I LOVE THESE: 24c7/i/2009/183/4/9/nat_and_bart_by_
Go. Stare at its awesomeness. Really, I like the Bartimaeus deviant art things that I randomly find online.
I was summoned downstairs a little past midnight. I'd been staring at the stars, marveling their likeliness to the Otherplace. I wish I at least had enough energy to transform into a small bird and spin through the air, to let the colors and lights and darkness all blur into one dizzying picture that made no sense, but did at the same time. The Otherplace was a dimension with no direction, sense, or irregularities. Everything there weirdly merged together and were different at the same time, and your essence would feel like gentle waves were stretching it apart and filling it back up, slowly restoring your peace of mind and energy. The little corners of you that you'd forgotten and given up to the pain of this world would suddenly be alive and healthy again, and everything would feel like it'd be bliss forever.
Oh, how I itched to go back.
The sharp claws of the summons felt more painful than ever, and when I materialized again, in front of the brat, I could only manage to get into the form of a puff of smoke. A menacing puff of smoke, but still only a puff of smoke.
"Clean this all up." The brat had the audacity to say with his usual indifference. As humiliating as it was, I put away all of my usual banter.
"I will die if I stay here any longer."
The brat didn't stop to look at me, and I stared at his back, enraged. How dare the little-
When I heard his next words, I couldn't believe it. In fact, if I'd been in any other form, my mouth would've hung open and the fly that lazily buzzed around my smoky form would've flown through it, and I would've started hacking and coughing in disgust.
He was dismissing me. He was really dismissing me.
He turned to look at me then, and before the tight ropes of this world completely loosened, I saw him smile. He said something that I couldn't hear, but he knew I could read lips perfectly well. He'd hesitated before he'd finished talking, but then he'd hurried on quickly, to add what he had to say before I completely disappeared.
"Don't you dare!" I tried to call out, but it was too late, and I was already in the Otherplace. The wave of relief felt so good, and I lost my conscious state as my essence was stretched and pulled, unfurled from its limited and scrunched form. I felt myself beginning to lose myself, and for the second time ever, tried to fight against it. The little, stupid, brat. How dare he?! But then I lost myself among the thoughts of the others and sank back into energy of the Otherplace.
Even here, he chose to burden me with some task.