Post by indi on Aug 26, 2020 18:55:27 GMT -5
The creak of the old bed was much like the creak of every other old bed, complaining and unforgiving under the weight of the young girl who slept upon it. The stars had barely touched the tips of her hair when she had first come to rest in this bed and it had been a long time, too long maybe, since she had allowed herself to return. Sliding from the thinning mattress and letting the threadbare sheet fall to the floor, she rubbed painted nails at tired eyes and padded towards the desk.
Outside, with the Commodore were the twenty or so who followed her everywhere now, Where she went, they went. What she breathed, they breathed. As thought their consciousness was linked to hers in a way that was beyond her understanding; much like the sharp scratches just past the tired ache of her eyes. Whatever they were coming for, it was awake too… Now more than ever she needed the advice of someone she loved.
The little desk was set for a child, where there had once been scribbled notepads and old textbooks now sat a laptop almost as old as she is herself. Fingers, still waking up from restless, dream-void sleep, stretched and reached for the keys as though they were speaking all on their own.
[Hey Buds!] she typed easily, her eyes barely taking any note of the keys her fingertips tapped at all. [Sorry it's been a while, but have I got a story for you!]
It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be.
This house, the house I slept in and the house you’re joining me in now. Is the house that I grew up in… Once upon a time, almost a galactic lifetime ago; this house was full of laughter and life. Suitcases never fully unpacked from life on the road and pretty portraits of the woman who gave her life, so I could have mine; lined the walls. I know it might be hard to believe that this place was ever a home... But I promise it was. These are the walls where I formed my thoughts and my plans, the very rooms where my Dad would tell me all about the great adventures that waited for me. And upstairs, in a little pink room with an itchy white carpet and a soft oak bed - was my room. The window was almost as big as the far wall, as I remembered it. That’s where she would come and speak to me, before she lived behind my eyes, before she came for the promised… She would glitter in the stars in the sky high above my window, dancing around the clouds and trees. And she would sing to me, quiet lullabies with words I didn’t know.
I always knew that I was meant for something BIG; she never let me forget it.
I came home, to show the walls that had fostered my hopes and dreams; the success I had made of myself. Reception is terrible here, a little old house in a big wide nowhere and that’s how I like it. The Family won’t come in here, this place isn’t for them. This is where I come to be and breathe and leave the troubles and tribulations of being an intergalactic traveller behind, this is the peek behind the curtain that I am sure, no one has ever asked for. But with it, this is also an adventure, a new one all its own… When I was a child, I would climb inside the cupboard beneath the stairs and be transported somewhere else; she would always be there with warm hugs and comforting smiles. The mother the world has taken from me, she had pies and soft carpets and little promises that if I ever agreed she would happily keep me.
See, that’s the funny thing. When we get the things we want, they don’t always quite turn out to be what we expect. They don’t bring about the changes we had hoped and for a time, I blamed myself. I was convinced, as I’m sure many children often are… That the failing was mine. Of course, the more I visited the more I could see the flaws and the less I wanted to stay. But it’s been so long, since I felt the softness of her carpet beneath my feet.
The door to the cupboard isn’t locked anymore, it hasn’t been locked for a long time. And she would be so proud of me…
So Proud.
She had the feeling that the door was looking at her, which she knew was silly, and knew on a deeper level was somehow true.
The house doesn’t look any different to how it did a moment ago, at least not to the eyes of anyone who would be looking for the first time. Peeling wallpaper on bowing walls, creaking floors that have seen better days; the whistle of a draft through the gaps in the doors and a gentle, warm light coming from the room at the far end of the hall. Soft, like a glow and yellow like the sun. There’s something about the light that is familiar, the light you would see as a child if you snuck downstairs for a drink after bedtime. The light left on by a loved one when you’re late returning home.
So, it seems only natural that our Galactic Princess Indi Rhyder would be drawn to the light too. Bare foot with pink painted toe nails, she seems to glide more than walk down the ever expanding hall. Her ling blonde hair almost white against the glow of the light that still emanates from the room. Her hand reaching for the door that for what seems like an eternity, it just a fingertip out of reach. Until she finally grasps it, grips it, turns the handle and floods that warm bathing light out into the darkness of the hall.
Its funny really, how you don’t notice the depth of darkness until its extinguished, until the shadows that lurk and creep within it are sent scrambling for safety and the comfort of that glow envelopes you.
"I was wondering when you’d show up…" her voice is like a song. Soft and lilting and it draws you ever closer. Her back to the door as she fusses with something on the counter. Indi seems to startle and then relax at her voice, a trembling hand runs across the chair back and she slides into the waiting seat. "It feels like forever since you came to see me…"
"Don’t… Don’t turn around." Indi whispers, almost like a plea with the woman; whos long flowing white hair matches the Union Battleground Champion’s hair perfectly, a more slight build though, her movements seem to creak and CRACK like a stop animation creation. "Please… You won’t recognise me…."
