When I wake next, it’s night, though it takes me a second to realize. My eyes come into focus on the looming brilliance of a full moon. I’m not sure if it's just a trick of the eye, but he seems larger than I’ve ever seen him before. I’ve seen the Moon in all phases and at every time of the year, I’ve even seen supermoons, but this is something completely different. I close my eyes and rub my face to clear my head. But when I open my eyes again, the Moon is still taking up too much of the sky. He’s so large that he nearly fills my window sill. My eyes remained fixed on my friend for some time. Eventually, the novelty of the sight wears off enough that I can pull my eyes off him.
I sit up and scan the room for my phone. I have no idea how long I've been sleeping or what time, or even what day it is. Still in a fugue I stumble out of bed in search of my phone. The fruitless search gives me a restless ache in my legs that prompt me to movement. In an uncharacteristic moment of spontaneity, I dress myself, eager to get out of my studio apartment. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice my car keys sitting on my nightstand, framed perfectly by a beam of moonlight. Okay, I can take a hint. I grab my keys and walk out my front door without consideration for my wallet or phone. I don't know why, but I feel as though I have to move, have to go somewhere. Problem is, I have no idea where.
I get in my car and pull onto the road with no idea of what I'm doing or where I'm going. At first, I simply take turns at random, paying no mind to my destination. After a few minutes of driving, I realize I’ve been taking the same turns that I would if I was going to work. Part of me says it’s just chance, but a bigger part tells me there must be a reason I ended up here. There's been too many strange happenings tonight for this to be a coincidence. I'm not the kind of person to believe in superstition. I talk to the Moon, sure, but I have no illusions that he can actually hear me. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I'm just a lunatic off his meds. But this is different. I feel drawn to... wherever I'm going, in my bones. Where I'm going becomes apparent in a moment of elucidation as I recognize the road I’m on as the same one where I ran over— no, say it. Where I killed the black cat yesterday.
I arrive at the exact spot where the cat's body had been and pull over. I open my car door and step outside. The night is disorientingly bright from the illumination of the Moon. I look around, not expecting to see anything, then jump in surprise and fear when I spot movement along the tree line in my periphery. Feeling the same ominous draw that brought me here, I cautiously approach a conspicuous gap in the roadside brush. I walk right up to the edge of where the illumination of the Moon is obscured by dense tree cover. I peer in with silent expectation and freeze in confusion at what I see. Sitting primly in the middle of a shaft of moonlight, is a black cat with unearthly white eyes staring back at me. It black fur is glossy and full of luster, its small body lithe and graceful. There's something in its eyes too, something deep, something knowing that pulls me into the forest towards it. After I take my first ponderous step closer, it spins around and springs deeper into the woods. I walk slowly to the spot where it had been sitting and look up. Through the canopy I can see a sliver of my friend's face. Are you going to tell me what all this is about? With no information forthcoming from him, I resolve to get my own answers.
I consider whether the cat I’m currently chasing through the woods in the middle of the night is the same one that I killed yesterday. The answer is obviously no, animals don’t come back to life. Then again, if you asked me if it was possible for the Moon to be so big as to take up a third of the sky yesterday, I would have said no too. Of course, it's always possible I’m even crazier than I thought and just hallucinating both. After a few minutes of chasing my new feline friend, getting scratched by low hanging branches and assaulted by burrs all the while, my foot catches on a thick root and I trip, eating a face full of dirt. Ow… When I rise to my feet and brush myself off, my eyes lock with the cats. It's standing with its back to me, head turned around, looking very deliberately into my eyes. The message is received loud and clear, ‘follow’.
