Creatures of Power

The stillness of the cool and grey eerie morning atmosphere enveloped the trees in the woods, not too far away from a cabin by the sandy beach. It is in a world where the discovery of the unknown is left at the fingertips of a man who’s lived his whole life alone to explore the wonders of life.

He brings the steamy mug to his dry lips and slowly sips the hot liquid into his mouth. It warms him up as he peers at the woods that are completely covered in thick fog from his kitchen window. He opens the window and sucks in the air, then suddenly, his pupil grows wider in fear of what he sees, squishing the irises back. His jaw drops at the sight of what is in the woods. At once a raven bird flies in through the window and lands on the floor lifeless. The wind blows louder than the man’s heartbeat.

“It is, it!” He whispers. He loses balance and strength in his hands so he drops his tea. The mug crashes on the floor and tea splashes everywhere. Suddenly, his vision becomes a blur, and his body twitched, and his eyes give up on him. His breathing became slow and shallow. The oxygen in the room seems to be less. All at once, his senses shut down and he lands on the ground, unconscious.

The smell of saltwater embodied the atmosphere and the wind brushed the man’s pale skin. White doves flew above encircling the man under the warm vibrant sun. His eye then flutters open at the sound of the crashing waves, where he finds his body lying upon the sand of the beach. Each part in his body gains back its strength and he stands up. He peers across the vast waters where again his eyes meet the petrifying creature. To the man, it is something unknown and foreign but yet of a similar resemblance.

“This creature has legs and arms...just like me. You have a head, two eyes, a nose that can smell, ears that can hear, and hair, although thicker and more than mine, you are a resemblance of me.” The man whispers to himself as though speaking to the creature.

He looks at it and it who seems to stand still has its eye fixed on the man.

“The only difference between you and me is the color of our skin...what are you?” the man asks.

It approaches the man, and with each step it takes, the muscles in the man’s body give up and are paralyzed. The creature reaches out its hand to him, stretches out fingers, and turns them then caresses his cheek, feeling his rough skin against its own. The softness of its skin calms the man’s beating heart. No fear came from this creature, only kindness, and tenderness like the sweet sounds of the waves. Deep inside, the man wonders from where this creature came. The answer, he will never know. The big man above never permitted him to assist at its creation. The man closes his eyes at the touch of the creature’s hand that ran its delicate fingers in his hair. His heart raced in shock at this new feeling which made the pit of his stomach feel as though it was sinking. Her red dress waved as the wind blew in her direction.

“What are you?” He asks in awe.

“Worship me,” She speaks tenderly.

“Why would I do such a thing?” He asks confused.

“Adore me,” she speaks again.

“No.” He replied.

She drops her hands to her sides and begins to walk away, taking light but long steps slowly. This creature, this woman, was able to hold this man’s attention as if she was a winning prize on a shelf. This new discovery revved up the urge to find out more. New questions formed in his mind. When finally the woman disappeared into the forest. This left the feeling of want within the man.

Like a light that shines in the dark, this woman became the gleam of consciousness in the man’s mind. A smile and a frown crept on his face. Confusion and both an understanding formed in his lonely mind. He sighs. Holding his hand towards his face, he touches his chin, then cheeks and hair. A tear escaped the corner of his eye. For the first time, the man wept.

On his way back to the cabin, the short memories of his encounter with the woman played over and over again like a short film. Within him, he knew he wouldn’t have to worry about sleep during the night, for his mind was already captivated. On the spur of the moment, he began to remember falling after seeing the silhouette of a creature in the woods. Images of him twitching started to flicker in his mind like an old television set. He then wondered if the woman was the creature he saw.

“And cut the lights again! Make them flicker, please! Make his mind see different images of his fall. I want it to take him out of his comfort!”

Watching above the empyrean is the witch doctor orchestrating every action in the man’s world that seems so tiny from the mirror, but in the man’s mind, it’s as vast and limitless.

“What about the woman?” His mind spoke to him. He hits his head with his hand and screams, “shut up!”

“I want to have complete access to his mind first. Can you do that?” The witch doctor asks while keeping his eyes on the man who seems to stand still, motionless.

“Of course, let’s do that.” He says to himself with confidence. Reaching over the mirror, he grabs a handful of red dirt and encircled the mirror. He begins chanting an ancient song while persistently staring at the man’s face.

