Chapter 2: A Living Constellation

Chapter 2 of : The Glass House

Chapter 2: A Living Constellation  

Upon the path less traveled on 

I set out, my journey long

Leaves matted and sodden undertow 

Upon the trail warm wet despair did grow

Patched with moss, trodden dead foliage 

Sweet, earthy, aroma arose as the sun melted off the snow.

There was a chill, breezing through the crosswinds

Through the dense barren pines 

A path three meters wide was the only divide

Scattered oaks lie to my left and to my right 

Ancient and majestic their limbs massive and wandering 

Trunks wide, roots heaving the earth around it skyward 

The pines that surround, tilting away obediently, 

Their roots swept from under them, prone to falling down,

Their corpses litter the ground, cracked

Splintered and crumbling, succumbing to decay

Their skin, sheared in piles and lines,

Needles brown, a musty aroma, injected to the earth all around

Upon my stride, fallen branches crackle

From high upon a scraping perch a flock of of ravens cackle 

Their feathers black, gloss coated, eyes inquisitive 

Heads c**k, my steps falling, intently 

and falling to their scrutiny

Their gaze darting to the path that lie in front of me,

Then back to where my feet are landing.

From the flock a solitary caw echoes 

with only silence to follow

Upon my left off into the distance I sense 

something subtle, 

something hiding, I can hear a scurry 

ever so slightly from a trunk of a hollowed out oak tree 

I can see something flicking rhythmically 

White and barely visible even to me

I check the planes, flicking through the filters cautiously

once, twice, thrice then suddenly 

Upon the fourth plane the light was blinding 

my eyes squinting attempting to disperse the vision of the entity that 

threatened to rob my sight from me.

I closed my eyes completely, slowed my breathing, and willed my eyes to begin shifting 

all too slowly, they lightened to silver, 

a color not familiar to humans, or anything in this realm for that matter,

yet a color that I had discovered worked fairly well for visual over stimulation,

as it reflected away more light than was taken in, my iris alone a black sliver razor thin.

Im out of practice, I thought woefully,

After many painful moments my eyes opened,

the forest I saw so vividly before, revealed nothing but greys and blacks now,

 the earth underneath me a bottomless blackness, the trees only shades of grey.

the ravens high above me were revealed in shape, 

a dim glowing orange flame, 

their eyes a lighter cream colored blaze.

 

I can see the Lizards that dance around the forest that surrounds me, 

the cold blooded little reptiles leaving tick marks 

every where they scurry,  

slowly scanning I close in and focus on the hollowed tree, turning my head 

my vision focusing on the open hearted oak before me.

Awestruck I view something profound.

I can see an essence flickering brightly,

throbbing, pulsating, changing 

its form, warping, distorting, fading, the again intensifying 

upon the planes I looked once more, 

this creature was flashing between planes six, seven, and four 

its energy flashing like lighting then dissipating,

I could hear what I saw but not from my ears, 

the muscles in my jaw clenching in rhythmic patterns,

intricate and seemingly randomly scattered. 

The hollowed oak itself was charcoal grey

Yet with every pulsation I saw the form of this creature before it would fade.

I could see its heart within its chest, 

with every beat and every throb,

it ignited its veins and arteries with light,

the heart was two different parts, and emitted two different lights 

one warm and hot the other cold and bright.

Within this little guy I saw a star, but of no ordinary spirit type.

this being was a fusion, a pulsar, two essences intertwined,

woven tightly revolving constantly, feeding and provoking one another.  

I recognized the shape of this being.

even through the fuzzy outlines of his shape, there was no mistake.

It was a fox.

Its eyes peering through the wood, through the bark, through my soul to my heart.

I realized with an air of discomfort I too was being observed.

as I studied him, he studied me, and I chuckled as I knew what he would see.

A symphony of lights and darks that swirled within me,

constantly moving, fusing, separating and displacing, while changing, 

yet never mixing. 

The cells that died within me, 

constantly being revived and recycled, as the were constantly restructuring.

Their driving forces balanced death and creation

my body inhumanly hot yet always in constant regulation.

Its head turned, eyes widened in amazement 

I saw the structure that lie beneath its furry eyelids.

His eyes were polished black with a milky way star studded iris, 

their depth seemed infinite, 

each and every star like light inside constantly moving, 

revolving as if in orbit as if his soul was their gravity.

each twinkle locked in a moving ebb and flow, revolving light show.

Swiftly I saw him leap up from the hole in which he crouched

as he cleared the tree from which he pounced, 

his form, his essence, his being, his entire existence, vanished completely

only to re-manifest directly before me,

an impossible feat, 

without any ties to agility, speed or even to this reality,

his face was sleek and slender fur midnight black, 

to my astonishment there were also stars upon his back,

not physical, yet more of a map,

an astrological display of constellations, that constantly made placement changes,

the stars moving slowly across his pelt as they do at night 

slowly, purposefully and patience of an eternity. 

His paws alone a solid satin white, save for the front right, 

where a black star flickered and glimmered,

emitting a dark yet cheerful light.

A similar pattern upon his immaculate white snout,

a black depiction of what seemed to be the north star unnaturally lie beneath his right eye,  

His tail flicked, left, right left, and his chest rose outward as if to take a breath.

watching his maw carefully I lifted my hands and stepped back once intently.

"I'm not here to harm you"

boomed from inside my own head,

the foxes mouth never twitching, I looked at him in bewilderment.

His eyes, calculating and patient, yet with an aire of confidence.

Then why does your form obscure my path? I asked.

"There is darkness, present, the balance has been upset",

 rang the deep voice, soft as velvet.

"Upon my meandering upon this dimension, I was awakened from a long slow slumber 

by the ripple that left the Astro planes shaken,

You Michael were at the epicenter when the quake happened.

I needed to know, who, and what you were.

I needed to know If you were the cause or the cure.

From what I can see of one thing Im sure 

Your destiny is about to turn, and you carry the future into a place that is secure,

your essence rustles my fur,

there is darkness, there is light,

a constant tug of war, that leads you to be the bridge between two worlds,

one of righteousness, and one of sin,

one of prosperity, one of destruction,

one of virtue, on the cusp of corruption,

you are so divided it is a miracle that you function.

you are everything, you are nothing 

you are fierce, yet self destructing,

your path lie ahead with it the beginning and the end you are forging,

searching endlessly for purpose,

in which you have recently acquired your hope is visible from the surface.

You are the Chosen.

you are the whole that once was broken

pure of heart dark of soul you live for those you love the most,

So listen close, everything you know is about to implode,

it is your destiny should you continue down this road."