The Stars are Pollen

Chapter 6

Cornelius found himself outside of his home. He was alone, as per the usual. He looked down and found himself naked as the day he was born. Immediately he went to cover himself by instinct when he found something in his hand. It was his flower resting in the jar. He held it up to the sunlight as he did the day he found it. "Be-yoo-ti-ful", he muttered happily.

As he was admiring the gorgeous flower his eyes went down to the jar. He nearly dropped it when he saw the eye that was peering through it. He jerked it down quickly to get a view of the person who suddenly appeared in front of him, but it seemed that they were already gone. He looked at the jar again just to be sure. He was wrong.

This time he saw both of the eyes, green as emeralds, as well as the straight blonde hair that went only a little past her shoulders. "Mom!?" he called as her red painted nails wrapped around the jar and began to pull. They fought for it in a circle by the shore while Betty Swan's laughing face berated Cornelius, spitting words that stung like venom: Oh you are fighting? What a surprise! Why couldn't you try this hard in anything that mattered? James would have taken this from my hands by now! You are nothing, just like you Father! And the one that stung most, It should have been YOU!!!!!!!

"I KNOW!!!" shouted Cornelius as he gained control over the jar, only to lose his grip leaving it to the mercy of gravity. His eyes followed it, his mother's face still howling, all the while careening through the air. "Noooooo!" he called as he ran to catch it. When it was no more than a metre from the ground he dove in an attempt to get his hands between the jar and the hard dirt trail. He was too late.

However right before the jar made contact, the ground started falling, as did Cornelius. Cornelius, the jar, and the 4 by 4 metre square of ground were diving through an elevator shaft that had three walls of dirt and a window that showcased a view from the lake that Cornelius had never dreamed of being able to see.

It was eerily beautiful. The water was still a sharp green, the way it was before Ben visited. There were no fish that he was able to see, but as he was zooming down he could see different variations of what he could only assume were predatory plants. He saw algae with what looked like teeth skimming across the shallows, seaweed with what seemed like razor sharp edges anchored to the deepest parts of the lake. If only I had a few jars he thought, almost forgetting he was falling.

As they approached what he assumed to be the bottom of the lake he saw a shiny hunk of something. He focused on it and saw the same blood red trefoil that was present on the suit he abandoned at the front door just the day before. Well that explains the lake he thought as he shifted his head downwards.

It appeared the floor was falling with greater acceleration than that which was acting on him and his flower which remained in the jar. The jar was now devoid of his mother's face (or so he hoped) and was no more than an arm's length away. However it would appear it wanted to stay that way. No matter how he shifted his body, he could not catch it.

Then, Cornelius heard a familiar voice call up, saying "No need to work yourself up about it!". Rising up to him was a head of curly hair followed by a wheelchair. "Dad! Hand me that jar!" shouted a frustrated Cornelius. Frank Swan responded in his typical jolly voice, "Sure thing son! Look at that, me being able to do something you can't.". He plucked the Jar from the air and began floating up to meet Cornelius. When the Jar was just centimetres away, his father pulled the jar from him saying "You know, it isn't easy floating around in this thing, my legs get cramped!". Frank began to laugh as usual.

"Dad PLEASE not now-"

"Oh what? Are you tired of hearing about my problems? Well I'm tired of having them. Ever think about that!? I always have to smile, and not care about anything because everyone around me is MISERABLE!"