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The Dream Catcher
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The Dream Catcher |
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Kethry Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-29
Posts 9082Victoria Australia 
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Anissa crept out of the lodge to stand silently in the sparkling night air. She had grown bored with the party and the density of the bitter, sarcastic laughter nearly choked her. She had always been a solitary child, the irony of living a life as a social secretary while being as isolated as a cloistered nun never ceased to amaze her. Never until her thirtieth birthday that was - and then the driving need of her body had forced her to join butterfly set she had so despised previously. She was not made for the repartee she decided as she sat in the crystal air watching the stars form a glittering necklace to encompass the sky - a glitter that matched the brilliance of the unshed tears in her eyes. She did not understand the rules of conversation that were taken for wit but held undertone of sarcastic contempt and envy. And she could not, with any conscience condone, the biting snarling attempts of the others to snare the man she had brought to the lodge with her. Despite the fact that the others only showed painted, smiling faces with blood red lips and perfect teeth she knew that both the women and men of the party were feral and would rip her to shreds at the first opportunity. They had learned the rules at an early age on the streets of Kew - a place of middle class splendour and working class ethics; whereas she, born a solitary child in the country town of Natimuk, with a population of less than five hundred, had no understanding of the ebb and flow of conversation that made up life in the offices where she spent much of her time. Too often she laughed late or laughed in the wrong places and her laughter free and loud, had on many occasions won the disapproving glances of her colleagues. Her recent attempts at finding a lifetime mate were failing dismally. She sighed deeply to the night wind and thought back over the disasters from the past two years. None of her loves had been true and there were few that lasted for more than a few months before disillusion set in and they moved on. There was only one she could clearly remember he was ideal man in every way ? it was a pity that he was also the ideal man of her boss and that he was very, completely married to her. Anissa had tried in every way to terminate the relationship once she had found out who he was and where he fitted in the organization, but he stalked her with a persistence that frightened her until she confronted him about divorce and then she suddenly found herself without his support, without a job and without any reserves of cash or character reference. She had been completely and totally cast off with a black ban to her name and possessing no more than animal resourcefulness she had attempted to rebuild her life. This is what had led her to become part of the set she was currently in. From one disaster to another she thought bitterly to herself to the sharp, cool mountain air. It would have all be all right if she hadn't brought out that stupid dream catcher she derided herself in anger. The dream catcher had been an heirloom given to her by her grandmother the day before she had passed away, it was small enough to wear around her neck and she had brought a sterling silver chain and had worn it constantly since. It was the most precious possession she owned although in monetary value it was probably close to worthless. When she had, in a fit of perversity, told the story of the dream catcher the poised crowd has laughed spitefully at her naivety. Their painted and polished facades had derided her so subtly she had felt the sear of the lash as an unseen wound and she had cringed inside herself at her gaucheness that had plummeted her into a declaration of faith in her belief about the dream catcher's power and then she had done the unforgivable - she had embellished the tale; gifting the dream catcher with properties it did not have. The crowd had smiled politely and had excluded her so thoroughly she had felt as if she was a yearling colt sent to the auction block for inappropriate exuberance. She should have crept away into her bed then she admonished herself. She could have feigned illness and claimed fatigue; instead she had remained on the fringes of the group until Cassandra remembered her. Cassandra was the epitome of all Anissa wanted to be, she was poised, softly spoken, elegant and utterly, utterly deadly. No one crossed Cassandra and then lived long enough to rejoice, Cassandra took revenge that was as swift as a viper bite and as humiliating as a public flogging. It was unfortunate that David, the man she had brought had rejected Cassandra's advances and was even now snuggling in the corner with Deirdre;Deirdre who vacillated between being best friend and confidante to Cassandra to being deadly enemy, unfortunately they were currently in the deadly enemies stage of the relationship and it did not bode well for either David or Anissa that he was not compliant to Cassandra's advances. Anissa had only just made the decision that strategic withdrawal was the best option when Cassandra's eyes alighted on her and she focussed on the dream catcher hanging around her neck. Cassandra has so savagely attacked Anissa?s beliefs that she had stumbled out of the lodge half blinded by unshed tears as the laughter behind her rose in a coronet of hatred. Now she was sitting in the darkness, nearly frozen, afraid to return to the gathering and warmth of the fire, more miserable than she ever been in her life, her heart aching as she remembered her grandmother and wishing she had never come to this place. Wishing also that she could turn back time and do differently the things she had done so badly. The stars in the sky shone down upon her in beautiful, cold indifference and one star in particular gleamed in sparking brilliance that eclipsed all the others. As she sat there frozen with fear and regret she clasped the little pendant in her hand. It radiated warmth and gave her a measure of comfort and she did what she