My torturous traipse through the forest ends when I stumble into a small clearing about ten feet wide. I rest with hands on knees and catch my breath. When I lift my head, I’m left dumbfounded. Before me, bathed in ghostly moonlight, is the surreal sight of a S̵͠C̷̳̎Y̴͔͋T̸̞͊H̶̡̕E̶̪͘, embedded in a tree stump. It’s somehow both mundane and mystical. At first glance it seems like just a regular farmer's scythe, simple wooden handle and plain metal blade. But a closer inspection reveals small, hair thin runic circles inscribed in the wooden shaft and an eerie white mist spilling forth from the blade. The whole thing is easily taller than I am. As my eyes follow the tools— the weapons sleek form up, my eyes again meet the cats. It sits precariously on the protruding grip along the shaft. As it looks imperiously down at me, it whispers a secret to me. Something that I realize I’ve known all along. Death is not an end, but a beginning. The cat then breaks eye contact and jumps down and stands to my left. My eyes then push further upward until they meet my best friend.
His majestic form fills the canopy opening of the clearing. As my eyes rove his face, I can see through small patches of sky in the tree cover, that he has grown once again. His form is unending now, stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. Feeling possessed by the ceremonial atmosphere, I take a confident step closer to the S̷̢̈́Ċ̶̘Y̶̗͐T̶̥͌H̵̛͓E̸̱̓. Now within reach, I stretch my arms and grasp its handle firmly, and something changes. Skin and muscle burn away from my body, leaving only bleached white bone. Now reborn, my skeletal hand tightens around the handle. With a final look around, I see that where once there was a black cat, now there is a gruesome and noble steed, fit for the reaper himself. Pale skin stretched tight over its body, each exhale spewing ethereal mist. Familiar milky white eyes look back at me. Just earlier today, I would've been surprised by this. But not anymore. It is as it should be.
I return my attention to my weapon, and pull. As I do, it feels as though everything I ever wanted has come true. Every wish granted; every dream made real. But most of all, holding this S̸͈͋C̴̡̍Y̸͕͘T̷̫̓H̷͑͜Ẹ̸̃ is every purpose fulfilled. All but one. I understand now, as I pull my new instrument of peace and war free of its prison. I understand that my entire life has been a test for this moment. All paths lead here, tO B̶E̴ ̶O̵N̸E̶ ̸O̷F̵ ̴F̷O̶U̸R̸.̵ ̸T̸O̶ ̵M̷A̷K̷E̴ ̶E̵V̸E̴R̸Y̵ ̸W̸O̴M̵B̸ B̷A̶R̸R̷E̸̸̶N̶ ̴A̴N̸D̷ ̷E̸V̵E̴R̸Y̴ ̴S̵E̶E̷D̴ ̶H̵O̶L̵L̴O̴W̴.̶ ̸T̸O̸ L̸E̷A̷D̴ ̶T̷H̵E̷ ̶D̴A̵R̵K̷ ̴L̴E̵G̴I̶O̵N̴S̸ ̵O̴F̸ ̴H̶A̵D̵E̸S̵ A̸N̷D̸ ̶CL̵A̸IM̷ L̵O̷R̶D̶S̴HI̵P̸ ̵O̸V̶E̸R̴ ̸T̵H̴E̶ ̴E̸A̸RT̸H̸ ̶I̶N̷ ̵H̷I̸S̵ ̷N̵A̷M̶E̸. ̵T̴O̷ ̸D̴E̶C̵LA̴R̸E̸ ̴U̷P̸O̵N̵ ̶T̶H̸E̶ ̵W̸O̸R̶L̶D̵ ̴O̴F̷ ̵M̸A̶N̵ ̴T̷H̵A̷T̷ ̶T̵H̸E̴ ̴B̶LI̴G̶H̶T̵ ̸O̴F̵ ̵T̸H̷E̷I̷R̶ ̶F̵I̷N̴A̷L̷ ̶P̸A̷S̶S̸IN̴G̸ H̸A̷S̴ ̸C̸O̵M̶E̵, ̴A̸N̶D̴ ̸HI̶S̵ ̸N̴A̷M̸E̶,̸ ̴I̷S DEATH.
Comments (1)
See all