I’m a 28, going on 29 year old

Constipated and mentally broken

Obsessed with violence gang culture and money

Pursuit of power is a infancy of the mind but

Things get grimey when you’re out in the cold

Lacking

I.. love the violence hate the grind

Hate violence because it disturbs my mind

but when it comes to these streets and dealing dope

I’m not even that good a criminal

Because I’m a dope fiend with no hope

I used to smoke blunts

I used to drink OE

I used to eat Mickey D's

I used to feel no regret

I used to think this life was never going to be a trend

Hadn’t ever been a fiend

Riding around smoking blunts

I used to get down to Wiz Khalifa

Who knew we wouldn't just stick to smoking weed bruh

Used to smoke weed

Used to drink beer

Used to eat Taco Bell

Used to feel no fear

Used to think life was never going to end

Hadn’t ever lost a friend

Riding smoking blunts

I used to get down to Kid Cudi

Blowing dro on the back roads

Having fun

Night had long since fallen. A dense, gray slab hung heavy in the sky, but that did not stop the snow from glowing. Shimmering flakes floated down from above. They huddled in close, giggling as they welcomed every newcomer with open arms. It had been a long journey and they needed to recount it all for they did not know when the cycle might begin again.

All the while, a girl from a world not our own watched, huddled in the window nook of a small, gray-stoned cottage, alone. A cup of brewed elders cradled in her hands grew cold with every forgotten sip. Let it be cold, she thought, let everything be cold.

The flames in the hearth dwindled as wisps of silvery breath escaped her lips. Fresh crystals accumulated in the corners of the latticed window pains, but she could not make sense of their whispers between the warped glass. No matter, for a chill crept through the house to finish off the dying beast behind her, as sleep slithered up her spine.

Slowly she numbed. But before being enveloped, the girl in the window allowed her eyes to rest out onto the Garden Sea, now blanketed beneath a thick quilt of ice and snow. Lying dormant in the grips of the season, awaiting the call of It’s mistress. How lucky it must be, the girl pondered, to know what it is you’re meant to be. And so the hands of sleep took hold, and pulled her from the world into somewhere far beyond.

***

Though her journey would be short lived. For a terrible POP! rang out from the depths of the night. Ripped from sleep’s grasp, the girl jolted forward, dumping the frosted remains of her cup across her lap. As she wiped the slush away, breath heavy in her lungs, she peered out the now ice-rippled window across the snow-crested garden.

It no longer glowed, but rather radiated in the presence of a Goddess. A Goddess for whom shown abnormally bright despite her waning crescent.

It was then that, bathed in the light of the divine, the girl realized what had made the awful sound that tore her from her slumber. The Garden Sea, having heard its mistress’s call, shattered its icy cover and now bubbled furiously at the edges.

Steam rose as blankets of ice and snow melted into the fury below. The flakes that had gathered along the pool’s edge scrambled over one another to escape being devoured by the water’s wrath, thrashing against the rocky shore. The Sea had been awoken long before its time and demanded answers. However, the Mistress was in no mood to explain in the midst of her servant’s tantrum. And so the little ocean spit and spewed so high and far, icicles formed midair, threatening to impale any and all who dare near the forest clearing.

The girl, who still watched from her nook, ducked as projectiles smashed against the house. She had never witnessed a landlocked sea behave in such a manner and questioned what in all the lands the Goddess’s reason for waking it could have been, when all went still.

The water paused, a hush fell over the quivering snow. The girl peeked out the window once more, though now from the safety of the floor. The Goddess never wavered.

In an instant, the sea collapsed.

With a mighty rush and a shake of the earth, it was as if the Sea’s bottom simply fell out and swallowed itself whole. Not a soul moved, for they knew never to slight a sentient sea. They watched and waited. Because as the old saying says, what goes in, must come out. And out it did indeed.

Just as sudden as it had collapsed, the Garden Sea welled up from deep below its gaping crater and expelled its contents tree-top high in one magnificent gush. Turtles and toads who napped with the Sea were sent flying. Thankfully, the fishes had gone for the season.

Standing now, nose pressed flat against the frigid window, the girl’s mouth dropped as a dark creature, with four long limbs, came spiralling up through the air, enshrouded in the bowels of the Sea.

