The candle flickered itself to sleep, suddenly extinguishing the light with a sigh. Since its debut, the waxy tears eroded its stature and over the days it aged, losing its grandeur to time's embrace. Starting due to the sudden darkness, the man used the curved glow of the moon to guide his hands towards a second candle and proceeded to light it, holding up its honey colored wax to bring the room into clearer focus. When sleep had captured him, the pen slipped from his anxious grip and as punishment was now bleeding ink onto the crumbling page. Lifting his scarred knuckles to his eyes, he rubbed away the last few grains of dreams and blinked heavily to send them back to his subconscious. There had been a girl with silver hair, dancing half naked to the sound of drums and brandishing an apple as crimson as the dying rose which bit into her left breast. She had caught him staring at her unorthodox beauty and gestured for him to approach, but the river between them sang its threat to his ears and so he remained on the other bank, wonder swallowing his rapid heartbeat. Still she gestured, but still he stayed. Growing tired of his hesitation, she made to turn but was halted by his cries of desire to be near her. She cocked her head as he removed his clothing, but did nothing when he plunged his quivering form into the crisp meadow water. The sky was streaked with clouds, but its lazuli blue overpowered their frost and warmed her skin with its fruitful pigment. She raised the apple to her nose and inhaled its dewy aura, rich with hints of woody smoke and the occasional scent of autumn branches. It reflected the icy tone of her skin and absorbed her beauty; making it ever sweeter, until she destroyed its perfect symmetry with a swift, sharp bite of her teeth. A handful of trees bore witness to the traveler as he danced his body through the powerful currents and grasped the over hanging oak roots to haul himself onto the ground, but they turned their backs to his vulnerability as he stood there naked, shivering in the wind. She placed her apple on the soil and walked with silent feet towards him, causing no stir to the leaves which littered the floor like wrappers. He could smell the muskiness of her skin as she stood facing him, leaving a centimeter of space between their bare flesh until he felt he would explode with the intimacy. His chest was painted with water droplets which stained his skin, leaving invisible marks that only mother nature could recognize, and as she lifted her spidery fingers towards him, he closed his eyes. Images flashed through his mind as her skin made contact with his, and she licked his body with her touch to truly taste his soul. He felt her graze his cheeks and marvel at how his stubble bit her, he felt as she slipped her fingers over the hollow of his throat and he felt her brush the water from his torso, sending it back to the stream with a shimmer of regret. She scraped her nails along his back until he cried out, and slid her hands together to cup the smooth curve of his buttocks and memorized the contours of his genitals as she danced about his penis with skin as soft as the ghost of silk. Goosebumps diseased his flesh as she touched him, but he never once backed away or stilled her hand. She explored his body with such an honesty, that by the time her hand took its last touch, he wanted nothing more than to grasp her wrist and stroke it upon himself again. He opened his eyes and caught the reflection of himself in her swollen pupils. His chocolate hair had turned jet black and his eyes, once brown, were now blue- the same color as her own. She smiled and reached for his hand, rubbing it along her bare shoulders and arching against his touch like a cat. She was warm and her skin carried the scent of honey sweet cobwebs, but the rose on her breast carried a different odor. Its withering petals captured the smell of decay, and it oozed its illness into the air; determined to contaminate yet another timeless flower. With her guidance, he ran his fingers over her breasts, careful not to touch the rose, until she stopped and returned his hand to him. She eliminated the gap between them and pressed her body firmly against his, gripping the flesh of his buttocks and sparking the flame of arousal in his blood. Her arms wrapped themselves around his body, and she tilted her head to the side before latching her lips upon the crescent of his. She tasted of ripened apples and as she kissed him, he noticed how sweet her tongue was, and melted into the vastness of eternity. |