Eden II: Translated Fears

(Prerequisite reads: around half of the chapters I’ve previously released, so it’s better to be up-to-date with the story before reading this chapter.

Direct pre-requisite:

Eden I: Ripples, Ripples, Ripples… 

Make sure to play the video below so that you can hear the accompanying soundtrack for this chapter)

It felt as though I were waking from a long dream, surrounded by the weirdest of trees; twisted and spiraling around themselves, with crows clutched upside down to the long branches.

As I looked above me, to the vivid cloudy sky, my body shifted. No longer was I observing the sky, but instead falling towards it. However, passing through the thick clouds, I saw no infinite skies beyond them, but ground, coming closer and closer.

Eden I: Ripples, Ripples, Ripples…

“Oh there is a God, my son, only our idea of Him is quite distorted, you see. We were never the chosen ones, showered with the blessings he allotted to us. Our intelligence, our path, our destiny, and our existence… They are all shared. We are but an experiment amongst many, led to hell and back for the sake of knowledge we cannot begin to comprehend. This world has never been perfected. Theodicy in general had always been a bit too optimistic. Our world is not, as the enlightened French used to say, le meilleur des mondes possibles; a stolen saying for all that matters.

The Diadem

I sat on the roadside, alongside many others, watching a city on the brink of collapse.

The night was dark but the earth had a deep orange glow to it, illuminating everything within sight.

I was surrounded by hypocrites. People of no real passion or purpose. Their eyes spoke of what their mouths wouldn’t reveal; stories of hatred, envy, and evil. And with those eyes they shot the sliest looks straight at me, with wicked pretentious grins covering their faces.

They all seemed the same, really. Though their faces differed, their eyes were unified.

Bullets Uncounted

The whispers resonated within, like nails clawing out the fiber of my being, one scar at a time. I could feel their disgust, born out of the ashes of fallen men. But they had it wrong.

I found myself standing witness to hundreds, faced only by looks of anger, disappointment, and resentment.

Waltz

(From this point forth, the chapters may be linked to older ones and/or to each other. If you haven’t read the previous chapters, please feel free to do so.)

I walked into the ballroom, dressed in a suit and a look of content, as the music of a beautiful Waltz filled the air.

People all around were dancing in pairs. Perfect synchronization, perfect precision, perfect faces. For their faces weren’t dynamic. They were as stiff as a rock, with eyes wide open, never blinking, and a huge smile on their faces. Not once did their mouths twitch, and not once did they hide those perfectly white teeth of theirs.

Stormed

(Best read with the attached track, Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1 {variation}, originally composed by Chopin and performed by Mr. Chad Lawson, as well as the “Rainy Mood” link at the bottom of the page. Using a laptop is recommended so you could play both tracks simultaneously and enjoy an atmospheric read.)

I stepped out of the door, into the dark city of light, while all forms of life moved around me busily. An aggressive beat of nature hammered my ears, whilst clouds clashed in fierce combat, pouring infinite masses of rain onto my head as I slowly came to be soaked to the bone.

Yet I was at peace with the violence of the world, as the earth shook from the storm attacking us all. The few roadside trees around me looked like they will be no more, as they bent sideways under the winds’ punches. But I couldn’t wait till the skies cleared up. There was no time to waste.

4th of January, 2020 – Loss

(Best read with the attached audio track below)

 

I was sitting on a fragile wooden chair, looking at the open door in front of my twitching eyes; watching, waiting… 

Heavy light came through, yet it couldn’t defeat the darkness of the room in which I sat. 

30th of December, 2015 – The Race

I opened my eyes, waking from my slumber, as a dense mist flailed around me. My head felt quite heavy, as though it were pulling my whole body down into endless space. I couldn’t make sense of my surroundings, or where I was. Thoughts of both dread and curiosity filled my mind, as I heard roars of a cheering crowd in the far distance, travelling through space, and reaching my ear delicately.

28th of December, 2015 -Jumping Into a Pit

I opened my eyes, clueless as to where I was. The ground beneath me was rough, and the world around me was all but known. 

I sat there, watching a rose fly aimlessly into an abyss, only to get caught by the twisted tongues of a flame; one that doesn’t burn it into ashes, but preserves it in a display of agonizing beauty, showing me that pain could be beautiful, and feeding my tendencies to pursue torment and bask in its wonder.

So I walked forth, looking at all the pits that surrounded me: dark endless holes in the ground that promise fear and pain, yet look so inviting. So many possibilities, so many choices. One may be worse than the other, one could present you with beauty, one could promise you nothingness for all eternity… And in no way could I have known which one is the suitable choice.