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Heartbreak

When you have to curl into a ball to escape from the agony. The salty tears that sting as they fall. The hoarse cries that that ring dully in your ears. Then as time goes by, the pains fades and your emotions cool to their freezing point. The moment your body finally relaxes, eyes blown and blank from shock followed by acceptance. That is what heartbreak is made up of.

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Duality

Hot.

Cold.

Antipathy

Empathy.

It's all connected.

Cold so deep it burns.

Fire so hot it freezes.

You learned to be antipathetic because you were once empathic.

In soothing your antipathy you learn to be empathetic.

A circle unbroken.

So just call me Janus.

#amwriting

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The First Oracle

They're coming faster and faster. Visions containing such tragedy that I am not so sure I can bear to see anymore. Where lush green fields grow I see deadened Earth, ditches from blasts, and a myriad of dust devils. When I close my eyes, I see fire devouring people young and old.

Make it stop! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP! I hear the screams of men, women, and children, and it is driving me insane.

My mother always joked that we had some 'fey' blood. God knows I always thought my mom was equivalent to a Banshee. The way she could occasionally tell when death comes to good men never failed to unnerved me.

The nightmares started once a month. Then twice and at its worst, it was a continuous stream. I'd wake up from a nightmare only to fall back into another repeatedly. Only closing my eyes when I was too exhausted to fight Morpheus.

Then the raids started. The bombs flew. The people wailed their tragedies. The land bled and the rivers turned dry due our inability to heal the hate we bear for diversity and peace.

We murdered each other and for what?

Monetary concepts that do not equate to the value of life.

Lusting for the the perversion of what was once called patriotism.

So mankind indulged in gluttony. Instead of protecting and shielding we devoured. We devoured the hope of a new genesis of peace between us. Seeking only the pleasure of materialism. More more more. Never enough! Need more!

We destroyed ourselves.

So here I am. Standing over ravaged lands in front three wooden stakes stabbed into the ground. The wind gently comes over the land sending the three little ash ash scraps of cloth tied to their grave markers. No longer a mom nor a wife. Those precious titles were taken away.

Now I am simply 'The Mad Oracle'. The one who foretold but was ignored. Another Cassandra of Delphi. After all, foresight is the new insight but then again who ever listens to the ramblings of the maddened.

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Shhh

One night I tore down the pretty facade I wore and took a look at the girl behind the mask.

A feral creature chained by excuses and fear.

Fueled by rage. Living on hypocrisy.

Bound in place unable to be released.

Shut in. Secrets never to pass her lips.

Yes, that is what hides behind my smiles and silly nuances.

A person so suppressed they can hardly stand to breathe.

How to break those chains? Should I even break them?

I know if I do my life will turn upside down. Everything put so carefully in place will in turn become a maelstrom that shall wreck the hardened armor I call callousness to reveal the fragility behind.

I want to pull myself away from all those inner accusations and fears.

Bury the hatchet called hate.

Yes indeed it is terrifying to face one's inner self.

But, that is why I wear my facade, smile 'naively', and most of all keep everything behind my mask.

This is my secret.

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Love it!

The Wolf’s Mask

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I know not the woes you bear.

The sins that stain your soul.

The regrets that haunt your dreams.

I only know you as you stand before me.

The kindness you have shown.

The quiet generosity.

The solemn forbearance.

Your unending patience.

Your gentleness.

So while others may see the beastly skin you wear.

I see a beautiful soul.

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I was betrayed.

Hunted,

Tricked,

And caged.

Then one day, a handsome idler of a prince swooped in from nowhere claiming to be my happily ever after.

Stop!

Where were you when I alone?

Hurt?

Afraid?

Don't act like you didn't know. How could you not?

Your doubts for safety and heart were casted away by the words of another woman.

Instead of helping, you ignored the abuse and left. Gallivanting across the lands like an innocent in search of a sweet easy 'love'.

And then when disillusioned, you returned.

You waited until my troubles went away like a vulture before you proclaiming your undying devotion for me.

And, that is not love.

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Quartz

Your ideal of perfection suffocates me.

Untouchable.

Cold.

Distant.

Your whispers of calming scratch at my ears.

No longer to be shoved in a cage for your admiration.

I will be like quartz.

And fracture upon fracture, showing a vibrancy that varies like the sea in light and glimpses of possibilties in the moonlight.

