Wings

Deliciously bitter, the familiar heavy biting flavour had spread across his tongue. Rather than grimacing, Acetyl smiled, eyes sliding shut as he chewed. Carefully masticating each tiny morsel so as not to lose a single bit, he finished off all six pills, washing them down with a swallow from his rainwater jar. 1

Then, patience.2

He is never bored or anxious during the waiting. The seeds never fail to sprout. Over many years of association, he has learned to enjoy the anticipation.3

Half an hour later, he had begun to grin in earnest as he felt the creeping fog reach up to envelop him.4

Now he wanders through the gray mists, enjoying the cool caress of milky tendrils. He hunts for nothing in particular this time, simply enjoying the privilege of being in that nonplace outside time. The smoky voice of the poppy spirit whispers sly observations in his ear as the wanderer proceeds through the rolling fogbank, gazing upon indefinable truths rendered for his perusal alone.5

Time? I only deal with real things, the Smoke Dragon chortles. The mist of its breath curls through-around the raindrake's small body.6

In the physical world, he lies under an awning in the darkness, bundled in his oilcloth coat two sizes too large, looking for all the world as if he couldn't fall any farther, alone and forgotten.7

But in the only place that matters to Acetyl, he is happy, because even if the Dragon's wings aren't his own, they might as well be.8

It doesn't matter that it has been years since he was able to extend his real wings. It doesn't matter that he must pretend to be misborn or be killed. Continuity is no longer relevant. As far as Acetyl is concerned, he still has a real name, and the killing never happened.9

Wheeling through the heart of a storm, a stroke of lightning sometimes crosses over-through his body. This is how he feels now; soaring and diving through the Dreamtime, still and silent in the small, angry material world. 10

Itching, scratching at his arm, his side, his thigh, unaware. The torn-away fur, damaged scales, the slight leak of blood -- irrelevant.11

He is busy circling an ephemeral orchid, offering it in chiminage to the Moon for gnosis, immersed in the past, seeking the spoor of the future in far-distant corners.12

The being once known as Drrkhn, now Acetyl Diamorphine, may be trapped forever in this hellhole of a city, but his wings take him everywhere he needs to go.

Author notes

When I saw "Heroin" on the option list I literally laughed aloud. That was a central inspiration for this piece. Among other things...

A contest entry

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Comments

1 - 12 of 12

  • trekkergirl
    August 4, 2008

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    okay I didn't realize that this was a drug-related story until I read the notes... I was sort of confused until then.

  • Writing0Freedom
    July 24, 2008

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    Wow, this is really interesting and confusing. A little hard to understand at first but you might have meant it to be that way. I like the description, I could really see his dream world. A couple of questions were left unanswered though because I didn't quite understand the dragon part. Is this part of a bigger picture maybe or story?
    The way you described it was very well done though. The way a drug high might be, you really portrayed that. Nice piece!
    WritingFree

    ending: 4.


    • intoothandclaw
      July 24, 2008
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      My short stories are connected by character and theme rather than having one overall plot. This particular character has a rather long and complex backstory, but to sum it up -- he used to be, not a dragon, but a member of a sort-of-dragonlike advanced therapsid species which had a strong connection to the animistic spiritual realities of this world but no real "civilization" and hence were considered animals by the anthropomorphic races of the world which call themselves "humans".

      Because this is an alternate-universe Earth, the history of the Stained World is pretty much the same as real-world history, with minor alterations for names, species, and such.

      In the Stained World, lions and tigers and the like are anthropomorphic human races, so instead of having tiger-skins and the like, they have other wildlife. Drrkhn's race was one of many species wiped out by hunting. In an attempt to save themselves, the elders of another species/"tribe" of drakes came up with a ritual which would allow the spirits of the drakes to leave their bodies and be reborn in human bodies with their old memories, allowing the race to hide in plain sight among their enemies. They passed this ritual to all the other drake tribes, and it worked for most of them.

      But something went bad for the Krros, and instead of being properly reborn into fetuses and babies, they got dumped into adult bodies, ejecting the body's true spirit and essentially involuntarily possessing the body -- permanently, until natural death. Worse, instead of looking like a normal member of a normal human race, they look like anthropomorphic versions of their own race -- in short, like mutant freaks to normal humans, albeit most of them have been able to pass themselves out as genetic hybrids, "misborns". Worst, it destroyed their memories, so none of the Krros remember who they are. For all they know, they really *are* mentally ill misborns.

      That's why his name is Acetyl now -- he named himself, not remembering his own name. Et cetera, rambling. Thank you.

      P.S.: It's not how a drug high *might* be.


  • Melancholic Smile
    July 4, 2008
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    I was a bit confused at first when I read this and it wasn't until the very end that I understood what was happening - but maybe this is how you intended the story to be read? Your use of imagery in your detailed descriptions is fantastic - you have a great way with words. Thank you for entering my contest and good luck!


  • Naive.
    July 3, 2008
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    You're extremely good at descriptive writing, you know that? It's amazing. I can just get lost in the way you describe things...it's unique and captivating. It's just so fucking good. O.O I'm also glad you chose drug addiction, because I wasn't expecting anyone to actually write about that...so, thank you. Incredible job.

    Again, you don't need luck.

    -jj


  • EphemeralStyle
    April 28, 2008
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    Very interesting... Kind of confusing, but I'm assuming this is the beginning of a story and evrything would be explained in full later. Still, this concept intrigues me. Nice work! Good luck in the contest

    Eph

    PS. How do you pronounce 'Zhrrj'drrkhn', hmm? Lol!

    • intoothandclaw
      April 28, 2008
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      It's not the beginning of a story so much as just a scene from the character's life. Which parts are confusing?

      I do intend to eventually consolidate these kinds of little scenes into a proper story, but they weren't written with that in mind, per se. It's a vignette, really.

      Thank you!

      P.S.: It's not meant to be pronounceable by human tongues, albeit I can almost manage it. The alienness of the name is meant to make clear the point that he isn't human inside.

      • EphemeralStyle
        April 28, 2008
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        I think I just didn't understand what some of the mentioned concepts were... for example, I'm not sure who the Smoke Dragon is, or the raindrake... and how did he get these wings? But as I said, I figure it would be explained in another part of the story.

        PS. Cool!

        Eph


  • RxxSpiritWolfxxJ
    April 22, 2008

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    Whoa...amazing read, mate. Halfway a guy on speed, mixed with some fantasy and myth. Well done, I liked this a lot.

  • creationsfromheart
    April 22, 2008

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    This is the best write I have read tonight, the discription is wonderfully creative, with imaery impact wonderful write.

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