"Nonsense!" Trilled the older blonde, spinning on her heels and drawing a gasp from her own throat. Taller and older, she was clearly Indi’s mother. Facially her double all aside from one, Very obvious, difference. There, in the middle of her face, was an expanse of the universe and all beyond, perfectly pooled into two drops where her eyes should be. "I can see you Indi, I can ALWAYS see you. And I’m so proud, to come so far and be so close… Look at you now, another chance to prove that you can topple the liar in Danny Rizzo and right the wrong you withstood in Valor. My dizzy little darling, how could you ever think I wouldn’t know you?"
Indi glanced beyond her mother, to the reflection of the glass in the cabinet door. Her own eyes shifted and melted, pooling about the pupils until the black became specks and glimmers. A universe of her own forming within the reflection of the woman she had grown to be.
"Sometimes." her voice was soft, confessional. "Sometimes, I don’t even recognise myself anymore… I give, I have given, so much. And for what? To be prodded and pushed about like a child on tarmac. That wasn’t, isn;t, my purpose and it never has been. Now I stare down a man who doesn’t want to be there and one who stumbled back out of convenience.
Neither care, neither are there to stare me down. They don’t throw up their hands in celebration at a chance to topple the Champion. Is that what I am? Who I am now? Does a possession, an accolade, become an identity? Is that what you see mother? When you look at me?" her voice broke, trailed off. Here in this other place, she didn’t have to smile for the Family. She could be lost, she could be afraid and she could be angry. It was safe.
"I see a Champion." the lilt of her mother’s voice agreed. "But that was never all you were meant to be. If you bow to them, if you concede yourself to fit their ideal, you’ll become nothing more than one of them." She touched the soft, doughy center of her daughters cheek. Bringing he gaze back to the pool of galaxies within her own face.
"Nothing’s changed. You’re still You. Let them have their fun… You’ll go home. You’ll be questioned. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right. And never, for even a second… Will you belong there."
And there it was, the curse of the cupboard under the stairs. For with love and promise, came the need to make her stay. Indi knew she didn’t belong. Not did she belong here either. Her destiny was greater, bigger and it swelled in her head as she pushed up from the table and made for the door… Behind her eyes the traveller screamed, she clawed at the eyes that contained her and picked at the thoughts that swirled past her.
But Indi won’t let her out. And she won’t stay. She is Indi Rhyder, Galactic Princess.
And the last True hope, of Union Battleground.
Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.
Outside, with the Commodore were the twenty or so who followed her everywhere now, Where she went, they went. What she breathed, they breathed. As thought their consciousness was linked to hers in a way that was beyond her understanding; much like the sharp scratches just past the tired ache of her eyes. Whatever they were coming for, it was awake too… Now more than ever she needed the advice of someone she loved.
The little desk was set for a child, where there had once been scribbled notepads and old textbooks now sat a laptop almost as old as she is herself. Fingers, still waking up from restless, dream-void sleep, stretched and reached for the keys as though they were speaking all on their own.
[Hey Buds!] she typed easily, her eyes barely taking any note of the keys her fingertips tapped at all. [Sorry it's been a while, but have I got a story for you!]
It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be.
This house, the house I slept in and the house you’re joining me in now. Is the house that I grew up in… Once upon a time, almost a galactic lifetime ago; this house was full of laughter and life. Suitcases never fully unpacked from life on the road and pretty portraits of the woman who gave her life, so I could have mine; lined the walls. I know it might be hard to believe that this place was ever a home... But I promise it was. These are the walls where I formed my thoughts and my plans, the very rooms where my Dad would tell me all about the great adventures that waited for me. And upstairs, in a little pink room with an itchy white carpet and a soft oak bed - was my room. The window was almost as big as the far wall, as I remembered it. That’s where she would come and speak to me, before she lived behind my eyes, before she came for the promised… She would glitter in the stars in the sky high above my window, dancing around the clouds and trees. And she would sing to me, quiet lullabies with words I didn’t know.
I always knew that I was meant for something BIG; she never let me forget it.
I came home, to show the walls that had fostered my hopes and dreams; the success I had made of myself. Reception is terrible here, a little old house in a big wide nowhere and that’s how I like it. The Family won’t come in here, this place isn’t for them. This is where I come to be and breathe and leave the troubles and tribulations of being an intergalactic traveller behind, this is the peek behind the curtain that I am sure, no one has ever asked for. But with it, this is also an adventure, a new one all its own… When I was a child, I would climb inside the cupboard beneath the stairs and be transported somewhere else; she would always be there with warm hugs and comforting smiles. The mother the world has taken from me, she had pies and soft carpets and little promises that if I ever agreed she would happily keep me.