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Let Me Fall

Spin me around and around till I no longer know left from right. Then let me fall so I look up at the star scattered sky.

Leave me there to learn that even if I am not visible amongst the crowd I can shine brightly in my own way.

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Little Girl Dressed in  White

Little girl, dressed in white, standing atop the black mountain.

Do you know your eyes hold no sorrow for the city collapsing into ruin?

Do you hear their cries amidst the ferocity of the earth and the roaring of the waves?

Little girl, it is as if you are untouched by the travesty occurring below your feet.

The weight of a thousand worlds contained within your gaze.

Calm, detached, and desolate.  

Little girl, standing above the chaos, why are you staring at me?

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Beings of Thaumatos: The Shrouded

The Shrouded are priests & priestess, oracles, and seers that died because of their prophecies.

While you can go to their living compatriots, their phropecies are not as accurate. Suffice to say, there is a smudge in it somewhere keep it from being completely infallible. However, should one go to a Shrouded, one would recieve clear and concise telling with no mistake or misleads.

There is a catch though. A prophecy from The Shrouded demands the one seeking be cursed. Fate does not show her hand clearly without any demands.

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Snow White's Woe

I had love once and lost it. I thought my family would accept me flaws and all. A perfect appearance may seem a boone to have, but then again, how many more are people willing to judge you? It would be alright if it actually something worth judging. Things such as who you are. That takes years of personal cultivation rather than what nature has given.

I ran from those unrealistic accusations, expectations, and found a new home. It wasn't like what I had previously experienced but it was better than those dagger-like words clamoring in my ears and ripping my soul to shreds.

At least in the beginning. The happy dinners we shared were the only company I had. From dawn till dusk I sang as I worked to chase the loneliness that haunted me away. In a way, I had hoped that those sweet melodies from a time when all I knew was love, would fill the wound in my heart.

It wasn't that my new home was a bad place but it was a place where only happiness existed when my adoptive family was around. There was no anger, no sadness, no pain. It wasn't enough. I wasn't that girl anymore. I had been driven away, hunted, and stained by life's dark side. If my existence were to cease it would bring joy to one who I once called family.

How can you exist in a place of perfect happiness when you have known sorrow?

It just isn't possible. Without a doubt you can learn to be happy again, but what about the open wounds in your heart? They can't just cease to be. They are real. They are a part of you. They have changed you. It is pointless to try to go back because you have inherently changed.

Not knowing how to deal with all of this, I buried it. I buried my core-shattering sorrows under those noisy laughter-filled dinners and sweet songs of the innocent.

Only, it didn't work.

So one day when an old woman came bearing a red apple, I knew. I knew that she had come but maybe, just maybe, I could go back to that time when I was happy innocent little girl.

I ignored my inner screams of not wanting to place myself in the hands of someone who did not even see me. I trusted stupidly, blindly.

So I took a bite and my world fell silent.

When I opened my eyes. A strange man with eyes full of joy and hope was there.

I looked at him and said, "I always thought that my prince would come."

Birds and animals alike began to dance and chirp in happiness. The prince smiled gently as he held out his hand to help me out of my glass coffin.

I stared his hand for a moment. "Prince, I am sorry to say this, but the sweet and innocent maiden you have sought is not here. I am not her. I cannot exist in your fairy tale, for I know the pain of being rejected and betrayed for mere shadows of inanities and misperceptions."

I paused, took a moment to firm up my resolve and continued, "I know of the hurt that comes with being unable to exist in pure happiness. I have changed. I am more than just sweet songs, innocence and abiding love- and after having gone through all of that, I just want to be left alone. Please."

The prince's smile faded away, and his hand fell awkwardly to back to his side. He took a step back, his eyes searched mine, looking for something that no longer existed. With a quiet sigh he turned, walked back to his horse, mounted, and left.

The animals hushed and my adoptive family quieted down.

"Snow-" They started.

"Please just go." I whispered. I didn't want to pretend. I was tired of putting on the facade of a happy girl that they wanted. It hurt too much to put on that mask and smile when all I wanted was cry, to somehow release the tears that were locked inside of me.

I grabbed the top of what was once a glass coffin, pulled it back over me and closed my eyes. Enjoying the quiet and safety in my little glass box.

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Girl & Wolf

“Dear little girl, are you not afraid of me?” The wolf asked, a toothy mock-filled grin forming at the end of his question.

