The Cracking Crystal part 4:
The gentle mists fell down, on a cold and shivering winter afternoon. I turned a sharp eye towards the window, which was scratched and cracked from an encounter with a criminal the other day. As I sat down holding a mug of fine tea, feeling the heat streaming onto my practically frozen nose and cheeks. The tea was bitter, like all of my teas were. I sighed a sigh of grief, as I peered over to the kitchen, looking at a badly damaged portrait of my wife; Nadira Tothem. She had recently been arrested for alleged murder, of her Grandmother, who shall not be named. I had secretly found out of her Grandmother’s ‘disciplines’ from my mother in law. I found them to be quite horrific. Here is one that I found: ‘I saw the little brat hit her brother with a stick, the girl should deservingly get sentenced to the cane, as every punishment should be’. Horrifying, absolutely mad.
There are more of these...punishments that were recorded, but I’ll spare you the details. These were known by Nadira for a long time, yet she spoke so quietly of them, to the point where her grandmother became more forgetful that she was that cruel a while back.
Of course everyone was distressed to hear this, but they were more distressed knowing that they child/grandchild attempted to murder her over this. When taken to court I brought up the prospect of her being punished as a youth was perhaps the reasoning for this uncivil act against her grandmother. In saying this, Nadria glared at me with the eyes of Medusa, as if I said something wrong.
The days went by, little-by-little I started to worry about her, Poor old Nadira I thought. My worries weren’t as big as the other problems, such as the robber coming in and nicking my precious emerald ring, given to me by Nadira.
So I guess you are wondering why I have named this diary account ‘The Cracking Crystal’. Well it’s simple:
It all started when I was slouching over my desk filling out the crossword in the Sunday Times, when I heard a rummage and clatter downstairs. Now this sound was nothing new to me, it could be the dog for all I care, she is a bit reckless anyway. Still curious I took the paper with me and shut the door. When in doing so I could hear what sounded like screams from downstairs. As I started to think what in God’s trousers could be making that absurd sound, my thinking and practically my entire brain stopped when I saw the sight Nadira…………….beating the dog with her cane..
This caught my attention greatly, as I marched to her, barking the words, “What has gotten into you woman?!”I was taken aback when she slowly and effectively turned around to face me. I just can’t describe what on Earth I was seeing, she had these glowing and yellow eyes, and her teeth had turned glowing yellow too. She glared at me with the same Medusa eyes, but this time it started to actually affect me. I quickly put the paper over my eyes so she couldn’t do anything, but back then and even now I’m confused as to how she managed to make it work. I lifted it down just to check if she had stopped, which luckily she did. I asked her why is she like this, and what happened to her. She then told me about this crystal she found, and that when she went near it, the world around her had started to change, change for the better. I was confused by this statement, but she then explained that the world she now saw was one which was messy, with things being not where they should be, and the colours and overall atmosphere of the world thrown on its head, and she liked it.
I was deeply concerned as to what had happened to her but regardless, I managed to keep myself level-headed and listened into her explanation as to this happening. She started to speak of the trial and the beatings her Grandmother had given her. She then brought up the way I talked about the possibility of knowing about how she was abused at a young age. I responded with, “I could not possibly have known about such information my dear.” She was lighting a blaze inside her head. She couldn’t bear to hear that. She then said these words, which will and have haunt(ed) my dreams, “I became this thing, this ugly bastard with dastardly features because I knew you had found out. You never thought I’d find out but you were wrong.” I was in a great shock. She had done this to get back at me for something I didn’t do, at least on conscious action. Despite this, I frankly knew what to do. To show her how much I wanted this to end, I sighed a sigh of regret and solumness and cleared my throat, saying only the words, “I saw the recordings around 2 months ago.”
I stepped back slightly, not wanting to get too close. Nadira just stood there silently. Not a word to hear. Just an expression that read ‘I caught you! Hah what a loser!’. But this expression isn’t exact to the one she was actually dawning. She wasn’t moving. Her chest was stationary. She simply turned her wrongingly grotesk head, (her head not her neck or body), making a lot of cracking sounds. She then spoke a simple two words, ‘Thank you.’ I was in confusion and shock as to why she was thanking me but, she then, fainted....
...Or so I thought. This was not a faint nor a trick of hers. The mouth of hers had been silent and stationary since she muttered those words.
And thus, I now sit, crumpled and exhausted, months after this incident, staring over at the misty window wandering, how did I get here?
This story was more an exploration of the Crystal’s power, and to show how it can be used, (Which will be expanded upon in the future), and it was really to kill some time. I also liked the narrator and how he wasn’t the possessed or a supernatural being, and the conflict involving the crystal was actually very well integrated into the narrative in a realistic way. I like the character who uses the crystal in this narrative, as they’re sort of like a ‘Karen’, but written in a way which shows the crystal’s power very well. Despite me liking this a lot I can’t remember a whole lot of it, unfortunately.
The tale of the outsiders fades away, as a new light shines….?
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