Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
Crappery: I was dreaming a few days ago and dreamt up an idea. This story is the fruit of that hallucination. Sometimes something just has to be written and when it does a person feels much, much better. This thing was like that...
The Grape Vine
Chapter the First
Badly woven orange and red polyester cushions that barely took the bite off of the harsh wooden seats surrounded me, the
layers of plastic barely muffling the screech of rusting iron hitting equally tarnished metal. I hated trains with all my soul, ever
since they had been created I had declined any opportunity to ever board one of the man made monstrosities, even though
my...'job' often brought me to the sites of horrendous accidents. Even now, I look back and can still vividly see the twisted heaps
of metal, fused together in places that were never meant to be, their delicate wooden tracks crispy and charred, eaten
voraciously by starved flames. I was the only one who heard the long dead cedar scream in the throes of agony. I alone
witnessed cries of torture of those caught amongst the atrocious wreckage. A slight shiver ran through me and I pulled the
satiny material of my cloak tighter around my shoulders, fighting the disgust at the synthetic mass around me. I would much
rather ride horses for days to get to my destination rather than confine myself, even for an hour, within such artificial hell. My
eyes stared sightlessly out the window, staring past the simple plane that the humans around me could see, into the vast sands
of time. Myself, along with few others, were privy to this world of harsh reality. Here there were no dreams to soften the sting.
There were only now and all the little strands that brought the billions of people to now and the trillions of pathways that lead to
the future. It was my 'job' to patrol these threads, collecting those that failed on their journey, holding them and loving them in
their final moments, waiting with them until whatever comes next claimed them.
I remember years, millennia, ago when the world was still new. The Creator took me aside and merely held me. At that time I
did not understand that this would be the only time somebody would offer me comfort and not the other way around. Her embrace
lasted both a moment and a lifetime before she pulled away to look at me. Her eyes, the pools holding the secrets of life and
depths of eternity, were sad as she brushed some of my bluish black hair from my face. She told me that she was sorry for what
I would have to do, but I was fashioned for my task and it suited me best. At that point in time I did not comprehend what she
was saying and simply looked up at her with childlike innocence. Right then I felt the first tug at my heart and felt myself turn
my back on the Creator. Without thinking I let myself be pulled to where I was 'needed', my newly made body disappearing. When
my eyes opened I was standing amongst several people, all who shared the same look as the Creator had. They were clustered
around something and silently parted when I stepped forward, watching me with wide eyes. I knelt before the prone form,
something inside of me directing my movements. An old woman lay on a simple blanket, her long since grayed hair spread on the
pillow beneath her head. A smile lifted at the corners of her cracked lips and she reached a hand out to me. Wordlessly I took it
and held it in mine. I then felt what she did, the pain of knowing that she was leaving everyone that she had ever loved. That passed
and a new feeling of deeper, stronger agony shot through my gut. It wrenched it tightly like someone had rammed a stick into it
and twisted it furiously around in circles. Tears gathered and streamed down my face. A deep violet mark, the colour of my
eyes, bloomed along my cheek, curling in an elaborate plum swirl. This drew a gasp from the crowd and I pulled the woman into
my arms, holding her tightly against me just as the Creator had me. I felt her convulse and my grip on her tightened, a little thing
inside of my soul breaking. She stilled and I gently laid her on her back, trying not to see her sightless eyes staring up at the
ceiling. My throat tightened and I experienced one of my first, true emotions. I was sad. Somebody rested their hand on my
shoulder and I turned my head. The elderly woman smiled softly to me, her eyes momentarily jumping to her body before resting
on my face. She did not speak and I just knew what I was supposed to do. I returned the look and rose to my feet, slipping my
pale hand into her aged one.
"Come along." I whispered quietly. "We are not meant to stray here."
She nodded wordlessly and let me lead her from the room, the cries of mourning relatives following us. A ray of warm, golden
light straight from the Creator's sun poured onto me and I heard the one behind me let out a crow of delight. I let go of her and
twisted around so I was facing her. The outline of her bent body was growing hazy and I gently pressed two of my fingers
against her forehead.
"It is time for you to go now Eve." I murmured.
She tilted her head at me as if I had said something in comprehensible, but within seconds her body disappeared and all that was
left was a slight indent in the lush grass where her feet had rested.
I sighed softly and let the memory pass, continuing to stare at the fleeting countryside. At one point during the millions
of years of life, my presence had touched everything. No person nor creature was unawares of my presence. Even on the most
primal of level, everything understood that one day I would come for them and no amount of pleading would grant them another
chance. That was for the Creator to decide, and She rarely gave a second life. Not even to her Chosen. They all passed with time. I
had been there in their last moments, holding them and feeling their pain. Every time I was forced to bear witness to these
events, something inside of my broke and I slipped further and further into a dark chasm that I was floundering in. My hand fell
from my lap onto the synthetic cushion I was sitting on, my pale wrist facing upwards. Centuries before I had discovered a way
to 'relieve' the pain I felt by inflicting physical wounds. It took me nearly twelve decades to realize that it was a momentary
distraction from an amusement park of suffering. My near translucent flesh still bore the marks; silvery patterns like the
hidden tattoo on my face decorated my skin. My eyes slid closed as I felt the more than familiar and deeply despised twinges in
my heart. The only reason I was on that contraption in the first place was to complete a job. This ache was different though, at
times it was so strong it crippled me and then sometimes it was barely there. There was going to be an atrocious, bloody battle
and what war would be complete without the presence of Death? I am Death in all of her gloriously sinister splendor.
Well, just read and review. Tell me what you think...
Your Lord and Master;
Foamy the Squirrel