Dark Fantasy – World According to K.J.

Casey looked upward as the drone of electricity grew louder and clouds moved toward themselves. Yellow-grey occluded fronts swirled together in front of her vision. This is the end. But, she smiled. She reached up and gently pressed the push-to-talk button on her transmitter, while her eyes remained locked on the skies seething in front of her.

“Hey, guys. I’m gonna turn off my transmitter now in case I scream like a little bitch when I die. I love you all.” She then removed the earplugs so she couldn’t hear them protest that last statement. That would only make it harder to stand here and wait for the end. She focused on where the air currents met and was amazed at the destructive beauty unfolding around her, watercolor seams of doom and nothing but that strange peace in her heart. All that could be done had been done.

She grasped the amulet in her hand, burning red ruby encased in bronze. Awaiting the impact coming any moment was surreal. She reviewed her life, deciding it was a good one. The earth vibrated at higher intensity beneath her feet, threatening to give way. She closed her eyes and grasped the amulet tighter, started to pray. To whom, it was unsure. But, to any that would listen for this plan to work. Shaking hands opposed her resolve. She inhaled the earthy smell that turned acrid on the wind preceding the blast.

The next few moments were confused hums in the ears. The violence of converging air jerked the body side-to-side while standing, momentarily lifting it off the ground before being thrashed and spun about in currents that pulled extremities in unnatural angles. She was excited that currents all converged toward her–that was clear from the way that she was blasted. The direction of upwards was a passing thought before she felt the weightlessness of the free fall. Last thing she saw was the approaching ground. She closed her eyes just before the impact. The air pressed out from her lungs in a hard thud against the ground and awareness went away.

La Villette, 2018

He fell from the heavens to the Earth to the waiting snow. Puffs of diamond dust sparkle in cloudless sun with the impact. Pfffoooot. He lay there like a child, making an angel in the snow as the particles settle around him, sprawled and staring at the endless aqua sky beneath white, reaching branches of aspens thirsty for winter sun. There should be peace in a world connected to the heavens through nature. Humans rush around and miss all this. He stretched his arms and legs as far as they would go and considered the road ahead.

He wondered if it was worth it to stand. Why depart from the feeling of the crisp air disappearing into his chest, becoming part of him before turning into tiny clouds dissipating with each exhalation? This moment should be savored. His eyes crossed to look at the condensation looming on his mustache. Then, a flash of white-hot guilt cuts to the guts, begging answers of why he decided to fall. He let the feeling wane, focusing again on the warm sun in contrast to the coolness seeping to his thigh backs resting on the snow. Life is long and full of complications.

He lie back with another poof of the snow, looking toward the sky. Let one second be free to reach upwards just like the tendrils of the aspens. Hope is why he came here. One more second of enjoying the physical pleasures before starting the journey.

Once the lie got out, everything got tainted. A futile attempt to erase watercolors. Everything already bled where it will settle. “It is out of our hands”, they said. But, whose hands is it in? That is the question. I am on a quest, looking for the one in charge. It is strange to get used to waiting for something that won’t come. A shift in focus is warranted, but, that may take some time *palms your head down below the water*. They treat him like a dry erase board. Do this. Go here. Adapt. It’s a ghost of a joke the next day. No intent to assemble the bigger picture.

World According to K.J.

The Weird and Wonderful

Tag: Dark Fantasy

Upward

Aspens