A Single Rose

[Vigil StarGazer]

“So the Princess and the Prince lived happily ever after.” Said he of the ominous voice.

“No,” suddenly she cried, a voice full a sense of strange urgency that none can understand. “What about Timmy?”

Some gave the girl strange looks, annoyed and irritated at her misbehavior; some ignored her totally and begin to leave thinking with no consequences at all; a few stared down to the ground, realizing shame.

“What about Timmy?” She asked again. The crowd started to disperse, but the girl stayed. The man in shadows sighed but at last continued on with the tale.

A Single Rose

 

“A Single Rose,” said he, as he wrapped his hands around the delicate purple crystal orb like a spider dancing on the windowsill. The swirls of the elements drags lights into the orb, drawing images of landscapes far beyond and finally rested on a beautiful flower. Her many pedals welcome the warm sunshine in a soft green drifting meadow? A rose, a thing of the mystical, non-existent beauty existing somewhere in the ominous field in the world. The image flicker once more and then darkness resumed the reality of the crystal purple.

“The Single Rose,” Timmy repeated, not daring to doubt the even that had just transpired. Yet it is beyond comprehension, to think a rose! Sensing distress wavers in Timmy’s eye, King dared to break the enchanted silence: “I thought all roses are dead.”

“But yessss…” hissed the wizard, Merlock’s face was ominous in his dark hood, but Timmy felt the wizard’s glowing eyes glaring at him in a very disturbing way. That was all but within a wrinkle in time, however, for the next moment Merlock’s eyes return to his normal ways. Ignoring Timmy’s insignificant presence, the old wizard continued: “And only the finding of the Single Rose will cure the princess’ malady.

Timmy found himself staring at his princess, her soft powdered cheeks are as white as snow, her lips paled as she lay helplessly on her throne with the knight by her side.

“Betrothed,” he held his lover’s hand and then raised his hand and swears unto god. “I shall find the single rose, as true as my love is to you.” And then Timmy raised her hand to his cheek and attempted a kiss to her gentle hand, but reluctantly and quickly she slipped her hand from Timmy’s hands and into the whiteness of her lap where she wiped compulsively with the hem of her dress.

The princess’ cheek flushed briefly. Timmy was with awe, “How beautiful she was.” Timmy thought. “And gentle, meek, and virtuous. For how dishonorable I was to attempted her gentle hands.”

“You shall hurry on you way then,” the knight announced, for Timmy’s mind was lost as his vacant eyes stare hopelessly at the princess. Timmy, knowing that he had once again forgotten himself in the Court of the King, turned his attention to the king with a flush to his face.

The princess gave a stare at the king. “The court is adjourned today. Leave in peace.” And the princess offered her hand to the knight as he escort her back into her bedchamber. He took a thought glance back before he left the hall. The mage was gone, disappearing into the solitude of his tower preparing for things mysterious. The knight closely allow the princess to lean against him for support, as both of their figures disappeared into the darken halls as the King shaking his tired head, sighing.

 

The Knight returns shortly for Timmy after, his armor now casually unbuckled, and Timmy thought he walked a bit strangely with his eyes wide apart, but since he does require help from him he dared not say a word.

“What you are still doing here?” The knight asked demandingly as he looked down at Timmy. The Knight was towering two feet over little Timmy, despite the fact that they are the same age.

“The King mentioned something about a steed.” Timmy silently muttered, not daring to disturb the Knight in the first place, but a quest he must go. He must go on a quest to save the princess.

The knight threw a tolerable glance at Timmy and led him to the stable. Both Timmy and the Knight walked pass horses, one more stronger and larger then the last, until he was led to the last stall where a skinny donkey stood.

“This is your steed,” the knight said as he covered his mouth. “Ride well.”

To Timmy all the horse seems the same. Timmy and the Knight were friends to begin with, and thus have complete trust over him. Beside, Timmy was definitely too short to ride on the big horses, however he did sense another problem he should address before he undertake his quest.

“Is the princess’ health so bad that I have to ride in hurry?” Timmy asked. The Knight was about to reply with something unintelligent when a page showed up. Giving a sharp glance at Timmy the page bowed to the knight and say, “The Princess requires your presence immediately, and she would also wish to know if the problem has been taken care of.”

“Tell her that I will be there as soon as I can, and the problem will be gone shortly.” The knight whispered, hardly noticeable to Timmy’s ears, and then both departed. Timmy opened the stall’s gate, patted the donkey, and slowly held its rein and marched out to the distant sky.

 

The Quest for the Rose

 

Timmy named his donkey Tommy, and they became true friends on this lonely journey. Timmy became to brush him, patted him, talked to him, and in the end releasing him. True friends never held each other captive. Once the donkey was released from its harness it kicked Timmy in his tummy, ran away as quickly as possible to its newfound freedom, and by chance tripped itself. After Timmy got up and noticed his friend was happily drowning himself in a ditch he waved and bade good wishes to the donkey, picked up his sack and went on his way.

