An Echo, A Stain.

A/N: This is based on the tale of Echo and Narcissus and revolves around Echo's sorrows as she reflects on her condemnation to silence. The title is taken from the song 'An Echo, A Stain' by Bjork - I just thought it sounded really appropriate for what I'm trying to portray here. Enjoy!

A peeled snail

A cocoon of misery

They dance fervently on my accursed tongue.

Transit, remote.

Longing to sing.

. . . I repeat . . .

I live as a stain on the earth

A nymph come undone, unravelled into nothing

By divine wrath; beautiful and lethal.

I only long for my shell back

My comfort, my identity.

. . . I repeat . . .

Eyes that drank greedily of my form

Are now blind to my movements

My lover forgets my words of praise

Forsaking me for himself

And actions do not speak louder than words.

. . . I repeat . . .

I am undone and unmade

Fading into silent obscurity

My shimmering shell ripped and crushed

I am peeled and naked, my full lips forced shut

My voice scattered to the winds.

. . . I repeat . . .

I recall a gold-shod being

Chatty and ever-smiling

Eyes sparkling with innocent humour

A soul that could never be silenced

Until I positioned myself under the feet of the Gods.

. . . I repeat . . .

I am a stain, echoing of lost brightness

Now a mere shade, faded and despairing

An unseen cocoon, empty of life's warmth

Living in cold darkness of eerie silence

Forever bound by your last word.

. . . I repeat . . .

I live a half-life of unlamented and unheard sorrows

Longing for my fickle lover

And the dancing pattern of speech

To unfold to brittle cocoon and spread joyous wings

To be more than a ghost of a whisper.

. . . I repeat . . .

An echo, a stain.

. . . I repeat . . .

Say nothing.