It landed with a remarkable THUMP! a few feet off the muddy banks in a plume of squealing snow who attempted to break its fall, causing the girl and seaweed-adorned trees to flinch upon impact. The creature no longer moved.

Now satisfied with the absence of its parasite, the Garden Sea settled and collected itself once more, pulling a thin sheet of ice up over its shoulders, content with the work it had done. However, its mistress was not as easily pleased and remained above, encircled by a curtain of clouds, gazing over the regurgitated thing.

It will surely freeze if left out all night, the girl thought, and then what is to be done? The Mother Moon had overseen its journey and delivered the creature personally. Whatever the purpose, although much to her discontent, she couldn’t let it die. So the girl turned away from her window, abandoning her empty cup, and stepped into the home where she fed the last withering flame a few logs.

As the beast regained its strength and took up battle with the smothering chill, she wrapped herself in a thick, mycelium parka lined with moss, slipped on matching boots, and snagged a pair of red-knit mittens before heading out into the bitter night.

Not wanting to be trampled, the snow parted ahead of the girl from the window as she made her way along the banks of the sleepy Garden Sea. Dazed water dwellers slowly made their way back to their host, while the surrounding trees tossed ocean weeds back down below.

The creature was shivering when the girl reached it, but not inherently conscious. And upon closer inspection, the thing so rudely expelled from the backyard pond, was nothing more than human. Not from her world, of course, judging by his unseasonable choice of dress, but human just as she.

Crystals formed along his eyelashes and embedded themselves in his dark, wiry curls. He was freezing, she had no choice but to take him in. For although they meant well, the snow had a habit of forgetting themselves and tended to cause more harm than good, despite their best efforts.

She bent down to the gangly stranger, and awkwardly hoisted him up onto her shoulder. Only for the abrupt movement to cause him to vomit sea water across her shoes and send the snow scattering. With a sigh, she stole a glance at the Mother above who did no more than look back.

So she struggled to balance the entirety of the boy’s weight against hers, thanking Goddess he was not any larger, and eventually managed to drag his limp body back along the path to her home. As she stumbled forth the snow filled in at her heels, hoping she might drop the newcomer and leave him for their enjoyment after all. She did not.

By the time the two returned to the little stone cottage the fire in the hearth danced a majestic jig to announce its victory against the lingering chill. Thanking the flames, the girl placed the stranger on the weed-woven rug at their base before shutting the remainder of the night away.

After putting the kettle on, she stripped the stranger of his crisp clothes and hung them to dry. They were threaded of a rather perverse material that seemed would serve little purpose in her world. From where had he travelled, she wondered, And why?

She layered him in knitted blankets and placed a straw-stuffed pillow under his head so he might rest comfortably. The natural pink had replaced the violet-blue in his lips and his shivers had almost ceased. Though now he began to mutter odd things in his sleep that the girl could barely make out. Something about grandmothers and bottomless puddles.

Strange, didn’t everyone know not to step into water they couldn’t see the bottom of? He must not have, considering how he got here. Although she doubted it was much of an accident, as the Moon would never have taken him so far.

The boy’s mumbling went on for some time and not knowing when he would wake, the girl brewed herself another cup of elders and took up position in her window nook to wait.

Outside the flakes began to fall again, settling along the window’s edge to get a better view, still hoping the thawed creature may by some chance return to them.

And having seen the boy’s safe-enough delivery, the Goddess turned her attention to matters elsewhere, allowing the curtain to fall and darkness to swaddle the night once more.

All the while, the Sea slept.

Wrapped in sugarcoated sweetness;

savoring the warmth of your embrace,

snow gently blankets the world

in pure whiteness;

the smoke billows through the

cold crisp air and all I can hear

is your laughter;

this, here, is bliss.

And I sometimes hope you

think of me

I hope I litter your thoughts

and the curves of my face

give you migraines

ones that chop deep

into your skull

like a axe that is

far too dull

I hope you wish for nightmares

ones of

ones of monsters that kill

and steal

because the dreams of me

are far too real

To be completely honest

it hurts me more than you

could know

to hate you

but loving you,

loving you is like pain unimaginable

a pain I know

far too well