 

Timmy came about in a starving city where the streets have no name, and on that day he saw a child on the street. “Please Sir, My family need some coins or otherwise all my brothers and sisters will starved to death.” Without another thought Timmy emptied his pocket to that kid, who in return laughed. “Sucker! My father was a drunken bastard and my mom’s a whore. I got no siblings because I killed them all!” he shouted as he ran away as quickly as possible.

“At least he didn’t lie,” Timmy thought. “His family does need the money.”

Timmy spent the days wandering in the streets until he could escape the labyrinth man built for themselves. “It is a weird place,” he came to recall later.

 

Timmy was traveling along the road went he saw a few nice men strolling along the bushes; He smiled and waved to them as they came out with shiny pointy knives. “A fool,” said the bandit leader as they stick their knives at him. “Search him for any valuables.” To their dismay they found none, for Timmy had already sold all that he had for food and shelter along the way. “The Kill him and get it done with!” The Bandit King already had a lousy day and is eager to moved on to his next victim when another group of bandits came out of the bushes. “Ha! Robert the Ruthless, Prepared to meet your doom!” Plundering Pete gnarled as he led his band to the slaughter. The two notorious bandits across the land battled each other as Timmy stood amidst the battle, watching. “What are you doing kid? Run and get away!” A bandit tried to shove him out of the melee, but was stabbed in back by another. Unclean Blood splattered on Timmy’s face but he continued to stood his ground until slowly the numbers on both side dwindle and finally the rest fled. Here lies Robert the Ruthless, the Terror of the North, with a sword in his guts. There lies Plundering Pete, the impeller of a thousand man, impaled on his own spear. “I must go find the single rose,” said Timmy, as he wiped the blood from his face and moved on to his journey.

 

Timmy came across three people while trying to find an underpass:

“Hey kid, turn back!” said a travelling salesmen.

“But I must go and find the only rose,” replied Timmy, not even bothering to look up to the man.

“But there are dragons up on the hill!” said one. “He’s big, as big as a castle!” said another. “And he got claws that can torn you in half, with fiery breath that roast away any armor!” said the last.

“Thanks for the info,” Timmy smiled and walked passed them. They gave Timmy a weird look in return but shrugged, continue to sell their wares.

At last Timmy reached the bare rocks where the mouth of the underground cavern stood open to him. Timmy walked blindly in the darkness and when he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel he emerged from the other side of the rocky waste. “I guess dragons are as abundant as roses,” Timmy though to himself as he walked out of the cave.

It was just another thousands of nights where Timmy was searching for a place to sleep when he saw a castle on the horizon. The castle was perfect because it was abandoned, timeless and eternal. Instead of the main gate, Timmy used the servant’s entrance like he used to, and quietly made his want inside the vacant halls. Knights and Generals, Lords and Ladies, Servants and Minstrels lay all asleep on the floor while the king and queen slept soundlessly at their throne.

“You scoundrel! How did you get pass the undead guards?” yelled a pale robed figure suddenly appeared in the hallway. A slender hand held up a wand point at Timmy’s direction, and at once Timmy felt heavy and tired. Timmy managed to trip himself and fell to the floor before another blast of the wand hit him. The robed figure approached Timmy like a viscous maid holding a broomstick to a rodent. “One more should do,” said he of the robed one as the wand points toward him again. With the last of his strength Timmy managed to grab a servant’s silver tray and shield himself with it. The robed figure screamed in horror as he saw his own image pointing the wand toward him. Slowly he slummed to a peaceful quiet sleep as the people in the court began to wake up, freed from the spell at last.

“Oh valiant wanderer who delivered us from the evil spell” the king spoke with his majestic voice, “what reward do you wish to ask?”

At once servants came out into the hall, bearing a tray of golden bars, another one came out with a tray of jewels and pearls, and still another servants came out with a silver crown and a beautiful sword wrapped in velvet. All these items were piled right on Timmy’s feet as they all bow before him, yet Timmy asked. “Where can I find the single rose?”

The hall was silent as if everyone was asleep again. Most of the king’s attendance was in mute horror.

“I do not know the answer to that question, but there are a Lady high up in the mountain. With all the wisdom perhaps she’ll know.” With that being spoken the king signals the servants to gather up the treasures. Not forgetting his courtly manners Timmy bowed before the King and without another look at all the fortune that was laid before him he turned away exiting the castle. Everyone exchanged looks behind his back.

 

Before the highest mountain in the world stood a small village cradled at its foot. In the tavern Timmy found himself eating bread and sipping the last bottle of ale he could afford. The place was unusually crowded for a village this size. A bard was earning his dinner by singing songs and telling far tales for all whom listened to him, and indeed his crowd was large, for tonight his story was a crowd’s favorites.

