text: As the faded black quilt of the night masks out the everlasting intense flare we call luminescence, And the harmonies of all blissful things fall prey to the mournful music of the ever obfuscous vault. The quiet mellow wind will drift, consuming the ones who shiver in the rawest of frost. And then, when all the voices of the world remain unspoken, That's when, the eternal deepening pained souls, The beaten. The discouraged. The crippled The broken... For them, it will come. That which threatens the presence of suffering and grief, Of torture and pain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kritanta was alone as they shuffled down a large hill in the freezing cold. Their face felt as if it had been touched by the very fingers of winter itself. They let out a shuddering breath, watching as the carbon dioxide they huffed out formed a small cloud in front of them. They chuckled at the absurdity of this situation. They had been sent to go pick up halloween decorations on their own. And at the ripe age of thirteen no less! They honestly just wished their mother would take care of her own problems sometimes. But no, Instead she sent her “useless” youngest child out on their own to deal with her issues. The street was slowly growing quiet the longer Kritanta walked. By the time the sun began to set, the store was still a few blocks away. Having their only form of warmth taken away so suddenly only made the frigid child shake and shiver more. “C-cold...” they muttered, wishing they had at least grabbed a jacket on their rush out the door. After a minute of sheer icy-dry temperature drops, something fell from the sky above them and tickled their arm. It was small and fluffy. White. Wet. Cold. Kritanta looked up at the darkening sky, only to get a faceful of white flecks, which soon melted away into nothing but water. It was snowing. “D-d-dang mom.” They hissed as the snow surrounded them. “If only you’d just driv-v-ven here... on your own.” They sat down on the edge of the large sidewalk, feeling tired and clumsy. “You're almost 14 now,” their mother had said. “You can do the errands on your own.” But she had been wrong, for here her child sat in the freezing cold, Unable to move any further. Kritanta took in a slow shallow breath of bitter, icy air as they curled up into a ball to hide from the snow. They shivered. But suddenly they realized that the cold had disappeared. It had been replaced with thousands of pins and needles, poking their way into their delicate skin. Kritanta screamed and shrieked to the snow covered stars as they laid down in the soft snow that had been piling up below them. After a moment, the pain seemed to recede as Kritanta’s body began to numb over. They let out a small, nervous chuckle and took in a shaky breath, Too weak to do much of anything else. Knowing what was coming, Kritanta shed a tear. They weren't ready, they knew that. But a person was never really ready for something so sudden and frightening as death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Their body wasn't found until a week after they actually died. It laid there for days in the icy weather, only freezing more as the seconds ticked by. But that didn't matter much, for it was just a body. Kritanta’s mortal body was no longer alive, so it didn't matter much to them anymore. Now all it could do was serve as a painful reminder that they had once walked the earth, as alive and brilliant with life. They would never feel that exhilaration again. All they could feel now was the remorse and melancholy cries they had left behind. They couldn't even cry, for only people with real bodies, and fluids could do a thing like that. Kritanta often wondered why of all people, they had been chosen for this particular role after life. It was a question left unanswered because there was no way to answer a question like that. It was just the way things had turned out, and now Kritanta was left to suffer as they watched people live and thrive without them. They had been left behind, bitten by the jaws of death and subject to suffer the punishment for themselves. It had been nearly a year now since Kritanta’s death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kritanta stared at their Mother from across the dimly lit room. Today was Halloween, the day her own child had died, and she was still out throwing parties, not caring about the people around her. Kritanta let out a snarl. At least that woman was no mother of theirs, for the Kritanta their ‘mother’ had known was buried six feet underground. Had her mother even cared enough to attend their funeral? Probably not. They wouldn't know since they had been in a drifting haze for about a month after the cold had taken their life. Kritanta stood in the dark corner for most of the party, watching all the people around them abuse the little life they had left for far too long. Eventually people started to stagger out of the house one by one. Kritanta frowned. 11:30 was definitely an early time for a party to end at their mother’s house, but they didn't care much. At least it was quiet now. They made sure to keep their eye trained on their mother as she cleaned up the trashed house and sat on the double sofa with a sigh of relief. “Have you forgotten me?” they wanted to scream to her face as she relaxed there, not a care in the world. “Have you forgotten the day you sent me out to do your bidding?! The day I died.” With a groan, Kritanta began to leave, not even knowing why exactly they had stayed here to begin with. It wasn't like they would suddenly be able to be heard. Even if they were, there was no way their mother would listen to them. A small sniff from behind forced Kritanta to stop in their tracks. They turned back around to face their mother. To their surprise, her face was streaming with tears and she was holding a small picture. They moved in closer to get a good look at what their mother could possibly be crying about. But before they even saw the image, they knew what it had to be. What it must have been. What they desperately wanted it to be. “My Kritanta, why did you have to leave us so suddenly,” their mother mumbled through tears. “You were so young, I shouldn't have made you take care of my problems that day. Th-that was m-my responsibility... I-” Their mother broke down into uncontrollable sobs, the miniature picture of her and Kritanta posing together drifting to the floor in a swoop. Kritanta approached their mother and smiled. They rushed into the awestruck arms of their mom, feeling peaceful and free from what could only be described as her attachment to their life. “It’s okay mom,” Kritanta said, shedding a tear for the first time since that cold night on the sidewalk, “I forgive you. I really do. Live your life in peace knowing that I'll be fine, and you will too. I love you mom.” Their mother returned the hug, still somewhat in shock. “I love you too honey.” she said, still crying. “And I always will.” Kritanta laughed joyfully as their mother spoke the words they had longed to hear for so long. They drifted beyond, blissful and calm, still feeling the warmth of their mother's embrace as they left the living world behind.