 |
| A quick Sharpie and water color illustration of Truenda and the cat. |
At first, Truenda was appalled by this, but then she felt the emptiness in her chest surge and grow as if in response to the cat’s words. Without quite realizing what she was doing, she reached up and plucked out first one eye and then the other, and then she dropped them in the path.
“Follow me, then,” the cat purred.
Truenda followed the soft sound of the cat’s paws on the path. She was frightened she might trip and fall because she could not see, but the path was smooth and sloped gently downward, and soon she was comfortable walking along behind the cat. However, now that she was wrapped in absolute blackness because of the loss of her eyes, she felt the longing for the spaces between the stars more than ever. The hollowness aching inside her was nearly unbearable. “Is it much farther?” asked Truenda.
“Not far,” said the cat.
Just then, Truenda thought she heard someone call her name. “Who was that?” she asked.
“I heard nothing,” said the cat. “Just keep walking.”
Truenda continued down the path, but soon she was sure she heard a distant voice call her name. “There, did you hear that? Someone called my name.”
“It was only the wind,” said the cat. “Now pay attention to me or you will lose your way. I will sing a song for you to easily hear so that you can follow me.” The cat began to sing a loud and unsavory tavern song.
Truenda did not like the song, but it did make it easy to follow the cat. She walked on for a time until she heard someone call out again. This time she was certain it was her brother’s voice calling her name. She stopped and said, “It’s my older brother. He’s calling for me. I must go to him.”
“No,” said the cat impatiently, “you should not. Not if you want to reach the cave. If you ever want to touch the darkness you profess to love and fill the aching hollowness in your chest, you will have to cut off your ears so that you will not hear the calls of your brother and be tempted to turn back.”
Truenda was torn. Her brother was looking for her. She could tell by his voice that he was concerned for her wellbeing and wanted to help her. She could not just ignore him.
“Besides,” said the cat. “Won’t you be embarrassed for him to see what you’ve done to your eyes? Here is a sharp rock. Cut off your ears so we can move on.”
Truenda felt the rock pressed into her hand. She really was ashamed to let her brother see her. And the ache in her chest was so complete, so irresistible. “How will I follow you if I cannot see or hear?” she asked the cat.
“Easy,” said the cat, “you can hold onto my tail and I will lead you.”
Truenda cut off her ears, first one, then the other, and dropped them in the path. Now, surrounded by nothing but blackness and silence, the hollowness hurt so much she thought it might tear her in two. She clutched the cat’s tail and said, “Lead on.”
End of part two.
I'll post part three tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment