Under the guise of tomorrow Neo sat once again at a table across from the sheep. This time instead of tea was a lovely lamb dinner, accompanied by both a salad and a cosmo. Neo held still, eyes closed, breathing steady. Around his neck was a halo of knives and swords floated around him; for now they were just phantom weapons, represented only by glowing outlines. Surrounding the table and a little square of flooring that it was on was a large swimming pool of water; so large and so ancient that most of it had been reclaimed by the Earth, and
Over ahead the sun shined, and the air was so pure and crisp that the tense energy at the table was almost washed away. Almost.
“You know,” the sheep began, mulling over their food, “I’ve always found you rather interesting.” Their lazy green gaze passed over him as their mouth fell into a bitter scowl when they realized he was closing his eyes.
“You are so good at hiding, tell me, what’s your secret?” The sheeps eyes stopped at Neos hands, peering ever closer at the stripes on his skin.
“Is it your stripes?” They went on, having eaten most of their salad and not bothering to try and speak over the waterfall.
The pool had long since began to overflow, but now the water had carved its way to becoming a river, sending the diners downstream. Mist covered the area around them and collided with a tower of clouds that surrounded a mountain. As the river carved years of depth into the earth in mere minutes, onlookers gathered around river.
Some that could never be saved.
A herd of deer watched them as the drifted past, they were all white---all much larger than the local deer, their fur was long and they had antlers covered in eyes watching
Watching
“It’s beautiful out here Neo Tiger,” now the sheep was pacing back and forth so anxious at Neo’s refusal to open his eyes that they had taken form of something similar to a satyr---but well, as a sheep. Their horns were twisted and jutted out past the length of their shoulders. The sheep sat back down, drumming their fingers irritably against the table.
“Acknowledge me Neo Tiger.” The sheep demanded, an angry bleat escaping their lips at the end of the sentence.
Neo grimaced, but obliged, a pool of pink light drained from his eyes like tears.
Without moving his head he looked down at the knives and swords around him, oh...nice try. With a finger he touched the tip of the knife just below his chin and pushed it first down and then around to point back toward the sheep---who had reverted to their original form. Once his gaze slipped over to the sheep the flood of pink that filled his eyes stopped and was replaced with a glowing green. He met the sheeps pink eyes.
Around the table, underneath the floor was lava that plowed through the forest, having replaced all sources of natural water. It poured over the land like firelit honey, slow, steady, but in a way that brought panic among whatever creatures were around them.
It always happened like this---the way the landscape changed; all by fault of the sheep. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant (a sort of morbid beauty actually) but,
Neo turned another one of the knives
but, he wished that they wouldn’t change it from its original state. Afterall...it wasn’t theirs to fuck up.
“Do you know what my job is, Neo Tiger?” The sheep asked, and as those words left their mouth the heat in the air intensified.
Neo shook his head.
“I create space in the dream scape. Meaning this,” they pointed a hoof toward the forest and immediately it was engulfed in flames, “is at my disposal. I take old, forgotten dreams and remove them.”
You destroy them, Neo signed back, already tired of this conversation.
“I suppose you could call it that, but that term is so...ugly.”
What would you call it?
“Exactly what I said, removal.”
Bullshit.
“Believe what you like.” The sheep said absentmindedly as they chewed on their salad, making a very loud crunching noise in the process. There seemed to be a lot on their mind today.
The clouds dripped down from the sky, engulfing the surrounding forest---somehow unfazed by the lava river that had managed to chase away most other things in its path; save for the clouds and a single cherry blossom tree in the distance. Neo watched as this world dissolved behind the little makeshift raft they sat on, wondering exactly why he was still at the table with this demon. They didn’t seem to have anything important to say---however their intent was often lost in pointless drabble, perhaps Neo wasn’t listening well. Neo traced the rim of his glass, watching as the cosmo in front of him changed color. The red liquid getting darker until it turned purple; stars formed in the glass, then planets, suns, a galaxy---
Interesting…
“What do you gain from being here?” The sheep asked, leaves dropping from their mouth and burning up in the air.
Why? Neo glanced over at them, watching as ash fell into their salad bowl.
“Just curious,” if the sheep could have shrugged they would.
Don’t panic.
“Sometimes I encounter those who want to stop me from doing my work.” The sheep narrowed their eyes; and behind them a wave of lava surged toward them.
“Those who aren’t dreaming.”
Don’t panic
“They have never succeeded of course.”
No never---
“I wouldn’t want to see you meet that same fate.”
Never gonna take him alive---
Don’t panic
What do you want?
The sheep gave a big, big grin, a big toothy grin, a great big devilish smile, and answered very simply
“Company.”
Comments (0)
See all