Shattered Peace

Cerulean skies were lightly sprinkled with celestial pinpricks of light gleaming with a faint sparkle. The crescent moon dangling just above the horizon shed its dim glimmer in shadows that danced in pirouettes across the ground. The tall arches seemed to bend their backs gracefully, blue intricate print seeming to run across the smooth, cold stone.1

The narrow path was spread with its thin layer of dust that would ruin her gown, so she trod, bare feet, in the grass…its soft, dewy blades tickling her ankles. The thin sheet of rain coming down in the steady drizzle coated her with light, silvery liquid…small drops of pearly rain that were, at times, opaque and at other times like transparent glass dangling in front of her nose.2

Delicate snow-white blossoms dotted the green fields, seeming to glow with a radiant gleam, long petals waving in the gentle shush of the wind. White petals drifted on the wind, sometimes wilting as the rain swept them along on its torrent. It felt like tiny blades pricking her skin, and yet somehow it felt pleasant in its own vague, absurd way…3

Standing in the center of the field, surrounded by the beauty of the shredded blossoms, she could scarcely draw her breath at the dark beauty to the night, somehow tainted so that it was not as snow-white white as it used to be.4

Jagged lightning ripped the indigo heavens with its blinding flash of bright light, thunder rumbling ominously. But in her own silent, undisturbed world, peace reigned. Her eyes were blind and her ears deaf to the chaos rumbling and shattering across the skies, breaking the peace of her little island shelter. The delicate while blossoms drifted faster on their distant to the ground, but everything seemed to be moving just right as she surveyed her home…her land…5

Kaira. The wind whispered in its gentle shushing voice, whispered her name over to her. It gently stroked treetops and danced among the leaves coating the ground.6

Kaira’s flaming hair contrasted her pale, oddly smooth face, her light eyes smiling peacefully as she surveyed what seemed heavens of utmost beauty and serenity. ‘Tis a shame, she thought briefly, that ‘twill not always remain such a perfect, peaceful place. 7

The ground rumbled underneath her, heaving earth and spitting it into the night sky, streaking her cheeks with muck, and yet still all Kaira could see what a calm, settled beauty, preserved in her mind. Kaira didn’t dare to suppose it was but a mirage her hopeful mind had conjured to preserve what it had once been. It was anything but that. 8

And yet the cerulean skies had darkened, her peace shattered, and she was crowned a dead queen as the inhabitants watched onward. The sky was dreary that day, crying tears that seemed to shattered into the skin so that everyone was crying tears of red, gushing across the ground, dripping gently down pale, moonscarred cheeks. 9

Kaira’s cheeks were shredded and torn, blood crusted below unseeing eyes, but Kaira watched her land, features frozen in place, as the peace was shattered, still unseeing…forever unknowing of what one hopeful wish could do if it wasn’t selected carefully.10

Myria laughed, the world spinning around and around as she dashed through the tall fields, feeling gentle blades of grass tickle her. The sun’s worn, smoldering blaze seemed to settle on her skin for but a moment, like a bird resting on a limb weary of flying, before fluttering off into the afternoon to chose another limb when it got too tired to continue. Her soft brown hair was down in braids, mouths permanently turned up in a smile.11

Myria’s two brothers scampered happily across the plain, tossing the ball excitedly to each other. Their small dog, ears flopping, wove in and out of what seemed a forest of legs, barking for the pure joy of it. Everything seemed to perfect to her as she surveyed it…12

And yet the sun’s worn, careful glimmer had lost some of its beauty, and seemed dim and bleak to her eyes. It was beginning to sink below the horizon, but it did not seem like pleasant flames consumed the horizon, but rather a roaring inferno and death and devastation, heralding shattered peace.13

Myria still watched from her position as cerulean skies began to settle over the world, a dim moon frowning down from its position. A steady trickle of blood rain down her cheek, marking but the beginning of shattered peace.14