Wednesday 25 May 2011

Graham Gray

Once upon a time on the top of the highest hill, a small house stood. It was as black as the cloud which hung heavily above it. The house was nearly a dark grey unlike the pearl white it once was. On some spots the paint seemed to be a pitch black, a colour it would soon be. The door creaked open and a small boy headed outside.

His hair hung neatly, as if he was straight from the shower and combed. His cheeks held no redness, like kids would have whenever they’d be embarrassed. But then, he wasn’t, maybe his eyes wouldn’t show it, but he was.

He felt uneasy every time he’d have to walk out, into the pouring rain from the black cloud above.

Did he have a name?

Yes he had. Only it changed from Willy White as the cloud came. Willy White couldn’t escape from his lips anymore, now a Graham Gray escaped and a Benjamin Black seemed to appear in his mind. How come he was getting so black now? The white cape he wore was now a grey with spots of black with only several parts of cloth left white. Day by day they would fade away into a soft gray, then an intense grey before growing darker and darker to form a big black spot.

Why was this happening? Even Willy’s mood seemed darker, his smile darker, a frown replacing that smile he once held, his white hair growing dark and not as thick. Only several steaks near the ears remained white with black ones around them, drowning them.

His sky blue eyes seemed to lose color, colorless yesterday and now one pitch black while the
other was gray.

He walked rather fast wishing to be back into his room and watch the walls grow black, sometimes helping them by pressing his palms against the white walls. It was like the blackness was inside him, waiting to be freed or rather wanting white, anything white screaming of hunger.

Why was this happening? He kept thinking and thinking when the first steaks of gray showed but as soon as they darkened he seemed to stop caring as much. The thoughts would cross his head but not much. But once they would he tried to fight the careless which was in him.

Nobody seemed to visit him these days, he never helped now. Why would he? Why would he when he was busy busy busy those first days trying to figure out the mystery behind the cloud. But once he would decline something would turn gray or black depending on the way he’d disagree.
Willy walked on, trying not to look at anybody in the city.

“Willy!”Somebody called out for him.

“It’s Graham.” He blurred out, feeling a light need to correct it into Benjamin. But then he wasn’t fully black, was he? So there for he was no Benjamin Black, for now. “I have no time!”

There was no apologize, but there was the quick turning around with no good bye.

Now another black steak appeared instead of the gray one, hanging against his cheek.

He needed to find a way out of this so that his coat would not be drenched in rain, so that walls would be white back again and he wouldn’t be spending his time on brainstorming himself.

“Did you hear, sweetheart? My cat is cured; she now sings all day long, dances and brings joy!” Willy heard a part of the conversation and made a rather sudden stop.

“Yes, the girl in the forest? Indeed, she can cure anything!” Her friend smiled happily, feeling happy for the problem’s end.

He had indeed heard about that girl! Who wouldn’t have? Willy blamed himself for not thinking about her earlier. Why hadn’t he thought about this? He didn’t bother to thank them instead he began to run towards the forest.

Soon his problems would finally be solved? Why wait? Willy White didn’t bother with the lady he knocked down, feeling his coat heavier afterwards. Like a sudden hit, he felt his coat have a new black spot. Like paint it seemed to grow on the fabric, as he rushed past several people not bothering to answer their greeting. The thought of being freed kept him going, he wanted to see that witch girl, to see him go white again, to get rid of that blackness which was annoying him, which was easing him at the same time.

Oh how happy he’d be when it would be over!

He kept on running, ignoring the tree branches in his way, the countless greetings, the endless cries for help the solution of his problem was getting nearer and they dare distract him at a time like this?!

Maybe several minutes passed, maybe hours, maybe days, maybe years. Was it the reason that his coat felt tight now or was it due to the black spots begging him to stop and turn around and watch his house turn as black as he soon would be or rather as the cloud above him?

There it is. A small house, which could be labeled ordinary, but it’s not. The dark forest behind it makes a heavy contrast making its old bright red paint look new, despite it peeling in several places. Its bright yellow roof looks like the bright sun above, a bit too bright, maybe it was newly painted, but that wasn’t what made Willy wonder. What made him wonder was the small girl sitting on the doorstep.

