LET ME LIVE THAT FANTASY


♕

She made no other movement except the twitching of her ears, the widening of her nares, of her eyes, as the other girl finally spoke (I’ve been down before), lips eventually crinkling into an eager smile, a trace of all her boldness coming back to life. If the older femme had lived through her journey into the abyss, Melita could too – and this, amidst the beckoning, whirling promises of cool things, was enough to overcome and overwhelm the apprehension coiled amidst her youthful, gangly frame. “Like what?” The only question she asked – gasping, mouth forming a narrow o, her voice laden with the awe, with the inspiration, with the reverence known to most children, so intrigued, so curious, so spellbound by the endless possibilities of the unknown. She didn’t question where the other femme came from, if she was part of the sands and sun too, she didn’t inquire about the laws and lay of the land, nor she did place any consternation in their safety, if she should trust, if she should bend to the musings of another. Her eyes were riveted away from Vastra, torn back into the shambles of darkness, into the brewing, brooding shadows, into the nearly tangible streaks of red and gold. She wanted to know, to understand, what was down there, what caused the hot colors, the shadows, the invocations, and what the dun girl had seen. It was a sort of greedy prospect driven through her heart, her mind, her soul, but Vastra had offered, and she likely wouldn’t do it on her own, not without a guide into the maze of halls and embers, not without a way to escape should terror find them (and while she’d never witnessed or been immersed into these treacherous ways, she’d heard enough stories along the horizon, through grapevines, to be wary of oncoming storms and mayhem). Coaxed and persuaded, inveigled and charmed, the honeybee child nodded her head, setting her jaw in a tight line, her chest puffed out once again, her legs taking one, two, three more steps, before turning back to ensure the other was coming, was ready, was fervent, to lead the way. “Okay!” Show me was in her eyes, a touch of defiance, a hint of rebellion, a modicum of reservations drawn away and leaving only youthful audacity and ease; the way most creatures came into the world before something shaped, shifted, or sharpened them.