by william hessian
written thursday oct 22, 2009
Chone stood before his world unimpressed. The spirals, arches, curves and forms that create beautiful and exotic towers of silver, seemed dull to him. The hidden passageways, staircases leading to dead ends, and mysterious forms that protruded from odd places had become expected in his eyes.
Chone stared particularly towers a single doorway, connected by an arching bridge of angles and steps. From the doorway came Lybecca, his wife and lover. Chone allowed a small smile to cross his face as he walked to meet his partner halfway across the bridge. From their they walked down multiple passageways, down bending slopes and under skinny ornamental arches. Each time Chone blinked the sky would change colors; slowly changing from a brilliant red to a subdued purple, and eventually turquoise clouds began to roll in. Chone and Lybecca stopped inside of an inverted silver dome, surrounded by uneven pillars, which were the beginnings of angled arches that spanned up and over the cities of other silver structures. The view of the sky was unobstructed and perfectly framed. Chone sat in front of a table. Two tabs were sitting on the table. Lybecca did not sit.
“Come sit” said Chone impatiently.
“I'd rather not. I'd prefer to contemplate the sky, tonight,” said Lybecca.
“Tonight we fly with our minds,” said Chone motioning to the tabs on the table, “We are birds together. A tandem flock. Why contemplate the sky when we can fly in it?”
“I would enjoy using my mind, instead of escaping it, as we normally do. Tomorrow, I will fly with you.”
“Why not tonight? Come sit. Do not make me fly alone. It is sad to fly alone.”
“Why make me fly against my wishes? It is sad to fly against my wishes.”
“Fine,” Chone said turning his back to her abruptly, “I'll fly alone.”
He put both tabs into his mouth. Chone blinked for a moment and two more tabs appeared before him. His eyes began to fill with resentment. Lybecca's eyes filled with guilt. She walked to his side. Lybecca reached for a tab.
Chone looked up at her, “What are you doing?”
“I don't want you to be alone,” she said.
The splendor of the silver city, which made no sound around them, was quickly lost in the exploration of their minds. Chone and Lybecca took tab after tab of drugs, designed to open your mind like a flower and allow your spirit to roam within the constantly moving subconscious. Chone's plea for company during this trip is rarely possible. Lybecca's experience with the drug is quite exclusive to her own mind, as is Chone's experience in his mind. As they lie face to face on the ground starring into each others eyes, their minds rarely pay attention to anything their eyes see. Only for brief moments reality set in and Chone or Lybecca realized that they were lying together, and as one did notice the other did not. The other one usually looked comatose and paralyzed, drooling, slightly cross eyes or moaning odd moans. If it was not for the need to re supply the drug or simply restart the flowering of the mind in a new spot, it would seem there would be no need for reality at all.
Hours passed, Chone resupplied tabs to his tongue, Lybecca did the same, tabs went in, minds went out. As the cycle continued, Chone found himself waking to different colored skies, new smells in the air, and even gusts of wind in a variety of temperatures. As the trip continued, memory began to let go of all communication with the mind, and only briefly and intermittently does Chone recognize Lybecca standing above him, being surrounded by swinging snakes and seagulls of endless blinking colors, slamming his knee into the motionless face of his lover, dropping gigantic sparkles from millions of miles in the air only to catch them at the bottom and become engulfed in them, ripping flesh, climbing into a cavity in his own ankle and looking out at gears of water, laughing as his own spit was spiraling in the air, furry infestations found under other furry infestations...
Like so many times before, Chone woke face down on the soft gray floor of his silver city. Every surface was made of rigid sturdy silver materials, while holding tight forms remained soft to the touch and cradled the weight of a human body in any position. Chone had vomited a pool of clear liquid which was a normal side effect when taking tabs in abundance, and taking tabs in abundance was a pattern Chone chose. Tiny beautiful flowers were budding in the pool of vomit. The pool of vomit was actually very pleasant, as the drug was designed to induce clear ordorless vomit which grew fragrant flowers. Chone sat up in a daze and lifted himself to his feet, he stretched and smiled. Chone spun around to find not far from his delicate flowers and pool of vomit, was a pool of his lovers blood. Lybecca's face was mushed. She was obviously lifeless. Sound continued to be silent.
Chone begins to cry, but turns his body around stopping his emotions.
“She's just a clone. Just a clone,” Chone said shaking his head in disapproval of his own actions. Chone begins walking up a ramp, away from his wife. He closes his eyes. Immediately, the back of his eye lids prompts a navigation of options as he begins to build a new world, he selects a new Lybecca and with a blink of his eyes he restarts again in a city made only of feathers and flooded with the glorious sounds of an ocean harp.
(all rights are reserved by the author)
