"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
04-21-2016, 07:54 PM (This post was last modified: 04-21-2016, 08:08 PM by Maribel.)
i was born in the arms of imaginary friends,
free to roam; made a home out of everywhere i've been.
»«
"I like trees, and I like clouds!" The girl is currently walking around the wintry grounds singing to herself...she tends to sing pretty often to anyone willing to listen or at the very least pretend to.
"But I love snow! They are GROUND CLOUDS!" And with this prompt explanation, she takes a bite of some of the new snow. With a gleeful chomp she smiles, little frosted flakes stuck to her small lips before she moves along. A little tune trails after her as she hums to herself, growing a bit tired of being alone today (and surely the adults were tired of her following them around). Her Dahdee, her starshine, was a wonderful playmate but he was so busy lately.
The girl child would get her wish, despite all odds of how the Beqanna gods worked. Her small form shifts and changes to that of a turquoise filly with silver mane and tail. It was one thing that never ceased to entertain her. Some days she was a tiny Offspring, other days she was a tiny Isle and some days she was the golden palomino of her very own Maribel but when you can be ANY color why not be something different ever day!
(Beqanna gods help us all when she discovers paisley print or checkers)
WOO! Maribel was just so gosh darn excited for life and ground clouds and dirt and trees and...
There is something endlessly endearing about Maribel and her unshaken innocence. Someday maybe I will ask what led her to this family, but I know how painful it can be to remember. If I ask anyone, it will be Offspring. He was there, and the question won't hurt him the way it might hurt her. And in some ways it doesn't matter how she found her way here. She is ours, our happy rainbow girl whose smiles light up the world. What came before doesn't matter as long as it doesn't haunt her. And with as much light as there is in her eyes, I don't think anything haunts our Mari.
God, I hope it stays that way. That nothing ever happens to make the light dim, that no shadows ever eclipse her sweet soul and shroud her in darkness. It would break my jagged patchwork heart to see her hurting deep enough to drown in it. Hurting the way I have on days when sorrow creeps up on me even though I have a family that loves me, and the way Argo tries so hard not to when his own heart betrays him. I hope she shines forever, though probably it's only a matter of time before the shadows find her too.
I do not have much of the playful child in me, but her carefree song calls to me anyhow. I want to savor it while it lasts, the sunshine joy in her voice, the bounce in her step, the boundless optimism in her smile. So I walk up to the frolicking little girl, today a vibrant turquoise that matches her carefree nature, with silken silver topping her neck in a scruffy little baby mane and shimmering along her delighted, wriggling tail.
“Hello, rainbow-girl,” I murmur, half a smile curling up one corner of my lips. “How are you this lovely day? That's a beautiful song you're singing. D'you know what I like?” I ask, casting her a sidelong glance before looking around the snow-covered landscape to find a subject to offer her. “I like icicles and cozy caves. Maybe you could sing me a song about those?”
i was born in the arms of imaginary friends,
free to roam; made a home out of everywhere i've been.
»«
It catches her offguard when he speaks to her but her frightened features instantly brighten to see her brother Neverwas. "Nevi!" She positively SQUEALS his name as little limbs bound her in a sort of hip-hop over the light snow caps to plow into her brother in a rash of giggles and wiggles. She presses against him like a little blue kitten, pushing her cheek, neck, shoulder agaisnt him.
"Icicles, oohhhh icicles...
You are so pointy! Don't poke my eyes because I need them for STUFF!"
Geez...
"Cozy cave, cozy cave how cozy you are. Is best place to hang out and hide from your parents when they want you to clean your room..."
The turquoise girl starts laughing high and light as her pale blue eyes meet her brothers, glinting gaily. "Nevi, I misses you. Where has you been?" The little girl tries to give him a stern look. If she were a human her small hands would have been on her hips as her little brow were furrowed. Don't be gone so long next time, kay?"
Little Mari – who is not really so little, but her innocence makes her seem smaller somehow, more delicate, more in need of protection – squeals my name and launches herself into me, and my half-smile spreads to curl the other corner of my mouth upward too. “Yes, it would be a shame if icicles poked your pretty eyes, love. But that was a perfect icicle song, thank you.” I lip at the silver of her mane as she sings me a lovely cave song as well, joining in her infectious laughter with a quiet chuckle of my own. “Thank you for singing for me, rainbow-girl,” I murmur against her mane, drawing her into a hug.
My sweet sister stares me down, baby blue eyes glinting with a combination of her perpetual gaiety and reproach. “I'm sorry, Mari-girl,” I say, ducking my head apologetically and casting her a sorrowful puppy dog glance, my brown eyes going wide in a playful plea for forgiveness. “I'll try to do better. Can you ever forgive me?” I do try not to be gone too much. Mom worries if I fade into the shadows for too long, and she has enough to worry about without me adding to it. Especially with so many children, and another on the way. So I try, even on the rough days, to be present as much as I am able.
To let them love me, even when I have nothing to give back to them.
Sometimes, though...well. Sometimes I just need to be alone for a while. Sometimes there is too sharp a dissonance between sweet Mari's bright, shining soul and the crushing weight of darkness welling up inside my chest. I've hurt her by staying away too long. Or if not actively hurt her, at least upset her. “I'll try, little sister,” I say again, despite the fact that she's bigger than I am and I think also a little older. She still feels like my little sister. “I'll try.”
i was born in the arms of imaginary friends,
free to roam; made a home out of everywhere i've been.
»«
Her forgiveness is easily won as she is a child and unaware of the pain the world could cause her one day. All she knows now id that her home is forged of ice and snow and warm hearts. She is loved by a family that chose her, not forced. She is grateful for her lovely brothers and her mother and father.
Nevi's lips tickle her mane and she giggled brightly before lipping at his own and springing away. Despite the fact that he is younger, a bit smaller, his eyes are old...his soul is old and Mari is troubled by the seriousness in their depths. The mystique of worry causes her to freeze in her place and move back towards her brother, her skin allowing the honey gold of her natural palomino form sliding over her form like a silk cape.
"Nevi ok?" Her voice is is barely above a whisper, the small skull tilting to the side as nothing escapes the stormy features of the girl child, her small brow furrowing.
