At one point in Edinburgh, there was a homeschooled boy named Jack. Many rumours had spread about the family that lived on the edge of cliff hanging over the town. The mother was a witch, the boy was sickly and whores were regularly seen leaving the house. As such, this prompted the general populace of that local area to formulate theories as to what was going on. The house was subject to many of the myths designed to keep children from engaging in degenerate behaviour. Jack's infant self was rendered glassy-eyed and soulless from the freezing cold. Thankfully, a ramshackle heart that just barely managed to create the proper conditions for a soul to exist was created and placed within the icy crevice. Jack was then raised by the doctor after his mother left after evaluating her own sense of responsibility and witnessing the efficiency of the doctor's care. Jack never saw her again after that point and grew up thinking the witch was his mother. The cuckoo clock was alive, not like an animal or a human but more like a tree. It grew and grew in order to fill up the space left for Jack's heart.
Jack was never privy to the true business of the whores (who came to Madeleine simply because there was nowhere else to go) and they soon simply became another aspect of his life. Jack often became restless with the desire to go outside and see Edinburgh but Madeleine did not want to let him go for a simple reason. You see, a heart is a complicated thing to construct. A mechanical heart is weak due to the fact that it is so brittle, inflexible and some of the soul will inevitably leak out during the replacement. Such a thing as love would break such a precarious arrangement and send the heart into an explosion of metal and wood, the shrapnel most likely piercing the head of a passerby. Madeleine often became drunk on the alcohol of her tears. Tears are often seen as sad things but often they can provoke feelings of nostalgia and saudade.
One fateful day, Madeleine took Jack out for the second time. The first time, the artist Yves Klein (who lived in his paintings) tried to lure Jack into his special little (void_0). Jack did not tell Madeleine for fear of not being allowed outside again. Madeleine took Jack to the safest, most love-free place imaginable. The church. While many would stare at Madeleine, she was (to an extent) excited to once again stand in front of the Lord. Once there, the shadow of the crucifix loomed over Jack. Madeleine bent down and said to him that he didn't have to go in if he didn't want to. Jack stared at the crucifix.
Once inside, everybody's eyes turned to Madeleine but the paper priest took no heed. Both Jack and Madeleine were seated next to the stained glass window of God projecting light with his finger. Projecting the world onto the flat, empty space. Jack did not know that he would later meet a man very similar to this God. The front of the church had another stained glass window towards the end of the building depicting a girl stuck in a bubble. A girl in a school uniform was invited on to play the organ. Jack was struck by the smallness of her nose. Her eyes were like giant windows, covering 45% of her smooth face. Or at least, that's what it looked like. Madeleine turned to look at Jack.
THE END