Windswept
Windswept by Kai Llewellyn
Preface:
These stories are loosely based on actual events that have recently taken place in my life over the last eight months, they focus predominantly on the feelings they cause and how they have affected me as a person. Think it as a written journal of my mind. Considering this, constructive criticism is welcome, but please be kind, this is something that is very personal to me.
There was a clap of thunder over the storm swept beach as the waves crashed against the jagged cliffs that made Westdale Bay. In the distance there was an island that rose from the horizon. It was a remarkable place, even with the oncoming storm; one could be at complete peace, fully knowing that they were safe.
Sitting on a rock, near one of the cliff faces, was a black and white husky dressed in a black trench coat and black jeans. He had a worn look to him; his fur was untidy and matted, as was his hair. The electric blue tip of his fringe fell down over his face as the rain came down. In his paws was a letter, its ink beginning to run, but it was just about legible;
Dear Toby,
You've changed as a person, you are at the precipice of insanity and I fear that if you do not stop; you will fall into a pit of delusion and madness. Your brain has become toxic, and it is forcing you to do things that are wrong. You will loose yourself if you do not stop. It therefore is with my greatest regret that I can no longer be near you, for fear of what you may do to me, and to those I love. It is with my greatest hope that you can find yourself again, and return to your old ways.
Yours,
Bryan
Toby loosened his grip on the letter, allowing it to be carried away by the growing wind, he watched the letter disappear into the distance. He buried his face in his paws, and started to cry, his tears dripping down onto the pebbles that formed the beach. Suddenly a there was a blindingly bright flash of light and then, stood before Toby was a ghostly ethereal husky. The other husky looked down upon Toby, and gave a gaze of love and kindness, speaking with a deep echoic voice.
'Why are you crying?'
Toby looked up with his tearstained blue eyes into the eyes of the ethereal husky. 'I'm an anomaly, a demon. Because of it I'm alone, rejected by society, with no hope of redemption.'
'You are describing who you think you are, not necessarily who you actually are.'
'Then who am I?' Toby responded, with a twitch of anger.
'That is for you to find out, but I can tell you, that what you think of yourself, and indeed what others think of you, is not actually who you are.'
'Arguments over the interpretation over who I am mean nothing. No matter who I actually am, people will treat me as they interpret me, regardless of anything else.'
'The thoughts of other men do not matter, If you discover who you are, people will see it through you. But I promise you, you will find yourself again, and then, and only then, things will get better. You must let go of the past, and look forward. If you don't, your past will be your eventual downfall.'
With that the ethereal husky disappeared in another flash of brilliant white light. There was an eerie silence that reverberated around the bay, the storm had stopped, the wind had dropped and the sea was perfectly still. Toby looked out into the bay, puzzled at what had just happened, he however decided that he had stayed here long enough.
Toby got up and made his way back up the path back to his home. He walked through the lush green fields, again, everything was quiet, there was no wind, and the field was empty, he didn't mind, since it gave him room to think about what had just happened.
'What the hell just happened?', he said to himself.
'Perhaps he's right though, I need to change, to become someone else, to start afresh and create a new identity.'
He smiled widely, perhaps this was the solution he was looking for, casting off the chains of his past and drawing out a new future. For the first time in months he wagged his tail, and ran back to his house at the edge of the nearby woods, jumping through the long grass. The clouds had broken in the sky, and the valley was lit up in the warm glow of the sun.
The husky began to approach his house; it was a rather small dwelling, its walls constructed out of stone, and its roof was thatched. It wasn't much, but he was fond of it nonetheless and it was away from the judging eyes of society.
He took the key out of the pocket of his trench coat, and unlocked the door and then walked in. For such an unremarkable house, it was rather well furnished, there were no wide-open spaces, and the shelves were full of different specialized contraptions and trinkets. There was a double bed in one corner, and a sofa in another. A pedestal with an aged looking book that was padlocked shut stood proudly in front of the window. Toby took another key from his trench coat and then flung it off onto a stand. He then walked to the pedestal and took the book, and then carried it to his desk. He unlocked the old book and turned the pages to the last entry;
July the First on The Eleventh Year of theTwenty-First Century.
'Every day that passes, my mind loses its grip on what is real, and what is not, I feel that the world has ostracised me and is now leaving me to rot away, alone, as if I was a failure of natural selection. I loath the world and all its inhabitants, I can only trust nature as my guide and the company of those who do not have the ability to reason or reject. I want those who have caused me pain to feel how I feel, to feel loss, pain and misery...I want them to lose all those who are near and dear to them, because only then will they understand what this world is really like.
He shook his head as he read the previous entry, realizing for the first time how polluted his mind was, how broken he was. He took a quill and whispered under his breath 'No more', and he began to write.
July the Sixth on the Eleventh Year of the Twenty-First Century
Something most impossible happened today; I was sat on the beach in Westdale Bay, and before me appeared a spirit, a guide, who told me that what I believe about this world and myself is wrong. I therefore have decided to change who I am, to write myself a better future, in good company of others, to have a future with someone who loves me just as much as I love them. Long live happy days and joyous nights, for this husky will change and tie himself closer to his roots as Kai Glyn Llewellyn!'
'My past will be gone, my future will be bright, I am Kai Llewellyn, and I'm reborn!' His eyes lit up bright blue as he growled deeply, tearing his clothes off with his claws. He now stood naked, now beginning to clean his fur; smartening himself up. He went towards the cupboard and took out a newer looking brown trench coat, a light brown shirt and a new pair of jeans and then went to put them on. He also took out a green, blue and gray scarf, and looked upon it fondly.
'My, my, this is gorgeous, though a little unseasonable, considering it is summer.'
He took the scarf over to the stand and saved it for later months, he then walked to the mirror and stuck up his blue and black fringe and then proceeded to exit the house, the day now clear and sunny, the valley abundant with the colour of summer flowers.
'I think it's time to start living the life I never had'...He slammed the door behind him, and then he started running through the vividly coloured field, his trench coat billowing out behind him.