Tatilar, Tatilar

            I wandered my way through the winding mass of alleyways and narrow passages that made up the dusty town, whistling a soft melody to myself and singing under my breath a child’s fantasy song, “Tatilair, Tatilair, draped in glory.  Tatilair, Tatilair, dancing around.  Show me my desires, speak of those liars.  Guide me upon a wish, searching for those jumping fish.  Up in the sky, full of heavy dye.  Tell me how to seek, truth from these peaks.  Tatilair, Tatilair, draped in glory.  Tatilair, Tatilair, dancing around…”  My voice slid away, mingling in with the raging words that shot through the air like lightning bolts, heating the mood of the day with tension.  My feet automatically stopped their mindless wandering as I tilted my head slightly to one side, partly believing my imagination had burst out into this supposed reality of mine, causing confusion to plague my soul. 

            I let out a heavy sigh, as to my dismay, my sweet imagination was not playing tricks on me.  There was, indeed, harsh words ringing out into the once glorious, joy filled day.  I turned my calm, blue-green gaze to the sky and muttered a wish out to the world in a single word, “Feather.”  I knew anyone who happened to catch a wisp of my sighed words would never understand the meaning, unless they had stolen away to the cells of the dungeon that lay at the far end of the city and found peace within offering a hand to those poor children with bones stained with blood. 

            Suddenly I was roused from my unneeded thoughts by a sharp cry that echoed out to every part of the world, staining one’s breath, such as mine, with a stench of shadow and glory.  Funny, how shadows and glory go hand-in-hand more than light and dark, but no one bothers to ever realize it.  I quickly turned my gaze back to the worn roads of the city and wound my way through a tight cluster of houses and shops until I came to a small stone clearing that was hidden away from many eyes by a large, ominous abandoned apartment with shattered windows and severely cracked walls.

            After slipping through the all-too-claustrophobic entry way to the clearing I silently rushed over to a cluster of shadows, formed by a large pile of stones that had broken free from the apartment.  I looked upon the scene, taking note of every person there.  There were kids ranging from the age of four to thirteen, accompanied by a small handful of seeming adults, considering all elders appeared that of twenty-five, once reached and well past.  It was just the way of life for the rag-tag city that didn’t have a break in its being unless one was so daring as to spring off a death speaking cliff, into a ragging swarm of blood stained claws.  Those were the tales spoke by many, and they’d existed since forever and always, and known to all, with complete truth, that no one had ever dared to even find this supposed cliff. 

            I scolded myself for letting my mind wander as I finally broke free from the chains of my tales and overall imagination, once again turning all my attention to the crowd of people.  Pondering over the reason for the yelling, and the various objects in people’s hands…. pots and pans, broken glass bottles, shoes, fallen stones, and most frightening, the daggers, knives, and swords, even though all were found to be dull and way past their time of dying.  Even rich folk were not able to find a set of such glory; art of weaponry and ability to carry such thing by one’s side was forbidden, mainly due to the fact such things did not have a known whereabouts. 

            Soon I caught the rare sight of a small gap within the bustling crowd of seemingly blood thirsty townsfolk, to only catch a small, and very slight, glimpse of a child.  The world stopped there for me, my mind and existence cast away into a pit of raging black.  All I did was laugh out loud to the vast sea of bloodthirsty beast-gazes that shot daggers of ancient scripts and phrases upon my soul.  Smiling kindly upon such friends of mine, I broke their ties to me, reverting back to the supposed truth of my life.  I gathered up my strength, and forced myself from my unknown and overall pathetic collapsed-sitting-position on the ground, and vainly dusted the tears of stone from my clothes and proceeded, with echoing footsteps, to the heart of the mob.

            Soon I found myself shoved back by rough, scared hands and yelled upon to ‘wait my turn at the worthless pile of torn flesh’.  Cursing to the world, I calmly raised my voice over the hammering rage feasting words and violent laughter caused by evil hearts, “Good kinsman of a thousand and kinswoman of descending degree.  Depart or face the fast approaching grasp of my desires.”  Obviously, as I had hoped not would happen, no one dared to turn heart upon said words.

            “Suit yourself.  For I have warned,” I sighed, while raising a hand straight up to the sky, fingertips retreating from their neighbors.  With a simple flash of unknown color and light, ignited from my own palm, the world fell silent, quiet enough for deaf ears to catch a quivered whisper from the feathers that now lay scattered upon the ground.

            Everyone’s gaze darted upon my figure as I slowly dropped my hand to my side, nodding unspoken words of thanks as they lowered their weapons and shot hatred from their eyes, straight into my lungs.  Stuffy, burning air plagued my airways at such a simple action.  “Depart at once, and find no harm done to your souls,” my voice rang out clear and hushed through the suffocating hideaway.  This time, the people took automatic action of my words, leaving the clearing with a sense of hast. 

            At a casual pace I brought myself upon the small, curled up and crumpled ‘torn flesh’, and crouched down in order to not frighten the fragile soul.  The child tightened its desperate grasp of comfort on itself, and buried its filth covered, tear stained face into its sharp, jagged knees.  “Child,” I cooed.  “No need to hide oneself from my presence.  I will not cause harm upon you, and that’s not a promise it’s truth.”

            Thoroughly confused by my words, the child could not keep its gaze from casting upon me.  I smiled ever so slightly upon sight of the boy’s eyes.  Right then and there, I spoke my heart to the boy, “Tell me, for your eyes shine with words unknown to us all, who are you, or more of, who are we all?”  Confused down to the core, the boy withdrew himself from his tight, defensive curl, and forced his empty-shell-of-a-body to a sitting position, his gaze fixed firmly upon mine, his expression blank, rivers pouring from his eyes, yet their depths spoke of awe.  “Don’t flood those symphony green fields and forests galore, you’ll frighten all the birds away,” I laughed humbly as I reached out with a hand to delicately wipe the tears from the child’s face.  With a swift jerk of movement he fled away from my grasp, scuffling backwards up against a cold, unforgiving wall, which was none-the-less splattered fresh with blood, his blood.

            The boy shook violently, the rivers sprouting from his eyes running together at his chin and falling to the ground in handfuls of pain filled oceans.  “Child, Boy, look upon yourself, does one not see such red pain covering bone-tight-skin?” I questioned him, my voice still soft and calm as ever.  The boy did not fall for my trickery of words, did not fall for my nonexistent spell, instead, his gaze stayed firmly stuck on me, burning its way with pure ease right down to my soul.  The child was bleeding, cut and bruised all up and down his arms and legs, his cheeks and forehead plagued with splats of blood and a large gash ragging deathly close to an eye. 

            My words could not soothe the child in any way, I only could manage to amuse him, and that was only slightly.  Suddenly, a smile took refuge upon my face as a thought seeped its way into my very being, and I let it flow out into the world without a single speck of fear or doubt.  “Tatilar, Tatilar draped in glory.  Tatilar, Tatilar dancing around,” my voice dropping out as a sweet chime broke free from its terrorizing chains.

            “Take me in your arms… Show me there’s no harm.  Tatilar Tatilar why do you frown?  Tatilar, Tatilar where is your crown?” the boy said, his voice tuned down to a level where only few could hear.

            “And…?” I dared to ask.

            “Teach me your ways… Show me better days,” the boy paused, the tears finally ceasing to form, yet still stained his face with a silver shine.  “…Have you come to save me…?”

            “Ah, Child, I have not, but you have come to save me.”