Glitter Nothing

A hard delicacy lay over the still night. A young girl’s thin back was painted on by an ebony being “Glitter Nothing” it read. The dark thing remained close. Excess ink trailed here and there in the grooves of the back of her ribs as angry Gods echoed from far off in the sky. The world cast a deaf ear to nature's careful symphony. It should be noted that, like fireflies trapped in unseen quicksand, those eyes that only awaken on times of cajoling and merriment; although synthetic, had been tangled among the elderly extremities of the trees in the clearing. This forest was and still is unmapped, uncharted, unknown unseen by any mortal eye.

In the middle of this clearing slept a claw-foot tub, the prize of an opulent age; as was said, centuries ago, by a decorated Frenchman “blanc pur mais corrompu d'utilisation.” The bath was filled to the brim with a light-green gelatin; the singular mixture was pregnant with twigs brightly aglow... a human dream. A shadow of a man could be seen lying inside that natal pool; swimming motionless among gastric juices of thought and nightmares of quicksand. The fetus – fully grown—silent, immersed, lie as still as the calm upon each blade of grass on the earth.

Suddenly the postmortem stillness was broken by a doll-like hand breaking out from a hole in the ground. Ivory skin clashed with the flesh of mother earth. Clods of dirt, large and small, spread their territory as the being sought freedom from its tomb. Like rebirth - baptism in a desert-water, five bony fingers declared independence from the sepulcher and gave birth to a thin, white trunk. An arm, a tree from the earth, clad in a dirt-smothered sleeve; its blues faded into blue-greys, had grown to reveal yet another with an up-shower of that refuse of the air.

The creature, fall'n up onto the earth -- Reborn! a new thing, yet not so new, for she was fully developed in mind, body, and that unseen thing that which every being bepreachedly has inside him -- she strode from her mother, a hole dug with her feminine claws, directing her immediate attention to the glowing basin a few feet away. Music poured from the ancient Oaks and the Elms and the saddened Willows nearby; nocturnes, so it sounded, as she neared the shadow in the solution, every step landing and causing a ripple and echo in a puddle of notes.

Grey dancing a waltz with green, like a game of marbles; the girl stared at the mixture in which the man-thing was sleeping. Stoic, she appeared in her torn frock and muddy hands before the souled thing, exchanging mental glances. Lo! The light stirred! An arm shuddered - a heartbeat palpitated and resounded thro the forest with a deep tone that struck every creature to the very core - and limb by limb the being rose from its porcelain bed; standing tall, a sapling supported by the girl's rapt gaze.

Enchanted in mutual stares of orbs, both filled with wonder, was the carefully conducted symphony of that euphoria given by the cherub, Cupid. A light, in the man's chest ignited like the premature flames of a small fire; having a pulse all its own and giving him new identity. It glowed, however, with the intensity of a galaxy condensed into one heart; reflecting off of every surface before flickering out once more, rapid turnings off and on. The girl reached out to him, her fingers creating a mind-bridge out of the tub. She gazed once more upon the boy, his straight white hair, green eyes, pale skin and leather jacket. (All of him seemed to echo faded memories; the hair reminding her of the purity of the frozen tears of clouds, the eyes resembling serpents in the warmer months, the pale skin reminding her of illnesses which brought beauty, and the jacket, reminding her of worldly things.)Lifting one new-born leg out of the fluorescent solution, he took the childish hand offered. Masculine and feminine joined at alike yet different epidermis.

Hand in hand the two souls found their way into a fertile wood, filled with undocumented foliage and completely devoid of any other creatures. Surrounded, they were, by dark leaves and the radiant plumage of many blooming flora. The sky, overhead, watched the lovers with copious eyes lying deep within its infinite inky expanse. Upon seeing a plant with a luminous cardinal blossom, the man plucked it from its brother, only nearly missing the needles leaning forward on its plant-type flesh. The center of the green pole was gently torn in two and an oozing red fluid escaped both ends, dripping gracefully from his pallid fingers and finding a new home in the soil below his sooty soles. Aghast, the male figure dropped his lower jaw, observing the bleeding corpse of a once beautiful thing-- leaking life's fluid despite the lack of a spiritual core. He allowed it to meet the motherly substance beneath their feet and forced a weak smile to his distressed disposition. The expression was returned by his love and they continued their frolic.

Yet another dell appeared as the primeval egress was further trodden. Music echoed from a seemingly far-off place and sounded as though it ventured nearer to where the two beings stood. The girl appeared contented, a visage? One shall never know except for the adult-child herself. The grey eyes, who made home on her living mask since being introduced to the world, revealed nothing but minor expectancy and a subconscious horror only to be seen in the manner in which the moonlight reflected off of the pupil in the socket-ridden optics. On the other hand, the man's face uncovered previously hidden fear, a dread that appeared as though it had derived from the exhalation of the aural pathway through which the music flowed.

All at once, three and twenty bandage-clad dancers poured out of the wood like tears from a widowed woman; the entrance accompanied by that horribly euphoric nocturne. Each of their eyes had been blackened and bespattered by some kind of raven fluid. The spectral beings' mouths were bound by red ribbons, covering a bit of their glittery countenances. None of the lids faltered as each shod figurant lifted one bony leg after another and bewitchingly swung every arm in unison. Toes kissing the earth at every note, the danseurs pleased night and both shocked and amused the lovers. In league, one of the ghastly ballerinas raised a hand towards the girl, outstretched one finger and left all others curled, instinctively drawing an invisible line across her dainty throat. The maiden merely smiled a faint, knowing grin. As the other motioned at the being who had the property of bearing children, a second dancer pointed its index finger accusingly at the gentleman. In a flurry of score and limbs beautifully slicing of the air, the bandaged ones abandoned the clearing; leaving the two souled-beings to contemplate upon the fearful ballet.

Suddenly, all limbs in the tall man's body went stiff, as though they were made of plastic--Alas! They were! He had transfigured himself into a mannequin, a doppelganger quickly escaped his shadow. In the still early yet pitch morning, the looking-glass-escapee approached the golden-haired girl with a malefacterous mask owning its face. Remaining still and expressionless, the girl stood rooted to the soil. A kiss was planted upon her rosy lips and at that moment she was no more! An explosion resounded within the forest, once filled with restricted love. Glitter rained down from where the female once stood, leaving glitter and nothing as the evil spirit who'd stolen a body fell to the ground, now it was the mannequin, dissolving into the frigid ground; cells making love to the grass and the earth. Awoken by the tragedy, the orbs residing in the man's skin opened their curtains and realization filled him to overflowing.

He strode slowly and woefully to the place of the beginning. The clearing that contained the birth-tub and the hole dug by his lost love still remained. Step by step, the man dealt death do every innocent blade of dark green. Inside the leather jacket rested a silvery gun; a thing for ending things. A sorrowed hand reached inside and liberated it from its hostage state. Upon nearing the void in the terra firma, each leg was lowered inside of it; invading the sanctity. His head was visible no more as the grief-ridden being had fallen to the shallow bottom which generated itself at recognizing an intruder. A gut-wrenching shot reverberated off of the once holy plant life, laid ghostly fingers upon the bats flying o'erhead, pierced the endless sky, and murdered peace. Once the echo of the violence reached the edges of the widespread thicket a glitter-painted arm flung itself out of the thin chasm, the body remained unseen. The man perished. Reborn!-- into glitter and nothing.