On this day, I turn back time; on this day, I reclaim myself.
Let's go backwards, like I was forced to do today when I woke from the comfort of that warm, reassuringly improbable reality. Broken. I felt the cool air on my neck, shivered, and closed my eyes again.
Today
Take my hand, and regress
to that time when I had a choice of waiting or standing -
still
there I wait for night to pass.
The resolution that I made still stands,
but wavers slightly (...)
under the incoming tide,
I can feel my toes between the sand.
But that's enough. Your melancholy makes me sick, and my sickness makes you weak. If this was today, then I shudder to think of yesterday. What were you thinking?
Yesterday
The children in the pictures on the mantle are all grown up now,
they have left this room behind.
The grandfather clock stands still,
its haunting chime forgotten.
Two faded armchairs,
once red, now a bland shade of mauve.
The piano is still there,
but when my fingers trace the keys,
they uncover a sour, murky tone -
mournful, neglected.
It sighs.
When I was a child, I used to be amazing at hide-and-go-seek. I had at least three or four hiding places in everyone's house that nobody else knew about. Some of them were eventually discovered, but most of the time I moved to a more obvious spot when I felt like being found.
This leads me to two things. The first is that I am still a child.
The Day Before Yesterday
I was followed by an assassin all day today. I never saw him, but I saw the shadow of his crossbow a couple of times, and I could smell the poison on the bolts. It was a pretty tense situation. Even when I was in the bathroom, I had to dance around while washing my hands so that he wouldn't get a clean shot off. This went on for several hours, until it got dark and I was able to duck into the shadows long enough to transform into a grape. That seemed to throw him off my trail, and I waited until I couldn't smell him anymore before I changed back.
After he went away, the sun came out again. I was a little worried I'd be spotted again, so I decided to catch a cloud and ride it somewhere he'd never think to look for me. I slid down my usual rainbow, but I got off at orange this time instead of blue. I haven't favored orange in years, so I was sure my assassins would waste their time looking in blue or violet, perhaps even yellow.
It was different from how I'd remembered it. Actually, I didn't remember it at all, but I wasn't running off of my own memory, which would explain a lot. It was all explained to me, and though I wasn't always sure where the voice was coming from, I felt reassured. I came to understand that I wasn't even in the present anymore, which was a little strange, but eventually I got used to thinking of it as the past, and after that I was able to move around freely.
There was a river, and every now and then the light reflected off the water at the right angle, giving me a couple seconds to bask in its radiance. The street lamps along the path by the river were a little dim, and around a certain hour they began to flicker out as the fireflies went back to their homes to sleep. As I bounded up the steps to the bridge over the river - the one that separates the present from the past, I felt strangely at peace. Even though the light from the street lamps had all gone out, the night still seemed bright, and when I looked up for the source, I noticed a new moon in the sky.
There was a part of me that felt like this was the third time I had seen the moon, but it was also the part of me that lies all the time, so I didn't believe a word it said. Even if it was trying to tell the truth, the other part of me knew that it was mistaken, for I have memories of many dead moons, and of half moons. This new moon didn't look like it would crumble as easily as the others though, and I felt tempted to give it a name, but for some reason I couldn't come up with anything.
As intensely as it glowed, however, when I thought about how its light was ultimately reliant on the sun, it made part of me a little sad (do I need to say which part?). The other parts of me thought it was wonderful, and that they had never seen anything like it. One part thought it would be a good idea to try taking a trip up to the moon, and another part immediately began to wonder how windy it gets up there. If I ever find a moonbird, I will be sure to ask it.
I wish I could've stayed on that bridge all night, but then the frog inside the clock tower began to croak, and I knew it was time to return everything I had stolen. After that, the assassin and all the king's men left me alone, and I made it home in one piece all untogether again.
I wonder whether I'll ever be able to find my way back.
Earlier you said there were two things.
I did.
What was the second one?
I haven't decided yet.
Today
Take my hand, and regress
to that time when I had a choice of waiting or standing -
still
there I wait for night to pass.
The resolution that I made still stands,
but wavers slightly (...)
under the incoming tide,
I can feel my toes between the sand.
But that's enough. Your melancholy makes me sick, and my sickness makes you weak. If this was today, then I shudder to think of yesterday. What were you thinking?
Yesterday
The children in the pictures on the mantle are all grown up now,
they have left this room behind.
The grandfather clock stands still,
its haunting chime forgotten.
Two faded armchairs,
once red, now a bland shade of mauve.
The piano is still there,
but when my fingers trace the keys,
they uncover a sour, murky tone -
mournful, neglected.
It sighs.
When I was a child, I used to be amazing at hide-and-go-seek. I had at least three or four hiding places in everyone's house that nobody else knew about. Some of them were eventually discovered, but most of the time I moved to a more obvious spot when I felt like being found.
This leads me to two things. The first is that I am still a child.
The Day Before Yesterday
I was followed by an assassin all day today. I never saw him, but I saw the shadow of his crossbow a couple of times, and I could smell the poison on the bolts. It was a pretty tense situation. Even when I was in the bathroom, I had to dance around while washing my hands so that he wouldn't get a clean shot off. This went on for several hours, until it got dark and I was able to duck into the shadows long enough to transform into a grape. That seemed to throw him off my trail, and I waited until I couldn't smell him anymore before I changed back.
After he went away, the sun came out again. I was a little worried I'd be spotted again, so I decided to catch a cloud and ride it somewhere he'd never think to look for me. I slid down my usual rainbow, but I got off at orange this time instead of blue. I haven't favored orange in years, so I was sure my assassins would waste their time looking in blue or violet, perhaps even yellow.
It was different from how I'd remembered it. Actually, I didn't remember it at all, but I wasn't running off of my own memory, which would explain a lot. It was all explained to me, and though I wasn't always sure where the voice was coming from, I felt reassured. I came to understand that I wasn't even in the present anymore, which was a little strange, but eventually I got used to thinking of it as the past, and after that I was able to move around freely.
There was a river, and every now and then the light reflected off the water at the right angle, giving me a couple seconds to bask in its radiance. The street lamps along the path by the river were a little dim, and around a certain hour they began to flicker out as the fireflies went back to their homes to sleep. As I bounded up the steps to the bridge over the river - the one that separates the present from the past, I felt strangely at peace. Even though the light from the street lamps had all gone out, the night still seemed bright, and when I looked up for the source, I noticed a new moon in the sky.
There was a part of me that felt like this was the third time I had seen the moon, but it was also the part of me that lies all the time, so I didn't believe a word it said. Even if it was trying to tell the truth, the other part of me knew that it was mistaken, for I have memories of many dead moons, and of half moons. This new moon didn't look like it would crumble as easily as the others though, and I felt tempted to give it a name, but for some reason I couldn't come up with anything.
As intensely as it glowed, however, when I thought about how its light was ultimately reliant on the sun, it made part of me a little sad (do I need to say which part?). The other parts of me thought it was wonderful, and that they had never seen anything like it. One part thought it would be a good idea to try taking a trip up to the moon, and another part immediately began to wonder how windy it gets up there. If I ever find a moonbird, I will be sure to ask it.
I wish I could've stayed on that bridge all night, but then the frog inside the clock tower began to croak, and I knew it was time to return everything I had stolen. After that, the assassin and all the king's men left me alone, and I made it home in one piece all untogether again.
I wonder whether I'll ever be able to find my way back.
Earlier you said there were two things.
I did.
What was the second one?
I haven't decided yet.