Wednesday 20 April 2011

Never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

The mornings had gradually become brighter for each day that had passed, and today the sun-rays fell through the curtains with a sickening glee. They tickled Alice's eyelids, annoying her until she simply had to open her eyes and face the day ahead of her. She sat up, her body stiff, while looking over her shoulder at the curtains.

Have to fix it. No sunlight.

Usually the birds sing at this hour but today they were silent. Resting. It took a while before the bathroom's fluorescent light flickered on, and when it finally did it proceeded to make a very faint, albeit sharp sound. Alice could hear it but didn't think much of it at first, it was just one of the many background noises she had grown accustomed to. The mirror, although new, had already begun to gather some dirt but it was not yet enough to bother Alice - perhaps the thought of cleaning the window wouldn't cross her mind until the specks of dust, pieces of old, dried out toothpaste and the remnants of squeezed pimples covered it completely--

Window.

She stared at herself. The bags beneath her eyes looked heavy, no wonder that people stared. But her eyes - the windows inside the window - seemed to live a life of their own, twitching every now and then. Alice raised a hand in order to make it stop but the motion was interrupted by something coming into view behind her. A dark blur moved through the room and in the blink of an eye there was something light sitting on her shoulder. If it hadn't been for the fact that she soon felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder, she would have claimed that she had barely felt the weight of the creature at all. Alice looked at its twin in the mirror. It kept tilting its head from left to right and then back again. Eventually it, the mirror image, moved closer to her ear, leaning in as if it was about to whisper a secret. Her eyes widened slightly when it opened its ebony beak and she saw something that she at first thought to be a tongue slithering out of it, but there were more than one.

Nevermore.

Saturday 2 April 2011

Awakening

Even though it was starting to get dark outside, Alice decided to take a walk in the woods. What better thing to do but to go out and get some fresh air in order to cleanse one's thoughts? But no matter how long she walked, the pressure over her chest did not lift. After a while she stopped and looked around, only to find herself lost in the dense forest - this particular area was unknown to her, and now, when it was far too late, did she realise what a stupid idea it had been to venture outside.

As she stood there wondering what to do, sour thoughts making their way into her mind, the sun continued its journey downwards. Soon a path on her left side caught her eye. Alice had seen this path before; but that had been in a dream, and right now she was quite awake. At least she thought so.

It couldn't be the same path. She was not dreaming.

Nevertheless she approached the partially overgrown path but was startled by an ear-piercing noise. Feeling like her heart was about to burst, Alice stepped away from the path and nearly fell down to the ground before something, several things, several sharp things dug their way into her hair and skull

Shrieking and images and blood

until she could feel the blood trickling down her forehead into her eyes and down to her open mouth.

Darkness and.... snakes

She ran, trying to cover her eyes from eager beaks while another noise joined the cacophony. Overpowering everything.

They're not snakes.