The sun, rising into a cloud-filled sky, looked like a giant glowing pearl. Jane leaned against a tree to catch her breath after the sheep had run off ahead, spooked or excited by what was behind or in front of them. Her legs ached and her chest was made hot with blood while her heart beat hard in her head. She was now on the outskirts of the forest close to the water, her hair whipping around like streamers tussled by the wind, cool against her hot face. Mist from the ocean below hid just inside her nose, making it wet and cold like a dog's and she wondered how far down the ocean was. The waves crashed against the cliff's base yelling up at her but the meaning was rendered senseless by the relentless sounding of the sea, an army of waves tirelessly pummeling the great piece of rock that rose out of the water as though in defiance. Maybe that's why Poseidon never liked traveling to Mount Olympus, she thought.
The sky's light was still and muted. The clouds functioned as a mammoth lampshade diffusing the sun and Jane couldn't make out how much further she would have to climb to catch the sheep, or how far she'd come. It felt almost as though she were on some cloud-covered mountain side. There were even little drops of liquid that hung in the air floating like bubbles. They made everything around her dewy and moist, especially her dress, which stuck to her back.
From above her in the tree a raven called out, dropping a damp piece of paper from its mouth. It had something written on it. It said: you're almost there. As she folded the page it began to play a song - like one of those expensive birthday cards her mom would play when she was a kid - I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire. The black feathered face looked down at her as the song played, its head turning at those crooked angles bestowed to birds, and the clouds began to take on the color of its wings. Alarmed, Jane stepped back just as a bolt of lightning struck the tree, engulfing it in a crown of flames and billowy black smoke. The paper falling from her hands now read: run.
The smoke began to coalesce into inky droplets rising out from the tree. She turned and ran upwards toward where the sheep had disappeared, hoping it would find her, or she it. The clouds around her seemed to sizzle and pop, the hairs on her arms lifted toward them as she ran, seeming to spark. This is bad she thought, I'm either going to get electrocuted or caught by whatever that thing is. This has to be a bad dream, nothing has really made sense since...since...
She saw the summit up ahead, and she could see what looked like a lamb, but she couldn't be sure. Was there someone else there beside it? She had little time to think so she continued to run, seeing as she couldn't turn around. The burning in her legs was excruciating; the kind of pain that radiates outward eager to greet the still unaffected parts of the body. It pulsed through her whole being, electrically, wrenching her eyes shut as she forced her feet forward toward the summit.
Before her was the sheep, tethered to a wooden stake with a halo around its neck, and next to it Madeline, who wore a crown of thorns upon her head. Rain burst from the clouds above them in great torrents - sounding out like static. The lamb stared past Jane and she turned to see the gathering darkness before her. Her dress was aglow with light as the dark tentacles spasmed and flailed about like cracking whips. Behind Jane, Madeline raised her hands as if to signify surrender, revealing large bullet shaped wounds in her hands. The light from Jane's dress began collecting in Madeline's outstretched hands, pulling Jane toward her, the darkness still in pursuit.
What's happening, Jane asked; what is that? Her dressed flared and set Madeline's crown alight. Smiling, she looked at Jane and said: you're being saved.
Then the lamb looked at Jane, and without speaking, told her what she needed to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment