Golden Melody

Prologue

Zenips Paradise: Golden Melody

Prologue

I walk barefoot across an endless field of pale grass.

The sky above me is neither day nor night. It is a quiet silver, like the inside of a pearl.

All around me, small shapes lie scattered in the grass.

Bunnies.

Their fur unmoving in the wind that does not blow.

I have cried for them a lot before, but it never changes the ending.

The tears stopped coming a long time ago. Perhaps my heart simply grew too tired.

I continue walking.

Because if I stop, the silence will swallow me whole.

In the distance, beneath the hollow sky, stands a grand piano.

It waits for me. Music has always waited for me. It is the only thing that does not leave.

I sit on the bench.

My reflection stares back at me from the lacquered surface, and I do not recognize myself anymore.

I press a key.

The sound trembles.

Not wrong.

But not right.

I press another and another. Again and again.

The melody begins with soft and familiar, but something underneath it hums... a strange tuning, slightly distorted, as strings pulled too tight.

I try to lift my hands. But I cannot pull away.

My fingers continue playing.

Faster.

Louder.

The music twists, echoing across the field of corpses.

Then—

A shadow gathers above the piano lid.

He appears right in front of me.

Tall, dark-haired man. His green eyes are luminous.

He looks at me as though he has known me in every lifetime.

"Do you want a second chance?" he asks.

His voice soothes my heartache.

My hands are still playing. My heart feels very small.

A second chance.

To hold them longer? To protect them better? To not lose everyone I love?

I nod.

"Ye-yes"

The music stops.

My hands are free.

A contract materializes in front of me, hovering above the keys. The parchment glows faintly, as though lit from within.

The letters move.

The only words I can clearly read are:

Sin of Pride.

Everything else refuses to stay still.

"Sign," he says. "With your blood."

I do not hesitate. I lift my hand to my mouth and bite gently at my fingertip. A small bead of red blooms against my pale skin.

It does not hurt much.

I let the drop fall onto the parchment.

The moment it touches—

The contract ignites in gold light.

It dissolves into particles that rise like fireflies and vanish into the silver sky.

When I look up, the man is gone.

The field is empty.

No more bunny corpses in the grass.

Something warm brushes against my ankle.

I look down.

A small golden bunny. Its fur glows softly, as if spun from sunlight. Its eyes are bright, blue.

It nuzzles my bare foot and makes a small, contented sound — almost like a purr.

Slowly, I kneel.

I gather it carefully into my arms.

It is warm.

It lifts its tiny face toward me.

And speaks. "Don't be sad," it says gently. "You are no longer alone."

My breath catches.

The sky above shifts — from silver to dawn.

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Author's Note & Copyright Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, organizations, and settings are products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

© ExySexyMe 2012. All rights reserved.