Present in the man’s world, lightning struck, followed by the thunderclaps. The sky darkens, and the wind howls madly, shaking the trees. Fear covered the man’s face. He crouches down. There is a hissing of a Brown Watersnake in the sand, slowly slithering its way closer and closer toward the man. Call it perturbation, la bête noire; it was the same feeling all over again. Fear! It disabled his body, and he couldn’t lift a finger. His whole body was left quivering at the mercy of this long reptile.

Frozen in a state of fear, adrenaline jumpstarts his instincts, and, immediately he reacts in defense, grabbing a stone nearby to crush the blood-curdling creature’s head with it. Instead, the man’s plan had failed tragically. The Brown Watersnake launches its deadly venom into the man’s eyes. Quickly, he grabs onto his face and rubs his eyes, screaming in excruciating pain. Diminution of vision, the irregular contractions of his eyelid muscles, the swelling of the eyes! The man curses the snake with vile words. It hisses and slithers away.

He throws himself on the sand so carelessly in pain. The drool in his mouth droops out so slovenly. Nothing hurt now at that moment than the pain he felt. He swings his arms in the air to try to feel something close for him to hold on to, but the pain did not allow him to want to think of anything else other than making its presence known. The pain spoke to him. It was aggressive, forceful; it showed no pity. Pain, we fight it, but we can never win the battle. It comes when it wants and leaves when it wants. It has authority, precision, and determination. It tries so effortlessly, and it hits the bullseye.

When the man’s body gets used to the fixed pain levels in his eyes, he manages to stand on his feet. One shaky step after another, he finds his way back home to his cabin. With his unsteady hands, he searches for the doorknob,, but instead, the door slowly opens with a squeak. He steps in and closes the door. The familiar atmosphere of home calmed him down. His heart that had been racing slowed down at last. He inhales in the safe, friendly air and exhales out the fear in him.

The man makes his way to the small dark corner by the window, where he can almost see the trees form into beings in the shadows. All he could think about was that woman, and questions began to crowd his mind. He brings his hand to his face and closes his eyes, traveling back to that moment. The wind swiftly blows, and the trees lean and move in the direction of the wind. His heart played a song, and it was the beat of tribal drums. “BOOM BOOM BO-BO-BOOM!”

In the shadows crawled the man’s luminous scaled adversary. Paralyzed in sight and muscle, all that was moved was the oxygen he pushed out of his lungs. The tribal drum played louder and faster as the creature moved in closer and closer, taunting the poor-spirited man. Out of the silky scaled creature’s outer shell, it seemed to form little fingers that ripped out and elongated into a hand on each side and from behind formed legs. One by one, the scales faded, and her feature showed. She had on her red dress and wore her hair long. Her gaze was persistent, and life withdrew from her eyes. They took the form of black inky marbles and from her mouth came out a soft hissing; her tongue was a form of two pitchforks. Slowly, the man’s eyes grew wider, and he shook. Unable to detach himself from her presence, he screamed, and suddenly, his vision becomes hers. Everything he sees, she saw through her eyes.

Slowly backing away from the window, the man runs for his life, knocking down everything in his way. Stepping outside of the cabin, he runs to the beach, feet clashing on the waters; he falls on his knees and tries to catch his breath. “ It’s only a dream,” he repeats in his mind. Inhaling in and out, he closes his eyes and counts to three.

“One…” he pauses.

“Two…” he breathes.

“Three.” He opens his eyes and sees nothing.

“Nothing,” he says with a smile that slowly formed. “Nothing.”

Lowering his hands into the water, he splashes his face. With the waves and tides crashing unto him, the dark of night was in his eyes and he looked across the sandy beach where the crescent moon glowed above the trees and he listened. He listened to the song calling his name from the waters.

“Come closer,” it hissed.

Slowly turning his head as he came to realize, it was her. His enlarging pupils pushes the iris until there is nothing left to push. His mind, body, and soul became her dwelling space and she was in control.

It was forever majestic and mesmerizing watching her come out of the water like a goddess. The man inclined his ears and his body slowly moved in motion, dancing to the ambiance, surrendering to her majesty.

“Worship me,” She spoke in his mind while whistling a song and one by one he stepped closer and closer to the body of water.

“You are mine,” the witchdoctor says while inhaling with a wicked smile plastered on his face.