Part Six

“Grandma ‘Vail! Grandma!” Her granddaughter had burst through the shop doors and ran into the old woman’s arms.

“How’ve you been, child? I haven’t seen you for some time!”

“Mom wouldn’t let me come see you, because she says you ‘fill my head with nonsense’.” Avail only chuckled at the statement. As did her granddaughter. “Grandma look! My hair grew!”

“I see! It’s all the way down to your shoulders, child!” The woman released the girl. “Guess what? I have a surprise for you.” She headed behind her counter, as the excited child sat across from her.

            Avail, dipped below the counter, quickly reappearing with a medium-sized sphere. Its inside was so clear, the object seemed nearly invisible. “It’s not dark anymore! Grandma what did you do?” The child exclaimed, her eyes glued the clear ball.

“Look closer.”

            The little girl leaned nearer to the orb. The images gradually appeared, but she witnessed a field of puddles that would never shift from their positions, before the next image showed a deep and secluded forest. Her favorite part, however, were the prancing figures of gargantuan animals, the fantastic creatures, and the people that paraded down some street.

“But…I’m confused now. I thought you said you would have to throw it away?”

            Avail stayed quiet, gazing at the orb. Watching the life, she formally knew, dance and parade euphorically.

 

 

“A-Avail…wait.” Cameron’s face was still visible through her puddled eyes. “You destroy that orb, you will destroy us as well.”

“I know what I’m doing! I know I will lose you, Fido, this world…I don’t want that…”

“Of course, you don’t. You love us, Avail. Of course, you…”

            She lowered the orb into her chest. Her knees met the dry and crumbled dirt, ignoring the rocks that worked into her knees. “You know what I realized, Cameron…I never told you what I’d do if I was a Manifestor.”

“Avail, give me the orb.” Cameron edged nearer, but Avail did not budge.

“If I had that ability, I would re-create this world. I would give it a second chance.” She watched her tears slide down the glass. “I’d give my life to allow this world a second chance.”

“A second chance for what? To go back to the shameful system of Manifestors and Watchers? I be damned if I become a Watcher again.”

“This world has its failures, but it also has its success. It is true, that Manifestors are looked to as Gods, and Watchers as worshippers...that is the truth.”

“Which is precisely why everyone deserves to be a Manifestor.” Cameron had crept closer, but froze on his toes when Avail met his nervous eyes.

“You’ve always been so foolish, Cameron. You don’t even realize what you truly are.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re nothing but a devoured soul, whose putrefying dark wishes finally came to life. That’s who you all are.”

            Before Cameron could finish her name, she had lifted and roughly drove the orb onto the pebble infested ground. But instead of shattering, microscopic shards delicately and steadily levitated into the air. Her eyes blinked away any intruding shards, as her head softly leaned upwards to where the debris was ascending.

            Her friend frantically staggered backwards, his own feet tangling with each other. Then softly relaxed his shoulders. Obtaining his composure, he also gazed upwards, exhaling. They both indulged in the silence, which only served as a reminder that both their fates had just been sealed. “I had hoped to converted you before this…of course I couldn’t prevent it.”

“Prevent what?” Avail asked, quietly floating back onto her feet.

“You destroyed the orb, but no one bothered to tell you your purpose after doing so. Those jerks.” Cameron’s legs had nearly completely evaporated, as ascending black particles vanished into the atmosphere. His head tilted towards where his lower half would be, and accepted he was disappearing. “I guess this is what I get for trying to defy your fate.”  

“My purpose, what do you mean, Cameron?” Avail rushed towards his static yet dissolving form. “I was supposed to surrender the orb, but I didn’t. That was the only purpose I had!”

“Gods are some real a******s for making you suffer like this.” His silhouette was represented as dispersed black specs. “That was only part-one of your job.”

“‘Part-one’? Be more specific! Tell me what you mean!?”

            Cameron’s fragile form was nothing more than a few black dots, scattered. Her friend was truly gone, and she bore the guilt of ending him.

            Avail allowed her ears to focus on the silence that surrounded her. The palms of her hands faced upwards, as she prayed to feel the weight of the orb in her hands one last time. She felt no more pain. Therefore, her tears had no reason to fall. It was her turn to disappear, but only to return to the real world. The place with corpse dolls and dead animals.