had so often done in the past when misery had overcome her - she wished. She wished on the memory of her grandmother, she wished on the power of the dream catcher, she wished on the teachings of her parents. She did not for a moment imagine that her wish would come true but in this she was wrong. The star, which had been brighter than all the rest suddenly blazed into glorious view; she saw the flash of silver and heard the screech of tortured metal as the ship blazed across the sky and erupted into a ball of flame on the horizon line. She waited paralysed with fear lest Cassandra and her cronies come out of the lodge and ridicule her once again. When no one emerged and she could hear faltering cries of pain on the rising wind, she left her place of security and made her way hesitantly to the place where the land was bathed in an exotic amber and turquoise glow. Arriving at the place in less time than she imagined, she saw a wreck of some sort of craft, it was nothing like she had ever seen before and it seemed to shimmer with an internal argent glow before it gave one final burst of light and then collapsed in on itself. The shriek of metal upon metal caused her to turn away and cover her ears and when she turned to look again she noticed a silhouette of something froglike emerging from the dying wreck. Anissa forgot her fear of alien invaders in her desire to help a sick and ailing creature. She ran to assist and helped the alien to leave the site of the wreck, it hissed in pain as her hand held its front leg in an attempt to hurry him/her/it along out of harm's way. She quickly removed her hand and noticed blisters forming where her skin had touched the frog. She apologised profusely and two crystalline tears unshed before in anger, fell and landed upon the place where the blisters had appeared. Miraculously the wounds closed and the blisters healed. The frog hissed again but this time is sounded as if it was in surprise and she felt more than heard a voice in her ear, a voice that spoke in a language she could not understand but one that was desperately trying to convey some message. As she struggled with the language and tried to make sense of what she had just seen and heard, she felt a ripple in the air and there before her was a semblance of a woman, identical to her in every way, including the ski outfit she had brought especially for the occasion. Anissa gasped in astonishment and she felt the alien being mirror her gasp and her emotion. Frantically she tried to let the alien know how unacceptable it was to have two people exactly the same unless they were identical twins, images from childhood flashed through her mind and the alien seemed to get the message for there was another ripple in the air and a handsome black man stood before her. The black man was still clad in identical ski clothes but they had somehow moulded to his form and looked different. Anissa sighed with relief and sensed the black man also sigh in echo of the sigh she had given. She looked closely at the black man and remembered where she had seen that face before. He was a farmer on a nearby farm in her hometown, her school had gone to see how Koori's lived off the land and survived in the outback. She had thought he was a sham until he had winked at her in conspiracy and allowed her to have the first squeeze of the cow's udder and watch the steaming, creamy flow of milk that sprayed everywhere including all over her dress that she had worn especially for the occasion. It was fitting that the alien had chosen that face - for the black people, although native to the land had been alienated to the point that they might have been less of a curiosity if they had come from a different planet. She looked at the alien again and decided she would take him to the lodge and introduce him as a deaf mute who had lost his way. Anissa had always been a sucker for the lame duck, she has even 'rescued' a turtle from the road one day. She had kept it in the car for only a short distance until the stench of the swamp gas has caused her to return it to the road from whence it came. This alien would be like the turtle she decided only this time she would get to keep her new pet. Smiling inwardly, with a smile that was mirrored by the alien she developed her story more fully and made her way back to the lodge with the alien in tow. Here in the midst of my lonely abyss, a single joy I find...your presence in my mind. Unknown |
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| © Copyright 2002 Lynne Dale - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
I shall have to return to read through this, as it seems woven with intrigue... |
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Marsha
since 2000-07-10
Posts 7423Maidstone Kent England |
Keth darling sister of my soul and healer of the night, OH MY This is simply stunning writing, utterly utterly stunning. How beautiful the words in this are, the flow is as smooth as silk, the phrasing perfect, and the timing is absolutely spot on. Without a doubt you are the best at capturing a thought in a net of wonder. I should have known when the sunlight came stroking my face with it’s golden light that this morning was going to hold a special treat, and of course it did. Do I love this? Yes you know I do    Love and warm stuff As always Mushy To give light to them that sit in darkness..... to guide our feet into the way of peace Luke 2:79 |
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Bill Charles Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619highways, & byways, for now |
Kethry - you do write some good stuff. This is very good... BC |
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J. K. Mitchell Member
since 2002-01-12
Posts 311GA |
In a single chapter you've captured my attention. I have a million questions running through my head and hopefully the next chapter will bring answers. Good job! Keep it coming. "The only love there is, is the love we make."--Prince |
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Gemini Senior Member
since 1999-12-15
Posts 1203Wisconsin, USA |
Absolutely fasinating and intriguing. I look forward to reading more. |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
Interesting...James |
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