硝子の花園 [Garden of Glass]

Prologue

Her hands rattled as the young adult took out her purple deck of tarot cards, "I'm lost..." she whispered as she drew her quivering finger over the top of the deck. Without a second thought she flipped over the card with a fwap and a shmat.

The word seemed to scream at her as she stared at the mocking card face in horror:

LONELY.

Her hand clenched, bending the useless card, "I know..." The only sounds that could be heard within the small and silent apartment, were her sniffles and quiet cries. Her eyes stung as tears formed in droplets.

She knew that she was lonely. Without her school idol group, Muse; or her partner in crime, Eli-chi; she felt nothing but that horrible word. She didn't want to know what she already knew; she wanted answers, "Please, cards, tell me what I should do."

She placed her thin and frail hand over the blank backside of the next card as she whispered one last word for luck, "Please.."

Fwap. The cards which she believed so much in stared back at her pale face:

CHANGE.

The lonely girl set the cards down the side and gazed up, "Change," she echoed. She found a pair of eyes staring back at her. It was herself. She slowly stood up and made her way towards the mirror. Her long, tangled hair matted behind her. That hair which she had grown out her entire life. The purple hair which now reached beyond her waist in a rats' nest.

She glanced to the side to find a pair of scissors which glinted brightly in the pale light of the room.  The two blades were almost calling upon her to take them in her hands.

Before she knew it, she had taken them. She took a sidestep back towards the mirror and lifted the shiny knives to her hair, "This will be my first change," she announced to herself.

She squeezed the handle together and a large chunk of hair fell to the ground. The past years with muse were amazing. She was able to find more happiness then she would ever be able to again. There was no going back now. She took another large snip and half of her hair had fallen to the ground. Her time in the student counsel with Eli-chi were wonderful. She found so much love from their bond. Another snip. The first time she had met Elichi. She was strong, beautiful, intelligent, independant, yet.... Another snap as the blades grazed against each other:  Lonely.