is nothing I could do... then you walk free and leave me in chains." The quill drops to the ground as she offers her hands, the chains around her wrists gleaming as brightly in the fire as the eyes of the wolf.
It is a whimper this time, the wolf laying its ears flat against its skull as it paws restlessly at the ground. Yet when the chains the woman wears clink it lifts its head and snaps a warning, as though the noise frightens it.
She smiles sadly. "You know what I would ask of you... vanim'tekil." She closes her wrists together and moves closer to the wolf. "How can you refuse me this one thing?" A single, uncertain growl from the wolf as it comes within a foot of her. The woman leans down to kiss the wolf on its head, tears darkening its fur. "I know it hurts you... but how do you think it makes me feel?" She lets her head rest there a moment longer, and the wolf seems to soften for that time, as though it would embrace her if it could. Then she pulls away and extends her hands for the third time, eyes calm once more. "They're no use to me now." Her face seems softer than it should in the dancing light of the fire, trusting, like that of a child looking at a parent whom she knows would never do her wrong. "The right thing hurts sometimes."
One final whimper. "I'm sorry." Then it closes on the young woman and she cannot keep from screaming as its jaws snap once, crimson blood spraying her face and the wolf's fur. It lets out a howl filled with regret before melting into the shadows, leaving the young woman curled by the fire with arms that end at the wrist tucked against her stomach.
I wake to the sounds of my own screams, falling out of my bed tangled in my sheets. Somehow I free myself and click on my light, trembling as I look at my hands and find that they are still there. Tears stream from my eyes as I lean against the wall with my hands held in front of me. The anguished howl of a wolf seems to echo in my ears, but when I look around all I can see is an empty room. My eyes are drawn to a pile of notebooks on my desk, all of them brand new and as untouched as the fresh pack of pens next to them. The symbolism of the dream and those notebooks is too poignant for me, so yet again I switch off the light and climb back into bed. It hurts to leave those notebooks empty, almost like a physical wound, but all of the ideas that seemed so clear the day I bought them have vanished.
Knowing that sleep won't come again without them, I reach for the bottle of small blue pills. I know I shouldn't, in the end it won't help anything, but I take them all the same and let sleep claim me as its own yet again.
The wolf stalks closer, eyes gleaming...
~Fin~
Food poisoning is still running a strong course, but I'm fighting back by keeping a bowl of vegetable broth down for going on two hours now. Go me and my will to make my stomach behave itself. Thinking of how Saturday is the Schultz Family Reunion doesn't settle it much... one of these years I need to go back there. They're not going to stop dying just because I'm not there anymore, Kathy proved that last year.
Take My Hands
The wolf stalks closer, eyes gleaming in the faint orange light cast by the fire. On the opposite side of the flames kneels a young woman clutching only a quill in her hand. Her eyes are calm and she makes no move to grab the spear that lays only a few feet away. "Is this it then?" she asks the wolf. "How it ends?"
The wolf snarls at her and tosses its head, tail bristling. The growls almost seem to form words, "Not you, me. You must go." There are more growls but that is all they seem to be.
"Ahh," she says. She seems to understand the growls and body language as no one else could. "You wound me and say there is nothing I could do... then you walk free and leave me in chains." The quill drops to the ground as she offers her hands, the chains around her wrists gleaming as brightly in the fire as the eyes of the wolf.
It is a whimper this time, the wolf laying its ears flat against its skull as it paws restlessly at the ground. Yet when the chains the woman wears clink it lifts its head and snaps a warning, as though the noise frightens it.
She smiles sadly. "You know what I would ask of you... vanim'tekil." She closes her wrists together and moves closer to the wolf. "How can you refuse me this one thing?" A single, uncertain growl from the wolf as it comes within a foot of her. The woman leans down to kiss the wolf on its head, tears darkening its fur. "I know it hurts you... but how do you think it makes me feel?" She lets her head rest there a moment longer, and the wolf seems to soften for that time, as though it would embrace her if it could. Then she pulls away and extends her hands for the third time, eyes calm once more. "They're no use to me now." Her face seems softer than it should in the dancing light of the fire, trusting, like that of a child looking at a parent whom she knows would never do her wrong. "The right thing hurts sometimes."
One final whimper. "I'm sorry." Then it closes on the young woman and she cannot keep from screaming as its jaws snap once, crimson blood spraying her face and the wolf's fur. It lets out a howl filled with regret before melting into the shadows, leaving the young woman curled by the fire with arms that end at the wrist tucked against her stomach.
I wake to the sounds of my own screams, falling out of my bed tangled in my sheets. Somehow I free myself and click on my light, trembling as I look at my hands and find that they are still there. Tears stream from my eyes as I lean against the wall with my hands held in front of me. The anguished howl of a wolf seems to echo in my ears, but when I look around all I can see is an empty room. My eyes are drawn to a pile of notebooks on my desk, all of them brand new and as untouched as the fresh pack of pens next to them. The symbolism of the dream and those notebooks is too poignant for me, so yet again I switch off the light and climb back into bed. It hurts to leave those notebooks empty, almost like a physical wound, but all of the ideas that seemed so clear the day I bought them have vanished.
Knowing that sleep won't come again without them, I reach for the bottle of small blue pills. I know I shouldn't, in the end it won't help anything, but I take them all the same and let sleep claim me as its own yet again.
The wolf stalks closer, eyes gleaming...
~Fin~
Food poisoning is still running a strong course, but I'm fighting back by keeping a bowl of vegetable broth down for going on two hours now. Go me and my will to make my stomach behave itself. Thinking of how Saturday is the Schultz Family Reunion doesn't settle it much... one of these years I need to go back there. They're not going to stop dying just because I'm not there anymore, Kathy proved that last year.