RPContest #7 - Winner : Dew

[Aleister Black]

Before I say any of the standard regulation stuff, I want to say two things:

1. I'm surprised. I thought I had a pretty good idea of the quality I could expect. My expectations were high (as usual) but the entrants managed to astound me. Wow. I'm thoroughly impressed.

2. You aren't the sunniest people out there, are you? I think the term 'happy ending' isn't in RSF's Rpers' dictionary.


-----

Well, I got three awesome entries for this RPC. This may be one of our most exciting RPC's yet, because the quality of all posts is just so insanely high. Be sure to vote, because we need more than the three votes the last RPC yielded!


Participants are allowed to vote, but not for their own entry!

You do not have to post for your vote to count, but feedback is very much appreciated.

The entries are in the SPOILER markers at the bottom of this message.

I will post guidelines for the next contest tomorrow morning.

 

Look at you.

Do you see the beauty and otherworldly charm that you hold?

Look at you.

Are you aware that you cage the heavens within your eyes? Do you taste the sinful saccharine flavor that lines your very lips? Do inhale the very fragrance of you that every flower would envy?

I have.
And you have slain me; slain me so thoroughly with the song of your words, the music of your laughter. I have drowned in your perfect tears and embraced the temple that is your immaculate form. I have been intoxicated by your gaze and go mad by the light of your love. You are a goddess that the heavens have misplaced, confined to this mortal world in so perfect a form.

Even as I touch you, the faintest whisper of silk is one of jealousy, of envy. The curves of your body, more true than nature itself and I long to forever caress it; the perfect ivory glow with that subtle kiss of health. I am no being worthy to bask in this presence, but I yearn. I ache. I entreat you would grant me this satisfaction.

That I would hold you, touch you, kiss you, taste you, breath you in until I no longer felt that glimmer of life within me.


Alas. What once I could claim as mine is no longer.
What once was my shrine, my glory, my love… I have lost so great a glory, this I know. I dread the thought of any other knowing the splendor of holding you. I am reminded of the gravest mistake I have ever made in letting you walk away even now as you lay before me alluringly bare. You are magnificence, surpassing the glory of the richest night sky that glimmers with the distant gems of starlight.

Look at you.
… Even dressed in the ruby of your own blood are you flawless. You, the perfect house for the blade you now hold in the valley of your bosom.
My love.

 

"Just smile like the idiot you are" she says.

"What else can I do?" I return.

She's a cynical bitch, the voice in my head. But maybe it's about time I started to pay heed. I can only hold a brave face for so long, after all. In time these false feelings will diminish and I will be left with nought but that familiar old raw yearning. The same that wakes me most nights, drenched in a cold sweat. I have dreams where something bad always happens. The dreams that tell me you're never coming home. The dreams that show you calling out for my help.

I don't know who I can hold to account for for my anger, my urges, my longing... or the tear. I knew this day would come, but never did I imagine it being this unbearable.

I watched our son playing with toy soldiers. I wanted to crush them under my sandal and throw them in the garbage, but something held me back. Superstition perhaps... maybe even women's intuition. I know how foolish it sounds, but I don't want to do anything, no matter how small, if it could result in your - in you being hurt. Yeah, foolish...

Call me a crazy bitch, but that's what love is for me right now. The way I care for you has changed. It has become a distant affair ruled by constant fear and apprehension. So now I'm writing this journal. Starting today I'll write in this every time I think of you, and when you come home I'll show you, and then you'll know.

Then you'll know that I've been fighting too.

 

Lea was exhausted from her day, and all she wanted was to fall asleep. Even so, all the thoughts racing in her head kept her awake. She had finally found Emery, His real world counterpart that is. She had met Emery some months ago, shortly after discovering her ability to enter the world of dreams.

She found him, cornered by a pack of the nightmares. She had saved him using her newfound power, and spent every sleeping moment with him every since. He was like the little brother she never had. Or something. He usually seemed childlike, lonely and vulnerable. Sometimes though, she would arrive to the dreamworld and he would be different.He was commanding and brooding. Sometimes he wouldn’t even allow Lea to come close to him. Lea couldn’t get him to talk about his moodiness, he’d just curl up and stop talking. So she just accepted it. The mystery about him only made Lea want to be around him more.

Now though, Lea was getting answers. Disturbing ones. She found Emery in more or less the state she suspected. In a vegetative coma, it explained why he never left the dreamworld. With some sleuthing, she found his mother and learned Emery’s terrible past. It made her feel guilty thinking back, for a split second she had thought about never coming to see him again. She had to find him though, face him.

