All that shines
Pin drop silence.
To experience it as daily is terror one would not want to wish on their enemies.
A curse that steals all the voice from the world. Dropping you into heavy silence. The kind that crushes your ear and squeezes your head. In this heavy silence....What will your mind whisper to you?
"Shh....Don't utter a word. Don't make a sound. Don't lead it to us!"
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Ear pods have been her only solace for the past year and a half. The constant music that drums into her ears probably would cause problems in the future. But it kept IT at bay.
A year and a half ago, there was a shiny little bracelet that was found at the bottom of the truck hidden away in the attic. A day meant for deep cleaning became a day of discovery.
It was a brilliant gold. Thousands of tiny yellow suns strung together by a string of sliver that ran along the length of it. The silver was a snake, swimming through the sea of gold.
No clues to it's origin. The only certainty? That it became a part of her life. Everywhere she went, she wore it like a trophy. It seemed to draw people to it. To Her.
A family heirloom, Her lies becoming grander with every rendition of the bracelet's birth.
The strange bit was that since it's arrival, just like the snake, She too had been swimming in gold. In glitter and luxury. Her life blossomed. Brand deals. Successful company ventures. The height of comfort.
There was something strange about the thing. But youth only comes around once. Why not enjoy it while it lasted. A life that glows, one that many only could dream off... She laughed away all the worries that pestered at her. The little voices that warned her.
"It's changing!" it would nip at her in moments of silence. She would momentarily look at the bracelet, The gold was now a dull yellow....The snake turning black....She shook her head and slapped her cheeks softly.
"That's normal for silver! I have just been using it so much that it's lost it's shine and the silver is just tarnishing! it's normal."
But it wasn't normal. The voices got louder and louder screaming at Her to throw it away. The blacked snake seemed to grip to her wrist now.....She wouldn't.
Until one day, the bright yellow suns turned a pale dead white...and the pitch black snake around it stiffened.
As she stepped out her sport's car, the bracelet caught the triangular end of the car's door. Too busy, Too distracted by the crowd, Their noise and love...She pulled at it hard.
SNAP!
The snake shattered...The former gold ring scattered. Her world fell quiet.
"Ssss.....Payment" A soft rasp that chilled her spine....as she looked at the broken bracelet, the black snake shuddered....shook itself and slithered away...the gold rings sinking into the black pavement.
For the first time in months, the warnings from the voices stopped. Pin drop silence. Then a whispered warning "Shh...Don't make a sound."
-------
Since then life was different. The gold that surrounded Her life turned dull. Just like the bracelet. The only thing missing? The snake....
It was always there...She could feel it. It had grown....Large and imposing. It would slither through the crowds of people, It's pitch black scales a dark mirror for the world, Red eyes that glowed even in the brightest day.....A slimy wet tongue that licked at the air....tasting....
It seemed to be blind, Ironic considering only She could see it. It was looking for her....In all the places she had lived in prosperity. She couldn't go anyplace fancy.
The snake would appear....sensing her proximity to luxury...wanting to capture Her...to Swallow Her whole....Take back it's glory from the greedy greedy thief....
So now she lives in the dark. Away from all that glitters and clacks....In the quietness that is heavy, That is invisible.
In the quiet prison that she made for herself. She will now live the rest of her days..
"Shhh...It will hear us."
