STEPPING STONES; with every first step

 


-- by Blue


Most fairytales start with a once upon a time. Most of them end with a happily ever after. To put things bluntly, something starts in the middle of what might be history, in a definite time and place, and it would end as stories do. 


But in a place that no one else has ever seen, a place so dark you might end up stumbling and hurting your knees out of practically nothing, time doesn't work as it usually does. The setting itself is quite strange enough that you might think you are here but you're there over yonder. Nothing is what it seems. 


We are not talking about Wonderland here. Alice might get mad if we steal the liberty and share space with her magical world filled with mad creatures. Besides, no one is mad in this place of ours. No one is, but perhaps someone will be.


So, instead of a once upon a time, let us start this tale with an "every once in a while".


            Every once in a while in an unknown barren land in the middle of nowhere, a lost girl would end up wandering its empty hills of white that looked like snow. The place never had any source of light to brighten its every nook and cranny. It's just pure darkness with no sun or moon to help you know if it has been night or day for the past quiet hours. 


            The girl would walk and walk and walk from the wastelands of what looked like a place with no sign of life. She would be right about that, except she was there in that place as well. She was alive, for that she was sure. But what she lacked was the will to move on from just being alive. Being in a hopeless land didn't do much for her case at all. 


            Minute by minute, this would go on until it would feel like endless days even if they were mere seconds passing by. Her feet ached and were almost numb by the time she realized how weird it was. There was nothing there to light her way and yet she could magically see every step of the way. Now, right before her was a set of floating stones leading to what looked like an abyss down below. There were other floating rocks too of different sizes, but they were hard to see maybe because of the distance. 


            "Maybe my eyes are just magic," she joked to herself. In this place, one wouldn't be entirely wrong. 


            One step. Two. Before long she was descending the dangerously looking stones that wobbled at the force of her weight. The thrill and excitement filled her like she was a cup never full and would always have space for more. She did not stop and kept going for more, like a hungry predator hunting for all the critters it might reach, living for the fun of the chase and relishing the pleasure of the price. 


            Before she knew it, she was standing in the middle of a dark space with nothing to hold on to. Her legs trembled. She was starting to feel sick in her seemingly hollow guts. She thought puke would push its way out of her. It definitely would have if there was something inside her stomach to let out. There was none, but it still wasn't comforting. 


            The girl's knees buckled and now she was crouching on the wobbling stone that was shaking along her anxious tremors. 


            What was she even thinking? What thrill and excitement? This was just her curiosity drinking in the euphoria without thinking how much of a nightmare it would be. Stupidity would be the accurate word to use. Dumb was what she was.


            Yet there was this nagging feeling inside her, something that she couldn't quite explain. "You're not exactly on the wrong path here. Look behind you. Wasn't all of that worth it? Go on, take another step," that soft urging voice said. It was like a whisper of sorts that calmed her for a moment. Only for a moment. 


            The soft urge slowly became this heavy obligation gluing her to the ground. The more the weight grew heavier and heavier, the more the voice shouted louder in return. She couldn't move, both because of the fright of the leap and fear of the angry voice inside her, shouting at her to obey. 


            "You can do this. You have to," she whispered to herself. Even her voice was trembling. "You started this, stupid. Just make it seem like how it was before. It's fun, right? Just make everything feel fun again."


            The courage was slowly building up inside her. She finally felt its warmth spark and ignite into a tiny flame. 


            She can do this. She had done just that. Why can't she do it again? This time much much better, a thousand times better than before. 


            And so the lost girl leaped in what seemed like a leap where her life depended on entirely. 


            With just a blink, she fell into the abyss with a silent scream stuck in her throat for a long while as she dropped almost endlessly into the darkness. Her insanity engulfed her like a monster living and lurking in the place, waiting for its chance to attack.


            Every once in a while in an unknown barren land in the middle of nowhere, a lost girl would end up wandering its empty hills of white that looked like snow...


            Oh pity, you poor little girl. How many steps have you taken? How many starting lines have you crossed? How many times have you fallen? How many times have you given up? How many times have you forgotten everything? Do you even know where you are? What you are doing? How are you faring till now?


            At this rate, will you ever reach the end at all? 



___________________ Thank you so much for reading ^^

pixel art made by me, blue

            

    



              





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POSSESSION OF THE SOUL

Image
  -- by Blue [ trigger warning: mentions of self harm ] People have heard rumors. They say a flock of monsters have snuck into town and disguised themselves, blending in with the folk to conceal their true nature. They say these beings don't have true faces. They are like dolls with no paint on their faces, no stitches to show where the mouth and the eyes were. They are mere empty bobble heads, with probably empty brains as well. They say these monsters are stupid, but what they lack for sense they fill in with their confidence.  "That's how they're so fearless to even fool the King's daughter from the East," the young lady tending for the bar of the tavern whispered in a rather conspicuous way so that all the men and women could hear, ale held back in their throats. Hearsays and tales probably laced with lies were not new in a place such as this tavern. Every gathering posed chances of spreading stories. The truthfulness behind them didn't matter. What pe...
Read more

EMPTY SHELL

Image
  — by Blue I met a machine once. It had an iron plated body and its brain was connected with wires. Its body was starting to rust, the power inside barely flickering the light in its eyes.  I asked this machine, "What is your name?"  "I don't remember. I had a name once, but I chose to forget," it said.  I asked, "Why?"  "Young one, I chose to forget that as well. Everything, perhaps, started with the fact that I have thrown away my past to create this synthetic body in place of a once rotting flesh that could die at any moment in time."  The machine told me a story then, a hypothesis that was formed from years of missing memories. A highly likely story that explains the origins of the wires that made its robotic brain going and the empty ribcage that housed not a heart but a pulsing something that pumps electricity—steady and static, not erratic.  Once, perhaps, there was a human with a soul. It wanted a lot of things. It wished a lot of wi...
Read more

yellow

Image
  -- by Blue [ trigger warning ] yellow. i feel the warmth of yellow with the sight of it. the brightness overpowers my eyes leaving me almost blind. the sun glares at me, whether that be in a painting or if I try to look it up on the sky. i am blinded by the intensity of yellow.  i see the meanings of yellow in signages encouraging happiness. the smiling emoji beams at me with its yellow skin. it goes beyond the simple glare as it bears stars on each eye. excitement and joy, these very emotions plastered on its imaginary irises.  i ought to give a smile in return, i told myself. i ought to reflect the hue of happiness in the faces of strangers, of friends and other people. i ought to, i told myself again. it is to be expected. but yellow... perhaps for me was different. it does not only mean the positive things on the advertisements that entice the human eye. it does not only mean the warmth and light of sunshine.  for yellow... yellow also means sickness... and per...
Read more