Just One More Day
Massrié sat quietly in the fireplace room. Her gaze never wavered from the huge roaring fire that had been built in front of her. Its warmth seeped through the entire house, keeping it stifling hot. It was nearly suffocating, but she had refused to allow it to die. In truth she hadn’t moved in days. She appeared to move of course, for the human that cleaned her home and she appeared to have done some things that needed to be done. In actuality, her frame never left that chair. Fingers were twirling the fabric absentmindedly. Her thoughts never in the room she was sitting in. Or if they were to do so, it was for only minutes few and far between. She was waiting. She was waiting for the next vision to come. Still waiting to see who she would be forced to save next. Always, she was waiting.
Ten years from now she would still be waiting. A hundred or more, still the answer would be the same. Life stretched interminably in front of her. If you had the sympathy to call this a life. She didn’t need to eat, nor drink, though she could if she had no other choice. She didn’t have any superhuman speed, no extra clarity of mind. Her visions and her fire marked her as rather commonplace.
The fire crackled and a hot coal jumped onto the bare floor. She glanced at it momentarily, not really giving it a second thought. Caught up in her musings she didn’t realize it flared to life. Her eyes widened when she heard a hiss. Her human woman had gone home hours ago. Unquestionably no one else would dare to come here. Even the undying were wary of her. Her eyes flicked back to the fire out of habit. There she saw that hot coal had grown to nearly three feet in size. This was something new. Was it a new manifestation of her gift? Or was it something more?
She decided to approach it as if it were a sentient being. Thinking to herself she realized she should forgo the normal inane questions like, who are you? What do you want?
Feeling rather pleasant she asked, “Can I help you?”
Within her mind she heard the answer and it confused her.
“Kill them.” The hissing voice sounded.
“Kill who?” Massrié acknowledged.
“Kill those who would make you feel inadequate with yourself. You are the world’s memory keeper. You are important. They are not. Kill them.” It repeated.
Quickly she thought of a few moments ago when she had been feeling particularly quiet and insignificant. This creature had dispelled any notion of that. If they were reaching out to her, to save her, from her own thoughts. Feeling a small reprieve in her loneliness she noticed the ember having died out. Cautiously she picked it up and tossed it back in the fire. Deep within her, she knew her self worth. Having it reconfirmed made her heart feel lighter. Her heart. It beat like any other humans, though not out of necessity. It was merely another pawn to keep the humans unaware of what she truly was.
The thought of killing everyone on the planet made her sick. It twisted the stomach she never used and brought out a gasping breath from her.
“I could never be that cruel,” she thought to herself. “I could never take away all life on this blue planet.”
So it ended another night of contemplation. Days’ worth of contemplations. Her future secure once more, and ready to move on with whatever this so called life had for her.
Just one more day.
For now.
Ten years from now she would still be waiting. A hundred or more, still the answer would be the same. Life stretched interminably in front of her. If you had the sympathy to call this a life. She didn’t need to eat, nor drink, though she could if she had no other choice. She didn’t have any superhuman speed, no extra clarity of mind. Her visions and her fire marked her as rather commonplace.
The fire crackled and a hot coal jumped onto the bare floor. She glanced at it momentarily, not really giving it a second thought. Caught up in her musings she didn’t realize it flared to life. Her eyes widened when she heard a hiss. Her human woman had gone home hours ago. Unquestionably no one else would dare to come here. Even the undying were wary of her. Her eyes flicked back to the fire out of habit. There she saw that hot coal had grown to nearly three feet in size. This was something new. Was it a new manifestation of her gift? Or was it something more?
She decided to approach it as if it were a sentient being. Thinking to herself she realized she should forgo the normal inane questions like, who are you? What do you want?
Feeling rather pleasant she asked, “Can I help you?”
Within her mind she heard the answer and it confused her.
“Kill them.” The hissing voice sounded.
“Kill who?” Massrié acknowledged.
“Kill those who would make you feel inadequate with yourself. You are the world’s memory keeper. You are important. They are not. Kill them.” It repeated.
Quickly she thought of a few moments ago when she had been feeling particularly quiet and insignificant. This creature had dispelled any notion of that. If they were reaching out to her, to save her, from her own thoughts. Feeling a small reprieve in her loneliness she noticed the ember having died out. Cautiously she picked it up and tossed it back in the fire. Deep within her, she knew her self worth. Having it reconfirmed made her heart feel lighter. Her heart. It beat like any other humans, though not out of necessity. It was merely another pawn to keep the humans unaware of what she truly was.
The thought of killing everyone on the planet made her sick. It twisted the stomach she never used and brought out a gasping breath from her.
“I could never be that cruel,” she thought to herself. “I could never take away all life on this blue planet.”
So it ended another night of contemplation. Days’ worth of contemplations. Her future secure once more, and ready to move on with whatever this so called life had for her.
Just one more day.
For now.