The Marionette's Dreams

I opened my eyes, then promptly shut them again. The bright white lights seared the red insides of my eyelids. There were sounds around me. Soft murmurs in random pitches and odd muted clicks. -They're talking about you- my mind whispered. Why does my mind know something I don't? Which brings me back to this language I'm thinking in... it feels... familiar, yet boxy and unused. Where am I? And more importantly, who am I? -You are Eve- said my mind again. This was beginning to be freaky. the voice in my mind... it wasn't me, although it was talking to me in my own mental voice. I feels... synthetic....

I must know where I am. I must open my eyes again. I took a deep breath. It was icy cold, whooshing through my nostrils, and completely devoid of smells. I will open my eyes in three... two... one-

BZZZZZZTTTTT!!! White hot current shot through my skull from multiple points on my head. They coursed through my brain, streaking along millions of neuronic paths I never knew I had. I became a spectator in my own body as my eyelids blinked with the speed of hummingbird wings, my breaths became mechanical gasps and from my vocal cords spilled a meaningless jumble of sounds, both human and not. My limbs jerked, as if yanked by invisible strings, contorting to impossible angles. Even my heart beat as if it was trying to jump out of my chest. I didn't panic, because it was too surreal to allow for any emotions.

As fast as it came, it was over. I slumped back on my metal pyre, numbly registering the goosepimples shivering my naked flesh. I am not my own. That much was obvious. My know-it-all brain was quiet now... and thank goodness it was too. It was solving cosmic equations on it's own, for god's sake. Relief had just begun to set in, when a series of odd syllables interspersed with the previous clicks sounded out.

My brain translated for me- System check complete.

System- check-? I only had time for that half-thought, when they came in.

*********************

It's a beautiful summers day, heady with the sweet smell of flowers in full bloom. I leaned against the old maple, thankful for its shade. My mind wandered from the book in my hand. Its minute print held no charm for me this afternoon, for I was waiting for someone.

-He's late- I thought as I toyed with the delicate swarovski-crystals bracelet. "Something to remind you of me while I'm not here." he had said. As if he wasn't in the forefront of my mind all the time...

Crunch. I leaped up at the sound of dead leaves crushed beneath a boot. Finally. I turned with a radiant smile-

It's not him. My smile melted off like an ice-cream in this summer heat. It was a man in military uniform. My heart began to thud, banging in my rib cage. What if-?

"Miss Evelyn Stanford?" He inquired in a gravelly deep voice.

"Y-yes. Yes, that's me". My voice had gone quivery. No. Please no. "Has, has something happened to....?" my voice faltered.

He said two words-- "I'm sorry."

I fainted.

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Olden:

虞美人

春花秋月何时了，往事知多少？

小楼昨夜又东风，故回不堪回首月明中，

雕栏玉砌应犹在，只是朱颜改，

问君能有几多愁，恰似一江春水向东流。

Modern:

虞学生

学校考试何时了，分数知多少？

年中考试下月中，晚上咖啡又得在手中，

去年只是应犹在，只是记忆改，

老师问我几颗A, 我说老师您别想太多！

HILARIOUS!

Of oaths sworn

Of grievances borne

The darkness forlorn

The white dove's mourn.

The lilies' shade

The virgin maid

Debts repaid

Promises said

The night is dark

So frightened your heart

Hush little baby do not fear

We shall always be near

The sun has gone

So long till morn'

Hush little baby do not fear

We shall always be near

Under the dark cloud's shroud

The thunder so loud

Hush little baby do not fear

We shall always be near

Always in your sight

Among the stars so bright

The guardians of the night

********************************

Lullaby. Part of an essay I wrote.....

Misconception of Death

Life. Bright. Fleeting. Ephemeral as morning dew. Death. Dark. Unknown. Final. Two things. Contradictory. Opposites. Yin and Yang. Yet close, so close! A line, thin and fragile as a spider's thread, ready to snap at the slightest touch, separates light and shadow. You could be in the prime of life, the flower of youth, the epitome of vitality, when, SNAP! You're dead.

We fear death. There is not a truer statement on earth. Death is the grim reaper, the final countdown, the end of blessed life. Death is unknown, and what we do not know, we fear. The fight to understand is what defines us humans. We strive to conquer the forces around us, to understand the universe that surrounds us. We might now know what lies within an atom, but we have yet to find out what happens after a person stops breathing. Will his existence be snuffed out? Will his soul move on, as preached by most religions? Or will he be reincarnated into a new being? We do not know. We can conduct no experiments, run no tests. We have yet to snatch any glimmer of the secrets of death.

Yet, is this fear of death a reason, an excuse for not living life to the fullest?

TO BE CONTINUED.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Wrote this for aural assessment. Hey, who ever knew I was philosophical?? heee heeeee

相见欢

林花谢了春红，太匆匆，无奈朝来寒雨晚来风。 胭脂泪，相留醉，几时从？自是人生长恨水长东。

Middle of Nowhere

I heard the jingling and clanking of a hundred bracelets and necklaces, and I knew who approached me. I also knew what she was going to do.

Pudgy hands slapped across my eyes. I sighed internally as my world went dark.

"Guess who?" She squealed. I was in no mood for her usual greeting today, preoccupied as I was.

"Zephyr........" Her name a sigh on my lips. I seem to be having so many of those lately. Pouting, my ever sunny and annoying best friend squished onto the tiny bench, making my side slam into the metal handrest. I didn't bother to move

"Ditching, Alex?" She asked.

"Yup." I didn't point out that she was, as well.

"Why?" She asked again. I can't believe it. Her curiosity actually sounded real.

"Because Mrs Willener is an old windbag," I told her. I didn't tell her my real reason.

