Midnight Clock

for a contest on dA-still in progress....-its a bit of a failure

The night had fallen and the moon was tracing its path along the sky. I looked up at the nights black abyss, letting my mind drift among the clouds that drifted past and hid the stars, remembering the lights that had gone out so many years ago. It was a simple pleasure, but one of the few things I had left to enjoy.

In the distance, I heard the faint sound of ten bells chiming.

The light had been so beautiful, each contained in their own little globes, suspended high above the ground in the three colors. I longed to remember the names, but those words have long since escaped me in this hell of nothingness. I remembered the swift glow of the creatures that sped by me, the monsters that traveled on rock, propelled by some unseen force. Each end had had those bright globes attached, passing by me as I sat unnoticed under the colored boxes of light. Oh! and the smooth rock boxes, where the other humans enter and leave with things, how they rushed about and scampered as tiny ants do. Those boxes were very large and colorful. Many humans went in for a long time. But I was fine just sitting under my light boxes. It gives me joy to remember such happy times. I got up, looking for one last time at the night sky and the mysteries it kept locked away. I sighed, disappointed that I would never see such beauty again.

In the distance, I heard the sound of eleven bells chiming.

I looked down at the smooth rock at my feet. It too, had once been painted with colors, but the darkness of time had faded them away. I sighed, remembering a time when the rock had not been, and in its place was a soft carpet, all a shade that was so cool to the eyes. I remembered the feeling of lying there on that carpet, and the water that fell down on me. The sky would darken and He would let down the most horrendous amounts of water, and yet now I regret not bathing in its coolness. I remember what it was like to stand out on the endless carpet and just let the air move by, to let the drops of water hit you and run down your face, to pull and rip and lie upon the soft lush carpet. I remember the tall posts that stood up from the carpet, and the food that foll from within them. I can picture the great things, though I have forgotten much of what my life once was, before i was sentenced to this hell. I look ahead to the only box that is familiar to me now.

I can hear a bell chime.

The only men who I still know by name come for me.  I knew I had to go, but I turn on them, and look up again at the beauty of the sky, and I kneel down and remember the feel of the carpet that once was. I know they hate me. I do not move when they tell me to stand. I sit and remember the glowing lights, the joy of human life, the simplicity of it all.....until my eyes go black and I am washed down by the feel of the pain.

I open my eyes, and can see the bells near twelve. I feel the tightness of the straps on my arms and legs, but I do not struggle. I can hear the men talking, and I do not care. I shut my eyes, and think of the lights. Time slows, and i hear the echoes of the footsteps as they come stand by my side. I hear the whir as the machine powers on. The crowd is behind the glass, but I hear them speak. I remember the moon, and the carpet that was so comforting.

I heard the midnight clock chime, and my moon went out.