“Oh there begins this peasant boy who had once wooed a princess; so he set out to prove his deeds/ He braved two bandits so viscously fray; Pillaging Pete and Ruthless Roberts were none. He cleared to den of dragons, and was the first to came out alive! Finally he defenstrated the kingdom from an evil wizard, but what the king offered compared not to the love in his heart. So praised Sir Knight of the Valor, a peasant born who won the Princess’ love by waking her with the gentlest kiss/ May this new tale be sung and told.”

Timmy cheered just like the rest of the patrons in the end, tossed out his share of coppers to the bard, and headed up into the mountains in the depths of the night.

 

Timmy knew not how long he had been climbing or how much further did he have to go. The mountain itself became almost impossible to scale onto the asylum of winter where no light could never ever melt the ice. Timmy was trapped within a squall lifting up ancient black snow, creating a storm around him. “… Must go on… must seek the only single rose…” he still say as the snow robbed his remaining youth and harden his skin to a frozen crust. Snowflakes gathered on his hair and growing mustache until his mind is gone, but yet he continued to march against the impending storm like a walking corpse. He was sure he’d died, and perhaps then he would find the single rose in heaven. He woke up emerging out of warm water. His skin rejuvenated from the hard journeys and feelings in his arms and legs returned to him. The environment he found himself in was misty and warm, a contrast to the cold freezing hell he marched upon earlier. He thought an angel smiled at him with the bluest eyes, but the next moment he felt her hands is of flesh and blood. The Lady in had been living in this pocket within the mountain for eons. The heat of the lava below the thin earth melted the snow and created a pond of steam in a small valley in the mountains, thus creating the warm misty atmosphere. All strange forms of plants and life sprang within the valley and for a while Timmy was trapped in paradise that was embodied within the Lady’s embrace. Alas Timmy had never forgotten the rose, and the Lady of the Mountain realized that it was killing the man she had fallen in love with. So without even saying a word, the Lady of the Mountain pointed toward a direction. Timmy gave his last kissed to her and continued on while the tears that she tried to hide was a frozen crystal that slowly returned the hidden paradise back into the frozen wasteland; brown leaves falling from silver-spanned trees marked the first sign of death.

 

The Revelation of the Rose

 

The brink of reality is what’s left on the other side of the mountain, and Timmy found himself faced-to-face with the robed figure he’d confronted at the sleeping castle. The pair of slender hand removed his hood to reveal a familiar face. “You!” Timmy exclaimed at once, and for once in his lifetime Timmy felt the anger rushing into his veins.

“Names are not important,” replied the man who was once known as Merlock, “but just know that I am the guardian to this universe. To pass, you must go through me.”

The Dark Mysterious Figure turned and Timmy followed him until they reached a quiet spot in the sand. A strange stack of wood was already prepared on the ground and the dark mysterious figure whispered words of magic as he built a fired with green flames flickering in the air, contrasting the glowing purple horizon. In all this time Timmy sat down in front of the magician and watched silently.

“This place does not exist. It is beyond your comprehension so what you see is only what you believe to have seen,” the old forgotten familiar voice begins his monologue, “you never see reality, but rather the image of objects as it gets reflected into your eyes. On the same token, what you see is never was, but rather a trick of the light that enters into your mind.”

The Dark Mysterious Figure scooped up a handful of sand and thrust it in front of Timmy. “Here the sands of time, all the realities piled on these desert sands. Look deeply.” And Timmy did.

 

“There were you who once fell in love with the princess at the first sight,” began the secretive whispers that came out of existence as Timmy peeked into his past. “And in return you pulled an old rusty sword out of the stone to gain the princess’ hand in marriage.” The voice dimmed as another grain of sand took its place, moving on to another reality. “Your friend the Knight had other ambition, but coming from the same end. That night while everyone was toasting wine to your deed, the knight went inside the princess’ room and took her virginity with his swords.” Another voice joined the chorus, accusing and sharp while the other voices became nothing but muttering backgrounds. “She have to keep that secret, for she had to pretend to be a honorable princess. Yet she had also learned to enjoy it, much like those street whores did when they took strangers to bed. The slut princess, yes that’s what she was.” The first voice returned, full of sorrows as he narrates they day Timmy left the castle. “The princess were filling herself with the knight even as you leave the castle. You turned away because you do not want to see the violent shadows through the window, but you know it! Deep inside you knew they were doing it, your innocently pure princess and your true friend the knight. For her you wandered around the world to search for the single rose so true.”

“No I did not.”

“What?” said the mysterious figure in black.

Timmy closed his eyes, and sees the sands that was in his hands slowly slipping away between his fingers and carried away to nowhere by the gentlest breeze. When there was nothing left in his hands he spoke. “I did not seek the roses for her.”

