Fairy tales and nightmares.
Some say fairy tales are a thing of the past, a figment of a surreal imagination, maybe even a sign of madness.
I say fairy tales are possible and definitely real.
Others say nightmares are troubles playing on a sane persons mind. I say they too are real, however from another land than fairytales. A place a lot darker.
Oh the wonder of the thin line between fairy tales and nightmares.
After all they are similar in many ways, you can barely tell the difference, that is, until something terrible happens.
"Let's start with scissors." Kim Boggs glanced over the thick rim of the glasses that sat, perched lightly on the edge of her delicate nose, studying the young girl who curled into the thick blankets that surrounded her, flowing over her small form like multicoloured oceans, quietly listening to the flow of her grandmother's speech.
"Scissors?" Elizabeth Tanner echoed the elderly woman's voice, her wide brown eyes hovered over the thin silver hair that strayed from the tight band that held it into place.
"There are all kinds of scissors..." Kim continued her answer gently explaining herself. "Once there was even a man with scissor hands..."
"Hands? Scissors?" The child frowned interrupting the woman's sentence, bewildered by the images that played in the depths of her mind.
"No," The elderly woman copied her grand daughters' thoughtful expression lightly returning to her story. "Scissor hands." She paused, sparing a fleeting glance through the open window that allowed the cool night air to brush past the thin net curtains that danced in the faint breeze.
"See that old mansion? Up there on the hill?" The woman's wizened tone rang through the small room as she faded into her past, picturing the words as they flew through her lips.
Kim's eyes flickered mournfully to the sky that silently hung over the world, her soft hazel eyes drifted, observing the heavy snow flakes that fell from the natural blanket provided by the thick grey clouds, smothering the dark, haunted night sky.
The wispy droplets that fell floated to the damp pavements, settling on the thick white blanket that glistened in the scarce moonlight. "A long time ago there was an inventor. He made everything… He even made a man…" Elizabeth heard the soft intake of breath her grandmother took as her voice faded, falling into the distance. "He had a brain, even a heart..."
Elizabeth closed her weighted eyelids picturing the scenes that played across her tired mind, her thoughts followed the elderly woman's story, twisting into vivid images that magically fabricated, casting enchanted surroundings behind her closed lids.
The girl strolled through a brightly lit road, the street she ambled through was the place she had spent her whole life. Only it was different. It was years before she was even born.
Giant surreal creatures loomed over the slight girls figure, her curious eyes hovered over the tall silhouetted shapes, noting the mysterious beings they mimicked.
Dolphins dived across the gardens that lined the paved ground, stretching before her in oceans of green. Elizabeth swirled in the warm air that contrasted with the cold dark night she had left.
She narrowed her delicate eyes as the blazing sun glared down at her, leading the girl deeper into her grandmothers fairy tale.
Monstrous dinosaurs towered motionlessly over the girl watching over her weightless movements. Giant ballerinas froze mid twirl. "Stranger and stranger…" The girl mumbled passing a single statuesque bear that stood four times taller than herself.
The bewildered Elizabeth yawned softly, letting her confused eyes float to each obscure giant that stood stiffly in front of each individually coloured house, lining the narrow road, making the girl think of assorted sweets and the brightly coloured layers of the cake her gran would bake.
Elizabeth smiled lightly, running to a house she recognised. A small yet beautiful house stood out from the others that surrounded it, the girl skipped happily past the heroic figures that blankly ignored her until she reached the pale walls.
Although the road was different Elizabeth could still picture the house she stood in front of, she moved carefully across the pure green ocean of grass that tickled the soles of her bare feet, careful not to fall into the long strands that wavered around the legs of her trousers, wrapping around her ankles.
She moved towards a large window that took up most of the buildings front wall, allowing the brilliant sun beams access to leak through the thin glass, coating the interior in a smooth glow of liquid honey.
Elizabeth crouched in the thick carpet of grass levelling her curious eyes against the window, eagerly watching the family who lived inside.
A teenage girl sat, curled in large over sized chair, headphones had been placed lightly in her ears as she gracefully swung her foot to the rhythm only she could hear.
The girls hazel eyes where focused on the magnificent window unknowingly staring through the ghostly girl that watched her. She ran a slim, pale hand through the golden panes of hair that poured over her slender shoulders.
"Granny?" Elizabeth breathed rising to her full height, the honey tinged lighting playfully rolled over her young features, travelling to where the teenager sat in the familiar house.
The girl tapped on the fragile glass as she saw a single tear trace across the girls face making a crystallised path across her blushed cheek.
Elizabeth reluctantly turned her head away from the mournful girl, following her distant eyes to the darkened shaped they had fixed on.
The girl frowned, gently narrowing her warm brown eyes as they settled on the ancient structure that loomed in the distance over the colourful street.
Elizabeth's breathing shallowed as she walked away from the last piece of familiarity she knew. Her unsteady feet travelled back through the cushioned grass until they found their way to the hardened pavement.
"It's just a dream.." The girl nodded to herself looking up at the smothering blanket of clouds that angrily blocked the suns determined light.
"I'll wake up…" Elizabeth reassured herself, observing the haunting red glow the sky glimmered with as the fierce sun set fire to the thick grey layers.
The girl gasped as she looked back at the magical creatures that had gracefully watched her.
The glorious ballerina that had posed mid twirl had drooped to one side, leaning angrily as it attempted to balance on a single leg, beneath its frozen form laid the lone part that had been sliced from its beautiful form, abandoned in the thick strands of grass that waved frantically in the vicious wind that sweep around her.
The girls pace quickened as she wondered to the place the comforting bear had towered over her. Instead of greeting the tall figure she was confronted by the creature lying alone in the cruel oceans of unwelcoming grass that snatched across the pavement in un kept bunches, reaching for her fragile ankles.
"Gran?" The girl gasped as her stride turned in a forceful walk, quickening as she caught sight of the lone dinosaur that hid in sinister shadows, taunting her in the dull light.
Elizabeth ran past the angry dolphins that splashed through the horrific waves, she screamed as her foot caught on the snaking vines that crept towards her from the writhing grass, stumbling to the cool pavement.
"GRAN!" The girl yelled, managing to catch herself before making painful impact with the solid ground. She hesitated before daring herself to look up at the final statue that had fabricated through her thoughts.
Elizabeth unwillingly stepped away from the giant hand that sprung from a bed of dried, crumpled flowers.
"GRAN!" The girl repeated the pleading yell, her frantic wide eyes scoured the area in search for a place to flee the maddened world her mind had trapped her in.
Elizabeth shut her gentle eyes, tightly squeezing her eyelids, wishing to wake from the nightmare.
