An Alternate Slice of Reality

The trip back had been easier. I buried my father’s remains on the White Mountain, just as he always had wanted. I came… home. That word bothers me. This place bothers me. It no longer feels like home. I cannot remember being alive here. There have been too many splinterings. I cannot remember all that I am. Which one of me has come here? Is it the right one? Did I open the way? Or have I closed it by mistake? I am confused and feel abandoned. What is left of me is screaming for help.

Now, I hear his footsteps within the wood. They are hard, like his spine and yet wrapped in softness like his breath. I smile because I cannot help it. My heart bleeds warnings. My mind calls out in distress. But my body betrays me, and I smile.

I hate myself for smiling.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53179165340_74a094b78f_c.jpg

I hear him breathing, and I feel his arrival. "Are you hungry?", his voice is warm and comforting.

"No," I lie.

"I invite you to dinner." It is a whisper that enters into my spine and sinks to the base of it. I feel it calling me.

"Thank you, but I decline." I bite my lip and wait for the reply.

"I do not accept your refusal. It is not up for debate. It was an invitation in name only. I hoped to help you feel less distress." He smiled.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53179165415_86360b7088_c.jpg

"You order me, then?" I swallow hard. The King's orders cannot be refused. It is the core of the realities. It is truth.

"I do." It is a whisper that runs across my skin, leaving little scratches everywhere.

I take a deep breath, "And what is the penalty for refusing the King’s order?"

"Not death, if that’s what you are hoping." He looked at me and smiled.

"What is the penalty then?" I pushed him.

"You are marked," he replied. "No matter how many realities you try to splinter off into and try to hide within, you are marked. You will never escape me."

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53179165405_93c5ab7c52_c.jpg

"What is the penalty?" I spat out the words.

"You are ordered to dine with the King. Refuse his order and you will kiss him instead." He smirked.

I frowned and stared at him intently.

"You have forgotten who I am." He smiled broadly. "But I think you are beginning to remember. And I am more than happy to help you remember." His eyes danced and he bit his bottom lip.

"Tonight, I expect you for dinner." He turned and walked away.

My spine cracked on it's own. I heard the singing which began to rise up inside of my bones. The mirror looked onto me and I briefly considered taking a trip. Who was there to stop me? No one. No one at all.

But the singing grew stronger and more insistent.

And I found myself wondering what would I wear when dining with the King.