 

“I should have killed you! I should have killed you!” The Dark Mysterious Figure screamed in both terror and rage. “Either one of those bandits should have killed you out right! If not then I could have make a dragon appeared anywhere and anytime just with the snap of my fingers! I could squished you like a bug or just let you die an ironic death in the frozen mountains for being just so close!”

“But instead you’re/I’m here.” Both the dark mysterious figure and Timmy said in unison.

Silence.

“You are brave, brave Timmy, even if you found yourself in this big, big world. It’s not a bad, bad thing, if the world went out without roses.” The dark mysterious figure’s voice became smoothing and auspicious like a snake, as if he was offering a compromise. His open palm conjured powerful images in turn. “You did not wish for fortune or fame, the most beautiful women in the world could not make you stay, nor do you have any desire for power. You are a complication within yourself Timmy, tell me what you want?”

“I want the single rose.” Timmy flatly stated.

Another Scream followed by mocking laughter echo the space around Timmy as thunder shattered physical existence.

 

“Do you know what the roses are?”

“Do you know what the roses mean?”

“Do you know what the roses will do?”

 

A blinding flash broke away the non-existing void, and this time they appear in the city which Timmy came across on his quest. “Someday all of humanity would be enclosed in a place like this, a place where everyone are packed in an enclosed space, but yet feel lonely with all the people crowded around them.” Both the dark mysterious figure and Timmy drift along the sea of people as if they do not exist to them. House by house they came across human tragedy; the young lord’s daughter fell in love with a scamming rogue who in turn had a twisted childhood to blame, the starving father who sold his young children despite his crying wife because the father got hoodwinked by the crime lord. The crime lord himself was trapped in his own protective prison fearing the underlings he raised will bit the hand that feed them…

“That is call society,” the mysterious figure whispered intensely. Both of them are above the city now, staring down to the million of twinkling night light as the noise from the city became a distant filler to the silence that fills the cold vacant feeling in the night. “The evil, the wretchedness, the corruption; these are the sins of humanity which one could never be excluded from its existence. Sorrow and pain would always exist as long as human beings exist.”

The dark figure of mysteries curled his lips in sneer. “Now tell me what your pitiful roses would give to this world?”

 

Timmy whispered a soundless word, and in return the dark mysterious figure shown the most shocking expression on his face. He covered his face and laughed so hard until he cried for an eternity, but when he was done he gave a residing wave to Timmy and disappeared into ubiquitously.

“The single rose was always in my heart,” Timmy began his soliloquy, “and all it needs is to come out.”

Timmy slashed his wrist.

 

Morning came and a type of beautiful flower has always been in existence since the beginning of time. A gentle hand picked the blood-colored blossoms from the deteriorated garden and placed them in a basket to greet her love. The princess, now began to show her age, glide her way to the Knight to was ever-so busy at his desk these days.

“My handsome Knight,” she began, but was promptly being slapped on her cheek with the steel gauntlets. “I am not your Knight!” he took another gulp of beer from his goblet and yelled in her in brutal wantonness, “I am now your king because I have killed your father and stole his throne. You are of no further used to me! Now get out of my sight while I plan my invasion to enlarge your miserable kingdom.”

The princess swallowed her tears as she silently retreated back into her own garden of prison, where she could stared at those beautiful roses again and be at peace.

Edited March 10, 2003 by Lord of the Gay

[The Portrait of Zool]

Wow! What a tragedy! Cynicism does not begin to cover it - oh, yes it does.

 

Well done, though I feel a little more focus and better editing would go far. You give plenty of punch, but mood, style, and form should work together to give it cohesiveness as well. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite!

[The Portrait of Zool]

Also, due to some of the mature themes (explicit inuendo, suicide), it prolly would've gone better in Randy's alcove.

[Peredhil]

Since LotG has never joined the Pen except as a Guest, I don't think he can even see the new area Zool...

[The Portrait of Zool]

That's right! http://www.themightypen.net/public/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif

 

Well then, LotG... <_>

[Vlad]

This was a very good story, and a bit shocking at the end.

I was definetly wondering "what will happen next"?

Thanks for keeping me on the egde of my seat!

 

(I think I missed the suicide, care to point out where it is?)

[Archaneus]

Wow, this is great. Why aren't you a member?!

 

“The single rose was always in my heart,” Timmy began his soliloquy, “and all it needs is to come out.”

Timmy slashed his wrist.

There is your suicide, Vlad.

 

Oh, and did I meantion this is great and I enjoyed it?

[Peredhil]

Exceptionally good. The grammar/spelling does tarnish your otherwise golden imagery.

 

I enjoyed reading this. Reminded me of a Tarot reading in a way. The inverted Fool becoming the Hanged Man, crossed by the Magician, progressing through the World and Tower, betrayed by the Lovers, etc etc.

I think it's difficult to write a meaningful Fairy Tale now-a-days. You've succeeded.

-P