“Mr. Wolf, rather than saying I am afraid of you, it’s more like I do not understand you.” The girl in red responded.

“What is there to understand girl? I am a wolf, you are my prey. It is the law of nature for the weak to be consumed by the strong.

The little girl looked solemnly at the wolf for a moment.

“Mr. Wolf, I agree with what you said, only there is a bit of a problem with your perspective sir."

“My perspective? Well then dear child, what do you find to be the issue with my perspective?” The wolf questioned loftily as it padded silently across the leaf-covered ground closer to the girl.

“You have been misled." She responded with a cold look upon her doll-like face. "My appearance itself is deception. I am no weak prey for you to ambush. I am strong. Strong enough to face you. To look you in the eye and stare you down. To keep staring at you until you can bear it no more.”

The wolf paused, cocked his head and looked carefully at the girl, his amber eyes gleaming with an ancient intelligence.

The forest was silent. Not a sound could be heard as the two sides stood at their impasse. Not even the wind played its tricks nor the birds and small animals sang and hummed out their little activities. It was if time froze, and in that moment the wolf seemed had a quiet realization.

“Little girl." The wolf started as he slowly circled the girl, testing her. When he came face to face with her again he stopped, standing less than a half a foot away. He leaned closed towards her face and bared his teeth as if to bite. The girl did not move. Not one inch. A sort of quiet dignity clinging to her small frame.

"Hmm." The wolf began again as pulled back some distance. "Little girl clad in red, I will let you go today. For even a wolf such as myself, I find that you are worthy of letting go just this once. However, should I find you again...” the wolf flicked his silvery tail and another terribly coy tooth-filled grin appeared, “I may just gobble you down."

The girl nodded slowly and seriously, picked up her basket of food, and walked past the wolf. She paused after moment and turned back towards the large beast.

“Mr. Wolf, who knows what may happen next time we meet, or if, we shall ever meet again. We do not know what the future holds. However, for a kindness granted today, take this bit of food.” She said as she pulled out a biscuit followed by a handful of nuts and berries from her basket. The girl carefully placed the food on a rock before continuing on her journey.

The wolf turned only after he could no longer hear the girl’s footsteps and sniffed at the food before eating a berry. ‘Interesting girl,’ he thought to himself. 'Very interesting indeed.’

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Priorities

“Icarus! Drop the human now.” Demanded Red as she pulled the human’s hands in an attempt to get the fifteen foot tall t-rex to let go.

“Mmramwr.” The dinosaur growled out from between the man’s pants as he tried to tug away his new project away.

“Icky, we decided last time I would get to choose what race to turn the next human into.” Red argued digging in her feet. 'Really,' she thought to herself, she needed to put that calendar up and use the giant post-it notes. Now she was stuck playing tug-of-war with her best friend and partner in mischief.

“Icky, you promised damn it!” Red yelled as she continued to pull on her end ignoring the groans coming out of the human. By this point she was almost parallel to to the ground and her feet were starting to slip.

Icky narrowed his eyes in irritation at Red. Was it his fault? She was the one who "forgot" about the incident the other day where she tripped his human causing her to become a barnacle?

No. No it was not. Add on the fact she took his last piece of cake!

Look, there was only so much a dino could take. Even if he could forgive her causing his potential baker (fire-related species) to turn into a barnacle, he would not forgive the cake issue! Cake is happiness and she ate his last slice of scrumptious raspberry cake. Unforgivable!

So no, no human for you today. I, Icarus, also know as Icky the T-Rex, shall decide this human’s fate. Not you, you red-clad puff of smoke in human form…

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Mayhem on Whim

The Whimmery is the a four-story elf-meets-Santa inspired store in central Thaumatos. Priding itself in all kinds of jokes, pranks, and tricks, this is a favorite amongst our more mischievous people.

The Whimmery, a clan-owned store, was opened four centuries ago by a shapeless clan, the Lo'Kir and remains in their clan till this day.

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Apothecaries

Holistic Apothecaries are generally run by the Bane Branch of the Verdant (plant-people). 

The Poison Me Better Apothecary at The Dragon’s Cottage is managed by a set of triplet Nightshadian sisters, Omorfia, Atropa, and Kerasi. Don’t let their gorgeous bo-ho looks fool you for like their namesakes, these sisters are just as deadly as they are beautiful.

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I define me, not you.

Red