There she was.

Flowing red hair like flames, eyes like emeralds and that pointy black hat on her head with a matching black wand resting behind her ear. Her white dress seemed to be out of place but it was something she couldn’t live without. Even her wand could get a better replacement but no dress was better than the one she was wearing. After a while the white dress, as if by magic seemed like the most regular thing to wear with your black pointy hat, that a sudden urge to get a white dress seemed to pop instantly in your head. But that wasn’t the only mysterious and weird thing about her.

Before she made eye contact with Willy she seemed to be looking into nothing, with her lips moving slowly, without a sound. Was it a spell? A predicament for tomorrow? Who knew?

But as soon as she saw him walk up to her a warm smile appeared on her lips as she mouthed the last unknown word into nothing.

She studied Willy carefully, as if afraid to miss some important detail of his appearance. The red head looked at him from head to toe. She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her.

“I need to get rid of this!” He exclaimed, feeling himself attracted to the young girl. Then a light blush came across his cheeks.

What was his problem?

He kept studying herself silently, watching the wind play with her hair, as she tilted her head to one side.

“I’ll need lilies-“

“Anything else? Maybe something you need for another potion in making? Anything? Anything at all?”

Words run from his mouth, despite his efforts to stop them.

Why did he care?

Oh, he cared.

Melissa, the witch only smiled, looking at her boots for a while, thinking. She mouthed several more phrases or even sentences in her head, not tearing her eyes off Willy White. Her emerald eyes were glued to his two-coloured until she stopped mouthing the unknown words. Then she blinked several times and smiled lightly.

“Lilies, toads, roses, feathers…” The list just went on and a small grin seemed to play upon her lips.

Willy just nodded, memorizing everything in his head. The locations as if by magic appeared inside his head and he ran off, deep into the woods, not looking back. He needed the ingredients, he needed to be cured. There were no exceptions he needed everything she asked for. Willy didn’t regret when he fell into the pond, stretching out for that big green toad or when he nearly got attacked by forest bees while tearing that lily with its roots.

There it was. He ran thru the list in his head making sure he did not forget anything. Willy’s hair had made no change, but then just getting the ingredients wasn’t even half the deal, was it? He kept calmed himself as he walked back to Melissa, watching her whisper, yes it was now possible, to hear her voice. She raised her hand asking him not to interrupt her.

He felt rather impatient and tapped his feet, making her lose her focus. Melissa asked him to stop several times repeating the spell from the beginning, but Willy kept interrupting. He was getting impatient, how long had he been waiting? Even if it was few minutes, he could feel annoyance take over him. Why was she taking so long? He did not have the time. Willy wanted all of this to be over now! Was it the blackness controlling him? He did not know, as his feelings seemed to be all mixed up, even the love he once held for Melissa seemed to be gone, gone like the white strands in his hair.

“Fix it!” He shouted throwing the bag full of everything the witch had asked.

Melissa looked at him, not showing any surprise, her eyes giving out a mysterious smile, before feeling the bag hit her body.

Then a bright flash appeared. From he did it come from, Willy could not tell. Was it from him? Was it from the girl? Everything just went… was it black? Was it white? Willy White could not tell. Could he move? He felt nothing. Had he broken all of his bones at once? Was he paralyzed?

Was he blind?

What did he do wrong?

He got the ingredients.

He did everything she asked.

“Sorry, Willy.”

Was it Melissa?

He tried to open his eyes.

Nothing.

Benjamin Black.

---

That is a favourite among my relatives. Yeah, I show my work to people from while to while, used to anyway before I decided to do a full exposure during the summer. It's going to be a year soon, wow.

This is actually my first ever written fairytale considered to be a fairytale or to be submitted to a fairytale magazine, didn't get published, so here it is.

I wouldn't say that it ranks high, as my favourite work would beee Orange or the new Path or something else. As said, favourite among the readers, so here it is.

It carries a smiliar theme and I guess has fragments of an early graspthesanity-esque tint.

Oh, on the poll, Jonny Greenwood is winning.

Dudes, I'd shag Norman.

Balcony Scene

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