See, that’s the funny thing. When we get the things we want, they don’t always quite turn out to be what we expect. They don’t bring about the changes we had hoped and for a time, I blamed myself. I was convinced, as I’m sure many children often are… That the failing was mine. Of course, the more I visited the more I could see the flaws and the less I wanted to stay. But it’s been so long, since I felt the softness of her carpet beneath my feet.
The door to the cupboard isn’t locked anymore, it hasn’t been locked for a long time. And she would be so proud of me…
So Proud.
She had the feeling that the door was looking at her, which she knew was silly, and knew on a deeper level was somehow true.
The house doesn’t look any different to how it did a moment ago, at least not to the eyes of anyone who would be looking for the first time. Peeling wallpaper on bowing walls, creaking floors that have seen better days; the whistle of a draft through the gaps in the doors and a gentle, warm light coming from the room at the far end of the hall. Soft, like a glow and yellow like the sun. There’s something about the light that is familiar, the light you would see as a child if you snuck downstairs for a drink after bedtime. The light left on by a loved one when you’re late returning home.
So, it seems only natural that our Galactic Princess Indi Rhyder would be drawn to the light too. Bare foot with pink painted toe nails, she seems to glide more than walk down the ever expanding hall. Her ling blonde hair almost white against the glow of the light that still emanates from the room. Her hand reaching for the door that for what seems like an eternity, it just a fingertip out of reach. Until she finally grasps it, grips it, turns the handle and floods that warm bathing light out into the darkness of the hall.
Its funny really, how you don’t notice the depth of darkness until its extinguished, until the shadows that lurk and creep within it are sent scrambling for safety and the comfort of that glow envelopes you.
"I was wondering when you’d show up…" her voice is like a song. Soft and lilting and it draws you ever closer. Her back to the door as she fusses with something on the counter. Indi seems to startle and then relax at her voice, a trembling hand runs across the chair back and she slides into the waiting seat. "It feels like forever since you came to see me…"
"Don’t… Don’t turn around." Indi whispers, almost like a plea with the woman; whos long flowing white hair matches the Union Battleground Champion’s hair perfectly, a more slight build though, her movements seem to creak and CRACK like a stop animation creation. "Please… You won’t recognise me…."
"Nonsense!" Trilled the older blonde, spinning on her heels and drawing a gasp from her own throat. Taller and older, she was clearly Indi’s mother. Facially her double all aside from one, Very obvious, difference. There, in the middle of her face, was an expanse of the universe and all beyond, perfectly pooled into two drops where her eyes should be. "I can see you Indi, I can ALWAYS see you. And I’m so proud, to come so far and be so close… Look at you now, another chance to prove that you can topple the liar in Danny Rizzo and right the wrong you withstood in Valor. My dizzy little darling, how could you ever think I wouldn’t know you?"
Indi glanced beyond her mother, to the reflection of the glass in the cabinet door. Her own eyes shifted and melted, pooling about the pupils until the black became specks and glimmers. A universe of her own forming within the reflection of the woman she had grown to be.
"Sometimes." her voice was soft, confessional. "Sometimes, I don’t even recognise myself anymore… I give, I have given, so much. And for what? To be prodded and pushed about like a child on tarmac. That wasn’t, isn;t, my purpose and it never has been. Now I stare down a man who doesn’t want to be there and one who stumbled back out of convenience.
Neither care, neither are there to stare me down. They don’t throw up their hands in celebration at a chance to topple the Champion. Is that what I am? Who I am now? Does a possession, an accolade, become an identity? Is that what you see mother? When you look at me?" her voice broke, trailed off. Here in this other place, she didn’t have to smile for the Family. She could be lost, she could be afraid and she could be angry. It was safe.
"I see a Champion." the lilt of her mother’s voice agreed. "But that was never all you were meant to be. If you bow to them, if you concede yourself to fit their ideal, you’ll become nothing more than one of them." She touched the soft, doughy center of her daughters cheek. Bringing he gaze back to the pool of galaxies within her own face.
"Nothing’s changed. You’re still You. Let them have their fun… You’ll go home. You’ll be questioned. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right. And never, for even a second… Will you belong there."
And there it was, the curse of the cupboard under the stairs. For with love and promise, came the need to make her stay. Indi knew she didn’t belong. Not did she belong here either. Her destiny was greater, bigger and it swelled in her head as she pushed up from the table and made for the door… Behind her eyes the traveller screamed, she clawed at the eyes that contained her and picked at the thoughts that swirled past her.
But Indi won’t let her out. And she won’t stay. She is Indi Rhyder, Galactic Princess.
And the last True hope, of Union Battleground.
Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.