Tale 95- The Insomniac's Visions

 The Traveler continued to traverse, finding herself in a small town and noticing a girl sitting by a fountain, reading and absentmindedly feeding some nearby birds. She looked quite tired, but the Traveler got her familiar sensation and approached her nonetheless, sitting beside her and opening her own book, spotting an illustration mistake and correcting it. The girl beside her took a slight peek at her book, the Traveler giving a little smile and opening it properly so she could see, the girl gazing at the illustration of the boy surrounded by the swamp monsters. “They look like the monsters I see sometimes…” she whispered, the Traveler tilting her head slightly in curiosity. The girl rubbed her eyes from tiredness, and gave a weak smile. “You probably won’t believe me…” she yawned, the Traveler shaking her head. “Trust me…I’ve seen and been through some insane things…” she replied, her mind flickering between memories of Marcielle, Sarafelle and Calius, memories of her journey and the tales and stories she’d collected. The girl looked at her intently, before shrugging and nodding, telling the tale of ‘the Insomniac’s Visions.’

‘As night falls, there exists a girl who never sleeps a wink. Much like a doll, her eyes never quite fully close, and her brain is active at all times, leaving her thoughtful but restless. She wanders the night in some old shoes, watching as the creatures appear on every dimly lit corner and sidewalk. They look much like wispy shadows, husks of people who merely traverse the darkness, the girl often observing them. Her eyes wander through the streets as her feet move, as monsters of the night then begin to appear, great creatures of all shapes and sizes that traverse anywhere without light, the girl wandering amongst them. They pay the insomniac no heed, being just peaceful shadows that require no disturbances, and in some rare cases they even approach and befriend the insomniac, who learns their names from the ancient languages and more and more about them for each night she doesn’t sleep.’

The girl rubbed her eyes as the Traveler wrote, now understanding why this girl was so tired, and illustrated the monsters and creatures as she saw them in her minds’ eye. In her case, she too felt quite tired, and found herself wondering when she would get to rest. Thinking back to the vows made, she decided that the first thing she wanted to do when free was go find out if her hourglass was still ticking or had stopped, and also see her family and give them the most sincere of apologies. She walked through the town, waving goodbye to the girl, and found herself wondering about another tale.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tale 100- The Wilting Roses

  Staring down at her book, the Traveler gently turned each page. Tales of beasts, of sirens, of stars, of mice and of men, of ghosts and globes, of bugs and crows…of blooms and blossoms. The Traveler took a deep breath and pushed back her cloak slightly, the torn rags underneath being gently pushed and pulled by the night wind. She raised her quill for the final time, ready to write her own tale. The tale of ‘the Wilting Roses.’ ‘Once upon a time, in a cottage by a mountain, there was a kind, innocent daughter who was the older sister of two brothers, both of whom she loved dearly. Adored by her family, the girl was given everything she could ever dream of- two wonderful parents, a seamstress and an hourglass-maker, and two fun and sweet little brothers, one dramatic, and one shy. They all shared a room together, acting out stories and playing pretend, and would spend their days doing chores or making flower crowns. One strange day, though, the girl was sweeping snow from the door...
Read more

Tale 35- The Mantelpiece Wars

  The Traveler walked down the stairs toward the dining room, freshly washed and re-dressed in her same old cloak and the few bits of clothing underneath. She’d tried to wash herself as thoroughly as possible, if only to remove the sins of others from her body. Though it was futile, it at least made her feel a little better. She walked through to the sitting room, noticing the head of the home, affectionately named ‘Ma’, and two little boys in her care who were sitting by the mantlepiece, playing with some red and blue toy soldiers. They didn’t look old, and reminded her of her own family. She stared down at them as they played, ‘Ma’ giving her a smile and offering her to sit. One of the boys suddenly swore at the other, pretending to be a soldier, to which the woman immediately reprimanded them. “Hey, you little rascal, you’re not allowed to say those words!” She spoke, the two boys ceasing their game and the culprit looking up at her apologetically. “Sorry ma, I was just playin’!...
Read more

Tale 76- The Greedy King

  The Traveler arrived in a village square, where a jester was juggling and playing with a puppet, sat inside a travelling caravan. He called the passerby over, the girl being surprised but unafraid, and asked her to choose a card from the deck. Ace of Spades. She stared down at it, the jester then taking it and not looking, before pulling it out of the shuffled deck flawlessly, surprising her. She nodded, confirming it was her card, and the man smiled. “Ace of Spades, this little card here has a lot of meanings. In some contexts it can indicate bad luck and even perhaps death, whilst in others it can indicate pleasure and voracious love. It can mean overcoming an emotional hurdle due to lack of appreciation, and it can even mean a happy future in some cases. Interesting card to be pulled by a wanderer.” he winked, the girl averting her eyes slightly but nodding. Voracious love was the last thing she wanted out of life, but to hear she could overcome this hurdle…she couldn’t help a...
Read more