For Now... and Later.

A Story by ExposedSiren

A complete circle.

At first, it began with Fear.
She pulled out a glass box from her opened closet, from the far back of the tallest shelf... Within this box there were many objects, secret and sacred. She held the box carefully, aware of how fragile this solid object could be.
She opened it up with the key strung around her neck, turning until she could feel its release. Her eyes gave way to her past tears and deeper fears, everything within her now pouring out. The insides of the box shined and gleamed, singing lovely melodies and starstruck harmonies...
She reached deep within herself, and began to tear out memories... Memories and long awaited dreams. String by string, thread by thread, she pulled and tore apart the fabric of herself, omitting the parts that were no longer necessary.
When all of the tiny gold strings forming the pattern of a Dreamer were ripped out, she slowly braided them, carefully and gently, into a tiny bracelet... One she could wear again when the day came. Inside her tiny glass box, the bracelet was left to sit, and once she locked it up, it was safely placed back on the shelf...
Her shoulders hung low, her head felt heavy and her heart felt faint... Yet, she found the strength to smile at her box, and walk away, Key resting in its normal place.

Then, suddenly, came The Departure.
Her Fear became a reality, her "off-in-the-distance" possibility suddenly now happening. "I don't understand." The acceptance came slowly, her mind filling with images, with "Could have been". The pain settled in nicely. She watched as they took apart another soul's belongings, their life left dissected and spread all around, charms and bracelets made of dreams and wishes, pillows and blankets made of pictures, or forgotten memories...
They were slowly revealing all of the things left unsaid...
She sits now as an observer,
allowed to grab her bracelet back,
yet watching others from afar instead...

Now, there is nothing more but an empty space left behind.

                     and
all
         these
                   tiny
                       crumbs...

(And all of her damn cats.)