Paradise.

Here goes..!

It hurts.

Does it?

It has to, the boy thought to himself sluggishly. There was too much blood. The red liquid stained the carpet on which he laid atop of and the wood flooring after it was marred with smeared, bloody footsteps. It ran slowly down his forehead and towards his eyes, gluing his eyelashes together and drying there. It flowed into his mouth; its musty, sickeningly sweet smell and the vile stench of vomit clinging to the back of his throat and smothering his senses. It’s acidic, coppery taste overwhelming his being. The light that shone from the barely open curtains fell on the boy's skeletal frame and highlighted the dark maroon ring that was embedded into the mottled grey carpet and surrounded him. A halo of blood. The light caused the blood that matted his hair and the rusty red that stained his face to glisten innocently.


Tears that had long since dried crackled as his face twitched. He couldn’t move. I might die here, he thought, though he did not know whether to be glad or to weep some more. If anything he felt...numb. it was as though his mind and body were trying to comfort him by not allowing him to feel, to think, to see, to hear. He simply laid there, mind blank and body motionless.


He did not know how long had passed as he laid there, he didn’t want to know, he just wished he could bask in this eerie tranquillity for eternity. Then, suddenly, the heavy burden that had settled on his shoulders for so many years he had gotten used to its weight, lifted.

It was breathtaking.

He felt featherlight, like a breeze could blow and he would be lifted up, off the ground, and given to the clouds. He started to feel his body again. His fingers twitched tentatively and his toes wiggled. His eyes were no longer glued shut, he could tell, though he refused to open them. He lifted himself onto to his knees and, for the first time in his life, felt clean. It was almost as though someone had gently wiped his body, caressing every nook, crevice and wound, and purifying him of his suffering.

He opened his eyes, albeit a little fearfully, and a wind swept through his very being. It shocked him causing him to jolt and squeeze his eyes shut tightly, forcing a whoosh of air into his lungs and a throaty cough to wrack his throat. He fell onto his hands and knees and stayed there as he hacked and wheezed. 

The moment the coughs had subsided, his eyes flung open with awe but he was not focused on the sight before him. The air was warm! That was the very first thing he’d noticed. After spending his life in breeze cold enough to cut through his clothes (not that he was wearing enough to keep him warm in the first place) and stain his nose, ears, fingers and toes a glaring, bright red, the warm air was an unfamiliar but very welcome change. He stood, knees quivering, and looked at his feet. As he did, his eyes widened.

Was that…sand?

He’d seen it in passing on adverts and billboards whenever he wandered the streets for spare change or food but…he wiggled his bare toes and felt the pale, golden caramel granules slither in between his toes and into the crevice of his toenails. It felt gritty but so warm. He tried to take a step but his feet sank a little in the sand making him unsteady on his feet. His knees buckled underneath him and he hit the sand with a dull thud, a dust cloud erupting around him and causing him to cough weakly. It didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would considering his bony frame but that was likely due to the shifting sand beneath him and the strange cloth he had just then realised he was enveloped within.

He lifted his arm to look at the material and his dry lips parted softly. It was a large light cloth cut of a soft white, almost beige, material, with golden embroidery decorating its perimeter. The cloth’s golden embellishment  glittered sweetly in the blazing sun and It’s cloud-like material seemed to embrace him, covering him completely in his fallen position, allowing only his toes to poke through.

He stood, wobbling unsteadily on his feet, and the cloth stood with him. The sand that had settled on it slid off with a soft shhh akin to a pale golden waterfall. Looking around himself blankly he wondered where he was and how he’d got there. The sand seemed to stretch on forever forming sloping hills and dunes. The slight breeze that blew through the land, weaved around the miniature mountains and created the illusion of a golden haze surrounding each of them. He wondered idly how long it would take to see a road or a path…or even some dirt. This place seemed so isolated and quiet – he flinched violently and sucked in a harsh breath, immediately ducking and turning away from the feather-light touch that had brushed his cheek and causing a whirlpool of sand to fly up around him. The cloth that had sat snug on his shoulders now slipped and threatened to fall off his thin frame, his shaggy hair slapping his cheeks as he looked at the figure that stood behind him. It was a man. Or, more accurately, something trying to imitate the form of a man. Its eyes were a striking blue, though it had three too many. There were the normal two, adjacent to its slightly pointed ears, then three more. One on its forehead and the other two on opposite sides of its cheeks...---

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All forms of advice is greatly appreciated!