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Wrote this during exams, actually, and I don't have any idea how to continue. Bah, whatever. I've no idea how to write about teenage angst anyway........................

Phantom of the Opera ~ Music of the Night (lyrics)

Nightime sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination

Silently the senses, abandon their defences

Helpless to resist the notes I write,

For I compose the Music of the Night.

Slowly, gently, Night unfolds it's splendor

Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender

Hearing is believing, music is deceiving

Dare you trust the Music of the Night?

Close your eyes--

For your eyes will only tell the truth

And the truth isn't what you want to see

In the dark its easy to pretend

That the truth is what it ought to be.

Softly, deftly, Music will caress you

Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you

Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind

In this Darkness which you know you cannot fight,

The Darkness of the Music of the Night.

Close your eyes--

Start a journey through a strange new world

Leave all thoughts of the world you know behind.

Close your eyes--

And let the music set you free

Only then can you belong to me....

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication

Touch me, trust me savour each sensation

Let your dream begin, let your darker side give in

To the power of the music that I write,

The power of the Music of the Night.

~You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night.

Dusk to Dawn (Palindromic Poem)

Rays of sun now burn and shine,

Haze of red, horizon's line.

Gleams and glows now far away,

Beams with dreams dissolving day.

So it comes and this is born ~

glow with dusk reversing dawn,

Light of hours now goes to dark,

Night removing daylight's spark.

***

Spark lights day, removing night.

Dark too goes, now hours of light.

Dawn, reversing dusk with glow,

Born is this and comes it so,

Day, dissolving dreams with beams,

Faraway now glows and gleams,

Lines horizons, red of haze,

Shine and burn now, sun of rays!

------------------------------------

Awesome! Whoever the author is, this is the best palindromic poem I've ever come across, and the only one that makes sense. For those who doesn't know, a palindrome is a sentence or, in this case, a paragraph that is the same whether you read it from the beginning to the end or the end to the beginning. As you see, the last word matches the first, the second last matches the second and so on. Cool!

Caves of Night

Falling... falling into the black unknown, it seems an eternity, as I whooshed past grotesque shapes and creatures too dark to make out. Now and then, a limb-or whatever it is- will dart out, missing me by inches, and I will catch the gagging reek of rotting flesh. The indecipherable sights, the suffocating smells, imprisoning me in a cage of fear, pure fear. i closed my eyes, but the worst of all, the sound, still ripped through my consciousness. Screams of untamed violence, shrieks of unspeakable pain, whispers of twisted desires.......

No more....please..... No more! Let it end, let it end, let it end-- a wail of agony-- demented wont-- let it end, let it end let it end--fetid stench--petrifying terror-- insane laughter--pure evil--I want to die! Let it end..... let.... it..... end.... let....it...........................

***********************

"Yessssssssss........Yessssssssss! Fiiinally, one in flessshhhhh!" The creature threw back it's head and laughed, an inhuman blast of hideous sound. It reached out a hand, a hand covered in putrid, slimy, congealed flesh the colour of swamp mud. the tip of its finger traced down the snowy white forearm of the unconscious girl. Where it touched, decay blossomed. The fair skin was now defaced with an oozing, contaminated wound. The trailing finger reached the center of her palm.

Without warning, pure energy blasted from her, lancing the foul creature with brilliant rays of violet streaked white, throwing it back twenty yards before slamming in to the cave wall. The shocked creature looked back at the limp, vulnerable girl. "Magicssss? You are one with the ancient skilllsssss?" Like the god of death come to collect his victim, the creature loomed over the prone figure of the girl. " Long since has thiss one encountered one ssssuch as you. This one wonders...." The creature closed tattered eyelids over slitted yellow eyes. It flexed, and extended an oily mind probe. The girl's consciousness was open and undefended. The probe brushed against her mind. The creature's eyes flew open with shock. With a scream of rage, it swiped at the girl, leaving deep gouges on her neck. She jerked as if electrified, then screamed as the poisonous lacerations seared with fiery pain.

**********************

I am burning. Something is burning me. Four white hot lines on my neck and my arm feels as if it had been split open. I heard a shriek of agony and terror. My raw throat told me it was mine. "Welcome, to the Cavvessss of Night," I screamed again, involuntarily, as the chilling, disembodied voice whispered. My breaths turned into gasps. The pain was escalating.

"Who-who are you?" I managed through my teeth, holding in the horrific pain.

"Who I am doessss not matter, but newsssss I have for you. Sssssad newsss, I'm afraid," It's voice was a mocking, falsely sad whisper that clawed at my ears.

"What news?" I gasped. Beneath the suffocating blanket of pain, I am afraid. Afraid of this horrible, disgusting creature, afraid for Martha battling the Snowclaw above, fraid of the news I was about to hear. I fought the excrutiating pain, trying to suppress it, to contain it

"Your fffriend........ sssshe betrayed you," His words pierced, and my mind jolted. No. Never.

"No. Syldaveen would never." I said weakly, . Was it my delirious state, or did his eyes glint at the name?

"I ssseee doubt within your heart. Doesss sshe told you what will be the outcome of thisss wandering journey? Doesss sssheee tell you her secretsss, like you tell her yourssss? Hassss nothing seeded susspicion within your mind? Doesss sshe treat you asss an equal, partnersssss on a quessssttttt?"

Through the pain, his words hit home. Those were the very questions I directed at myself, the very doubts that gnawed at my heart at weak moments.

"Massssked creatures, prowlerssss of night,

Deafnesssss of sssound, blindnesss of ssight.

Whisperssss in the ear, deception in the eyesss,

Giver of trusst, crumblesss to dusst."

The creatures voice had changed. It echoed around the chamber. It echoed in my head. From the moment the first word reached my ear, I was bewitched. I believed.

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To be continued. Hmm.... bit dark for my usual writings.