Lea didn’t remember falling asleep, but she was standing in a clearing between some huge oddly colored trees before she knew it. Emery sat with his back leaning against a tree. His eyes opened wide and lit up when he saw Lea, but as he stood up he read her expression. “W-what’s wrong Lea?” She took a few steps toward him. “Emery. I found you today. and I…I met your mother. She told me what happened. How you ended up like this.” Emery’s hands balled up into fists, and he backed away from Lea. “Why are you lying? I don’t have a mother. I’m all alone here. Except when you come. Which is hardly ever. So why are telling these lies when you’re finally here!?” Lea could feel tears welling up.
The atmosphere suddenly changed as Emery started to hyperventilate. The trees withered, and the sky darkened. Nightmares appeared everywhere. Lea. She jumped out of the way just as a winged one crashed down where she was standing. Was Emery doing this? His eyes glowed red, and the air around him seemed to move in mad chaotic fumes. “Emery please stop! Do you want these nightmares to kill me?” “Stupid girl!” A distorted voice that must be Emery shot out like a gun. “I am a nightmare. I’ve been dead this whole time. This is my hell. This whole world is my punishment!” Tears rolled down Lea’s face. “Emery…what your father did to you…what happened to your brother..it’s not your fault!”

A clawed hand squeezed around Lea’s neck and lifted her whole body in the air. It was sweet Emery, his skin slowly darkening to the shade of the monsters. “Please….Emer…let me..go” “NO!!” Dark tendrils shot out from the boy, leaving gaping wholes in Lea. She felt terrible pain, but not physical. It was Emery’s memories, flashing through her own mind. She couldn’t hold onto her consciousness much longer. “I’m tired of you leaving. You don’t know what it’s like here when you’re gone!” Lea was going to die here. “Fine. I’ll stay here with you.” She put her hand on his cheek, even as his face blurred in her vision. “I’m so sorry Emery. I didn’t think how hard it was for you. I’ll stay with you.” The hand loosened, and Lea fell to the ground. Emery bent over her. “I love everyone in my world but…I also love you Emery. More than any world. “I…forgive you.” Lea’s vision turned to nothing, and she collapsed into unconsciousness.

“L-Lea? No. No. NO!” Emery cried over her body. “I’m so sorry Lea. I love you too.” Emery wouldn’t allow her to give his life for him. This world belonged to him, and if it disappeared then her death here would mean nothing. She pressed Lea’s lips against his, as he willed himself out of existence. “Thank you, for giving me peace.”

Lea couldn’t believe she woke up. And when she slept a night without dreaming, she couldn’t believe he was gone. She held her own funeral service for him. Someone ought to do that for him. She missed him dearly, but it warmed her heart to know he found the peace he deserved. Though he was gone, she thought of him everyday. He helped her through struggles, and she would imagine telling him about all her fun experiences. She knew him so well, she could even imagine his responses. As long as she lived, Lea would never forget her first love.

 

She came out of the shower, her hair still damp. She was dressed in nothing but a white towel with a pattern of roses on both ends. Her feet trod lightly on the thickly carpeted floor as she paced slowly to the bed, almost cat-like in gace.

The man on the bed was patiently waiting for her, visibly enjoying every second of her approach, his mind undoubtedly savouring both the anticipation and yearning for her arrival.

And then they met. First, they were playful. But then their bodies became as one, and their souls meshed into one entity of love.

-

I turn away from my telescope. I can no longer watch, not even if I imagine myself to be that man. Instead, I turn to the neat row of black-and-whites, neatly hanging in rows. The pictures don't hurt. She doesn't know these pictures exist, but that only makes them more alluring. I imagine how she would react if she saw them. Would she be flattered, would she laugh? Would she be shy? I would reassure her that she looks lke a godess in each and every picture. And then we would kiss, and she would be with me always.

I look again. I know she doesn't really want to be with this man. That she doesn't enjoy his company at all. She's only keeping up appearances. She wouldn't have to do that if she were with me. She leans backwards, her face a mask of feigned pleasure. The lens is a blessing, but it is also cruel. It brings me closer to my greatest love, brings her closer to me. But she is behind glass. I cannot touch her, hold her, carress her, stroke her or kiss her. But soon, I will.


Soon.

[Doaj]

That took me longer than I expected to read them all. All were written well, but entry #3 stood out among them. I think entry #4 could have been better if there was more to it, but it ended so quickly. Wish I had entered this one, too. xD One day...

[Casanova]

I voted for entry #4.

Short, sweet, and unorthodox. Mistakes there were, but forgiven they are.

[Contra Fates]

Oh boy, a three-way tie! I'll definitely read through all of these tonight after class and toss in my vote, and I'll nag Chris to get to voting, too. =)

...And I'll nag Crystal, too. xD!

[Aleister Black]

OK, we now have a three-way tie! Get some more votes so we can have a winner this week!

[Aleister Black]

I'm having to extend this because there's a three way tie. I'll extend the deadline for both the voting and the entering of RPC #8 by one week. New deadline is 1 March.

[Ryvius]

I really thought I had already voted in this. Oh well, at least I was able to break the tie.

[Aleister Black]

And thanks to your vote, there has finally come an end to this poll! And I am glad to announce that the winning entry was mine.


So who do you think all the other entries were by?

[SurrealSanity]

Congrats on the win, Dew!!

And... I honestly couldn't for the life of me say. (As I suck and have not RPed with anyone here just yet. [simmers over the steampunk RP a bit] )