Crystal Clear

She plaited her hair in a love-knot,

And stared at the crystal ball,

Sat in the gloom of a curtained room

At the end of a dim-lit hall,

And ghostly images floated in

Constrained by the curve of the glass,

She tried to reach, but beyond the breach

She could only sigh, alas.

 

His face was reflected from the light

That shone on the crystal ball,

He turned his eyes, not once but twice

To peer, as she tried to call,

For tears rolled desperately down her cheeks

As she stared at him, and cried,

‘If only I’d stayed with you, my love,

If only I hadn’t lied.’

 

But he’d caught the lie on her blushing cheek,

And he’d turned in pain away,

Oh, what she’d give to just relive

That scene on a summer’s day,

The moment he knew her love was false

It ate away at his pride,

And what was reflected on his face

Now churned at her, inside.

 

Those present images in the ball

Gave way to a future spell,

And what was spawned from the present seed

Was reflected there, as well,

She saw him walk by a future love

Who was hid in her own doorway,

Who reached on out as he passed, to offer

Her lips, as he passed that way.

 

Then anger had her convulsed as he

Succumbed to that virgin kiss,

How could he turn to one so young

Had he had enough of this?

She seized a knife by the crystal ball

And thrust in the table top,

That future girl was a friend of hers

And she screamed at the image, ‘Stop!’

 

She rushed on out to her friend who sat

Alone in the dim-lit hall,

‘I’ve seen what you have planned, don’t set

Your eye at my lover, Paul.

He’s only gone for the moment now

But I know that he’ll be back,

He’s far too old for a girl like you,’

She had screamed in her attack.

 

‘Well, listen now to the woman who

Is calling the kettle black,

You’ll not be telling me what to do

For the loyalty you lack.

I’m well aware of the nights you spared

For another, now and then,

I have it straight from the horse’s mouth

That you slept with my lover, Ben.’

 

The friends now stared at each other, in

A look that you’d call aghast,

There’d be no room for a friendship now

That the truth was out, at last.

And back in the gloom of a curtained room

In the unwatched crystal ball,

There stood the two in a different view

With blood, in the dim-lit hall.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[alf]

So love the story you have spun here!!! Haven't we all known a story along the same lines, but my friend, you put it in black and white!!! Ah, but I think to myself, whom was the wronged? And which of them cast the first stone of death??? Love it and love the lingering . . . what if . . alf

[Terrence Chang]

Sad but yet eloquent I must say. Neat story telling Mr.David

[A Soap Mess Stories]

Who's the blame in this story? Two friends-now-turned-enemies over love. Well written David.

[andrew mitchell]

An excellent write David so cleverly worked, produced and directed in a style, you do so very best to hold our attention to the very end as you look into your crystal ball for more intriguing writes to catch the reader hook line and sinker!

[R Smith]

David, where can i get such a crystal ball, it might just prove useful lol This one has your usual class writing with possibly the most different ending yet, a surprise but at an unusual angle, the moment of their possible death seen in the crystal ball, gotta love your ability to tell a tale and make it rhyme so perfectly, very well done :)

[sereenaoutloud]

From start to finish i was submerged in this write, your story telling within it fantastic. Oh the scandal , infidelity, jealously, revenge and lies...all lead to a bloody end!!
The crystal ball never portrayed in a good light..we are not meant to know the future ... nothing is set in stone and it can so easily be changed!!
Brillant write!!

[Marie]

Sometimes it's better not to know the future...though why could really resist looking into a crystal ball?
ANTO calls it evil but I see it only as a conduit to evil...

[Valentine]

When a woman retaliates against another femme fatale, all hell breaks loose. I really liked this one. HOPE THE BLOOD WAS FROM THE FIRST DECEPTIVE FEMALE. VALENTINE

[ANTO]

The ball is not only a passive way to view the past and future but an active catalyst for the future - its creating the future perhaps filled with a malevolent energy that thrives on hatred and pain and woe.
An evil inanimate object - even more evil than Christine (Mr King's car).
Excellent writing - thrilling to the bone DLP.
Pure Class my friend. Bravo !

[Barbz]

Oh, for the love of a crystal ball.....what I wouldn't pay to have one.....the truth that it reflects changes with each gaze as it turns our Truths into Lies,,as the Moon changes our Moods! ooh, imagine all the reflections of love, jealousy, lies, screams, despair And..Blood!! Be Aware, how fragile Crystal Balls.......Enjoyed the fantasy, DLP....as always! Barbz