Idyll

Beautiful light filtered through the trees. Leaves glowed as the sun smiled down on them. A gentle breeze swooped down upon the hill and birds chirped their happy songs. The towering oaks bore a gentle shade as he sat and waited for her. He laid out a red and white checkered blanket for them to sit on. This was her favorite spot. The softly rolling hills here overlooked the city magnificently and the view was breathtaking. He brought her here the first time they went out. Since then it had become something of a ritual, a picnic at high noon. He sat down and looked about, his legs bent and his arms cradling his knees. The basket he brought was lofty and garnered the attention of some very hungry ants. Swooping his hand down he tossed them off the blanket. This meal would not be theirs today.

He looked to his right, the wind flowing through his hair, and saw her coming up the hills. He brown hair radiated in the sunlight and there was a pronounced bounce to her gait. He rose from where he sat and went to meet her. Her smile, ever joyous, melt his heart. They met and embraced each other as if they hadn't met in years. He led her back to the blanket and basket.

"Red-checkered blanket? There had better be peanut butter and jelly in that basket," she quipped.

She popped open the basket and peered inside. Nestled between a loaf of bread and fruit were jars of peanut butter and grape jelly.

"Chris," she laughed, "this is perfect as always. I love having lunch here."

"I'm glad," Chris said, "I hope you never change your mind, Bianca."

She laughed at him. This small ritual of theirs was their escape. Here they left the turmoil of their lives for a brief moment. Idyllic it was, away from chaos. He cherished these moments, these moments alone away from the world with her. This place was one of the few places left in the city untarnished.

Bianca grabbed a few slices of bread from the basket and scooped the peanut butter and jelly onto them with a butter knife. Liberally she applied and sandwiched them, just like they both liked. Playfully she fed him, taking huge chunks out of the sandwiches and placing them in his mouth. Sometimes the chunks were so big Chris had to chew several times before being able to swallow. He would do the same to her and she'd fall back in laughter. Chris fell with Bianca and together they laid on the blanket, laughing and staring at the sky.

Chris leaned into Bianca. Face to face they lay, their eyes searching into each other. He brought his head towards her and tilted for a kiss. Their lips met and no where else in the world would he have rather been. Chris pulled away from the kiss and knelt back to look at Bianca. There she lay, beautiful and entrancing. Her almond eyes implored his touch and he began to lean in for another kiss.

Suddenly, before Chris' eyes, Bianca's body wavered. Ash seemed to spread from her legs up into her chest. The ash crusted and covered her eyes and lips. Grey, she appeared, like a statue.

"Asuzu," Bianca whispered.

At that, Bianca went into violent convulsions. Her arms and legs shook ferociously as her jaw fell. She seemed to gasp for air as her head fell back and forth. Chris tried to grab a hold of her to calm her down but her wild thrashing prevented him from doing so. Her chest heaved and slowly the ashen tips of her fingers and toes began to fall from her body. Bit by bit they fall, running up from the fingers to the hands. Chris watching in horror as slowly Bianca's body fell to the ground in ash.

"Asuzu, Asuzu," she continued to whisper.

The collapsing of Bianca's body continued from her extremities to her neck and head, each bit falling like a domino along its course. Chris urgently tried every spell he could think of to counteract this atrocity. Finally, after the process engulfed her skull, all that remained of Bianca was an ashen heap. Chris knelt beside the mound, his back arched in agony and head cast down. Tears streamed from his cheeks to the ground as the sudden realization that she was gone permeated his heart.

"Chris," a voice called.

The voice called his name twice more but from no apparent source. He stood from where he knelt and looked to the sky. His hands formed fists and he cast them to the sky, a curse to the cosmos.

"Why?!" he wailed. "Why do you have to take everything away from me? Why her? Why now?"

He implored an answer from some higher being, some all knowing source to explain the mayhem that had been his life. He lost his family, his home and now his love. He was a castaway in his mind, a vagrant destined to spend his life in solitude.

"Chris," the voice called once more.

He looked to the horizon. He could see some form out there, a red dot it appeared. The more he looked at it the larger it became, seeming to come closer to him. The pit of Chris' stomach felt uneasy, this approaching object not right in some way.

Suddenly, his eyes became drowsy. He knelt down from where he stood with a great sense of exhaust. He couldn't keep his body elevated and lay on the blanket. He could sense the object approaching him but could not bring his body to react. His eyes blinked and he began to fall in and out of consciousness into sleep. Sometimes when his eyes were closed he could see whiteness but it was very opaque. This lapsed when his eyes opened. The sky was above him and he could feel the object surround him. It circled around his body, waiting for a moment. He fell back into sleep and once again saw the whiteness but it was brighter and more vibrant. It seemed like sunlight to him, sunlight striking a wall filling a room. Once more he woke from this odd sleep to find fangs in front of his face. They were razor sharp and menacing, with drool dripping from their tips. He did not have the opportunity to react when he fell back into this sleep.

"Chris!"