Siobhan's Stories

The Ritual

2008-04-30T05:00:15Z

Everyone gathered near the water’s edge and waited for the storm to manifest. The night was oppressive and absorbed all light; the air was pregnant with the moisture that preceded the Great Gales. The humming began and the energy began to fill the air. The lowest voices began a dirge to mourn all loss that would occur, and then the women joined to celebrate the life that nature gave. The notes flew high above their heads and began to blend and clash, mimicking what they were anticipating.

The clouds began to dance to the song; they rolled and tucked over and under one another, spinning into swirls over velvet darkness. And when they parted, stars could be seen here and there in the absence of the moon.

It continued until it came to a dizzying halt and they all looked up into the sky. Just then, the Sign cracked the sky into pieces and blinded them, and for an instant, the dark was like day, the black sky became as the garments of a king.

The Fire raged on the island across the water, and all were in awe.

The Mapiya II

2008-04-29T05:00:30Z

There is nothing different about me from the rest of my clanspeople. Mishka is the one who is special. Long the holder of my heart, she is as different from the clan as night is from day. She has not the simmering scales the color of the sun, but rather the smooth flesh from the moon, which not only reflects light, but captures it and makes it into a sparkling aura of color. And her raven hair is streaked with silver that mirrors the night sky when the stars cry their sorrows.

As I carry her through the morning light, all the earth awakens and shakes away the drowsiness. She stirs in my arms yet does not speak. That is her way: to silently observe and drink in her surroundings like a curious child. I suppose she really is a child, because most of her life she was pampered as the Child of the Prophecy, which predicted the coming of a child of the Night Sky. We Mapiya are children of the Day, and Mishka is destined to guide the clan into greatness.

Or she was, until she decided to love an outsider, a human.

The Mapiya

2008-04-29T03:45:33Z

The girl has been floating lifelessly for minutes now, but the village elders have to wait until dawn for the destruction to be complete. Her sin was terribly grave, as she had risked the security of the community by consorting with a non-believer. I, however, could not fault her for wishing to escape; it is the secret wish of all but for the fear of reprisal as is evidenced now against the girl.
The Clan of the Mapiya has long been endowed with the freedom of skies, and we are the closest to nature in the great spaces between the earth and the heavens.
And now the faintest streaks of rose can be seen along the horizon, as the faint notes of a herald trumpet foretelling the arrival the divine. In a panic now, I lean over the edge of cliff from which she was thrown. She is still floating, and a sudden instinct overtakes me.
I dive down and spread my wings. As the brightest rays of sunlight reflect upon my golden-scaled body, I am able to pull her out and soar high, forever sealing together our fates and souls.

Down Came The Rain

2008-04-29T02:17:56Z

Amitola ran across the yellow plains in the cold. She felt it, just as she always could: the moment before the rejuvenation would occur. The anticipation of all living things hung in the air, which was heavy with the onset of a summer storm. Although it was high noon, the earth trembled in ecstasy as the portents of the coming heaven-tears were signaled by all of nature, and an ethereal darkness filled the skies.

She sighed and felt the first drop; and then another, until her inky black hair clung to the side of her face and her movements became sluggish from the muddy ground.

Her clan was a water-fearing people, which was why they had chosen to live upon the arid mesas, where they were safe from any flood that the sky tried to drown them with.

But Amitola knew the story that the white man told about the floods. The rains fell, and the spirits were pleased with her, for she had seen their gift for its true beauty.

She fell to her knees, and as if on cue, the clouds parted and the Promise colored the sky.

Darkness in His Heart II

2008-04-29T02:02:20Z

Mikhail shivered as the icy winds ripped across his naked body, and the only warmth that relieved him was the thought of Sasha. Of the sapphire orbs that always left him breathless, the lovely ivory skin that always glowed like moonlight, and her petite body, so fragile-seeming, even though he knew the sheer power that was contained in her lithe form.

He wandered through the snow, and found what he was looking for: the unfamiliarly familiar house, the eternal opposite to the reality that existed outside this oblivion. He walked not through day, but neither could it be called night, for no stars shone here.

He entered the house and found the Minstrel, as he had so many times before, to battle him for the control of his own mind. Each time was different, and this was no exception; this time he was staring across a vast mountain range, and he realized he had to find the Minstrel somewhere along the peaks or else he would lose another time.

He thought of Sasha once more, and he had enough warmth to try again.

Make A Wish

2008-04-29T01:09:28Z

“Samantha, it’s almost night. You’ve got to make a wish on the first star you see, ok?”

“Oh, Matthew, you know those don’t come true. It’s just another lie to make the world seem less bleak.” And Samantha truly believed this, for she had experienced too much despair to have any wishes left.

“Please? For me?” Of course, Matthew knew that she would not be able to resist his puppy-eyed look.

“All right, fine, but I’m only humoring you.” He gave her a huge grin, as if her words were all that he lived for.

As the stars fell from the sky, Samantha reached deep inside her soul and plead with the first star she saw; her innermost desire was for the handsome, dark boy next to her to return the longing she had held for so long.

When Samantha opened her eyes, she saw that a shy smile was ghosting about his mouth.

“Well, then what did you wish for,” she demanded.

“I didn’t have to wish; you’re already here.”

At this his lips swooped to catch hers, and she felt the ice in her heart be replaced by passionate fire.

Animal Within

2008-04-29T00:56:52Z

“How much will it cost?” Sarai was desperate for the shaman to understand her plight. For years she’d tracked him down, and now that he was finally found, he would not acquiesce to her only request.

“Please, mademoiselle, I cannot grant what you ask; it is simply unnatural.” His reply came shakily, as if the very nature of her request unnerved him.

“And why not,” she demanded. “You have the power to do so.”

“If you truly wish this, the price is great, and the sacrifice you must make is too much for a human to bear,” was his gentle warning. “You must envision what it is you wish to become. Remember, to turn back requires excruciating pain and masterful will. You must think human to become it.”

Orange and black sprang into her mind as if of their own volition, and she imagined the precise workings of powerful muscles as she hunted in the jungle, and the stench of its fear filling her sensitive nostrils.

Bones crunched, muscles stretched, and paws gripped the earth where her hands and feet once were.

Darkness in His Heart

2008-04-28T04:45:09Z

She followed the winds along the narrow path set before her, and the knowledge that a single misstep would signal the end of her insignificant existence still filled her with great trepidation. It was the only way to save him from the madness that had overcome the small village, and although his violence suggested otherwise, he needed salvation from such horror.

Although her heart had long ago ceased beating and had become like a stone inside her chest, it ached terribly with worry and anxiety about the fate of the man whom she had sworn to protect with all her life, or un-life, if one wanted to get technical about it.

As forbidden as it was, she allowed her thoughts to turn into things less professional and more sensual, recalling the sensation of his arms encircled about her waist, his mouth dancing patterns upon her neck, promising that their love would endure.

A single tear fell, and she realized that should she fail, Mikhail would be lost to evil, and her soul mate would vanish forever.