Prologue
I sipped a cup of tea today with unusual difficulty. Sapped with emotions , my usual Fort Knox exterior vulnerable. It was ready to crumble at the slightest probing. My mind the enemy...my heart its accomplice...me the captive. What was I to do?..---------------------
War
The cold of winter erased the warmth and with it the ability to smile. Weirdly enough I saw it coming... I sounded the bugle before it arrived. A fight was coming.... and with it , it would bring loss and grief. An end of an era was promised, and a new beginning was a distant dream.I was armed with my Sword and Battle Axe..My armor intact.
I braced myself for the impact that sure did come. Destruction laid behind it. Under the wreck I found myself. Buried one with the rubble. I pushed out of it , as the pain seared through my skin. I got up unsure of the force that had hit me.My sword lay thrust upon the ground along with my axe under a huge rock a few feet away as a result of the force with which I had been hit.She was standing a foot ahead of me, along with three others. Two males, the other female. They appeared familiar. The man to the left had ear splitting laughter that spread through the air with ease and a sword in hand ready to stab in the back. The woman to the right, was the fairest of all , alluring , enchanting, hypnotic and excited perhaps anticipating the consequence of her battle with me. The man to the right of her appeared smug to say the least, his arrogance he hid behind his glance . He was cultured , yet deadly. He hid his agendas well and yet made his intentions clear.. as he looked at me with hungry eyes, ready to devour me and perhaps destroy me... slowly. The Woman in the center was slender and tall... Her hair that fell slightly above her shoulder, twitched with hatred for me. Her expression cold , numb a complete lack of emotion. Unbreakable. She glared at me hoping perhaps to crush me beneath her feet.
They stood across me , the four of them, waiting their turn to inflict pain.
I stood unsteadily in their wake. My feet still wobbling
Uncertain of my ability to stand, I rested against a wall weakened by the prior impact
Awaiting the fury that was to come....
The laughing man approached me first.... He clutched his sword tighter as he came...
'I feel horrible for you old friend... but for whats to come you only have yourself to blame
You left your guard down, You let people in....
In my world fellow its considered a sin'
With this a swift motion followed... He held me up by my neck with irritable ease...
'some things dear fellow even I don't joke about' he whispered in my ear and with incredible force he tossed me against the damaged wall....
The pain rushed through my back... I fell to the ground with a horrendous thud.
I lay there collecting dust in my breath..
I heard footsteps approaching.. footsteps I recognized with curious ease.
The fair seductress caught me by my hair and lifted me off the ground...
She sat me against the wall... and sat herself on my lap her legs curled around my back...
Her arms held me tight against her chest..almost as if she were protecting me from the rest.
She breathed in my ear aloud ..and said in a voice assuring
'i won't hurt you little one... you know me well
your heart beckons me for mercy..which to you I will sell..
I will listen to you.. perhaps take your side
But on second thought.. watching pain run through you might just be fun.............
So to hell I will send you... enjoy the ride'
With that she began to choke me...
Her hands on my neck...I felt my life being strangled away
I saw her crooked smile...I could hear her singing in her head..
Things became darker..My time had come..
When suddenly she was pulled off of me...
and I saw his arrogant face towering over me...The arrogant schmuck had yanked the seductress off me..
His smirk intact he spoke...
'I've watched you for a while
Studied your style...
Your life is but mine to take...
Just one more memory together we make'
He shoved me against the wall and said
'This is the man I've Impersonated
Who's walk I've read..
I promised you brother...
On more than one occasion for you I bled
I waited for my time to come
For that I sacrificed my pleasures past
Now its my turn... my turn is now..
He grabbed the back of my hair... and yelled aloud
Step aside...step aside I say ...Do it now!'
And then he punched me..square across the face
My lower lip exploded and the blood flowed
I spun around and waited for the ground to embrace me
Fall I did.. but the ground I didn't reach
She caught me on the rebound...
The tall woman held me in her grasp
Her slender exterior shone in the piercing sunlight
Her eyes empty and blank
She pulled me toward her and smiled
'Had enough? are you through?
Do you concede...
Look Magenta you bleed
I ask you to stop fighting it..Inevitable is your defeat
The end is here..here for you to meet'
As her words I tried to comprehend
She kicked me with force straight across my chest..I flew back with force and hit that cracked wall yet again...
Now bleeding profusely through my mouth..I spat blood to the mud that lay decorated next to me...
She laughed and approached me swiftly...
She spoke once more this time her tone with more prominent finality
'I'm going to destroy you now' she said and she kicked me straight at the heart
I knew she'd cause most damage...right from the start..
She looked at me with that familiar hatred once more.... and said
'I'm done with you now... Finished
My hatred for you I leave unblemished
I will not kill you...its not that easy
your greatest punishment I'm aware of...
I'm going to let you live..'
With that she joined the others...they looked at me ..almost with pity
The laughing man laughed louder than before
The seductress seemed fascinated by her actions from before
The smug faced schmuck seemed elated at his prize
The slender warrior woman seemed cold , apathetic, but content
Together they turned..and walked away in formation
I stared at them...Left at the brink of destruction at their hands
Then slowly I revisited each episode with careful detail
Then from nowhere it came...A powerful force they call rage
It swelled in my chest...my hands trembled .. as I picked myself up...
I reached for my sword .. held the handle..pulled it from beneath that rock.....
Somehow somewhere something had awoken
A strength rekindled , born perhaps out of the need for preservation
I looked at my sword for a fleeting minute ...as I saw the four walk further away in the distance
Then I smiled... and the impossible happened
I took my sword..turned the blade toward the ground..
Held its handle with both hands... raised it above my head
and with a force unparalleled struck the sword into the ground...
The blade piercing the earth.... sent a crack through the ground
the crack reached them with incredible speed and at a distance I saw them fall..
All four of them crashed upon the ground..
And as they turned around with horror and disbelief..
I pulled my sword off the ground and held it high in the air
And then I bellowed my war cry.....I saw them... the fear on their faces..
i saw it clear....my War cry shattered the glasses of the panes around...
And I screamed
'Long have I been subdued...My love holding me back
Nay pain bringers ...You don't get to win...
This is just the beginning ,my first attack...
I show no mercy to you now...my blade is black
Fear my wrath now pain bringers....for now I bring it....
And its different this time.. for now its my heart you lack'
With that I charged..toward them with rage and fury
I'm an unstoppable force... and this is my story.
Epilogue
------------------------------What was I to do?... I look out of the window..and I see the sunlight that burns through the window pane settling on the empty cup of tea that lay on a cracked saucer...In the distance I hear sirens spinning out of control...and on tv I see mass destruction....I look around ...I see the half read book I intend to finish.....I look at the time...I see it slipping...I yawn and stretch...I rub my belly...I decide I'm going for a walk..I open the front door, step out and join the world
Life moves on...It always does.
Growing up I knew a boy... we hung out a lot. Like shadows to one another..and reflections in a mirror. He was kind , soft , vulnerable , gentle , quiet and craved to be accepted. He was a dreamer lost in a playground. He loved his people.. he trusted easily. He hoped for the best. Hoping life would be everything he pictured it would be...As he grew , I grew. We got to know each other better. He loved his home, he loved his family. He chose to see the good in everyone. One day he decided he was too quiet.... and he wanted to be accepted..He craved it since I've known him...He wanted it bad. He decided he would talk..work on his social act. He decided he was going to take charge of his life..That's when I saw him slipping away from me. Slowly we drifted apart. He was the cool kid phased into teenage ..psyched about the unknown adventure that lay ahead. He met people..he charmed them. He got a close set of friends and felt invulnerable.He met a few girls along the way....he fell in love twice....After heartbreaks and episodes he pushed himself further...he lost a few friends along the way..gained new ones..he faced new challenges as everyone does...somewhere along the way..he remembered me..he said he missed having me around..he said he felt incomplete and that I'd understand..it had been so long since I'd heard from him...and I was glad...I felt his anguish , his pain ..his loneliness ... I understood. I wanted to tell him I've been there all along..that I was with him through it all...I heard he left a few months ago...he left home... to study..I hear from him now and then...it seems like I can see it all happen like it happened yesterday..His eyes filled with memories...his tears fall at times trying to forget the painful one's ....his smile trying to preserve a few nice one's ...He wrote now and then..I read his words like they were mine...I understood every punctuation , every line...He reached out to me after years...I guess Its up to me now..I know him best..I can help him...I hope he listens..he's always been real stubborn..but i know how to pull his cord..I'll reel him in...I guess even though he's the loud one..I'm the stronger of the two...funny. He leans on me to bail him out..I've never failed him before..I hope I can pull him through again...He has faith in me...he looks at me pleadingly... he says I'm his rock...that he should have never let go off me back then..and that may be he was meant to be more like me...I told him its fine..he did what he did..to fit in...and that all he needs now is a balance of things....
