The Crowned King
Location
Clown
I should be terrified-after all, I have lived this before and know what follows-but I am not
Spider
Some sick and twisted monstrosity, an awful mockery of life
Deep and morbid and macabre curiosity
Grips me, Holds me, Embraces me
The clown-that-is-really-a-spider prevents me from looking away, from getting away
Still I ask myself if I would even if I could
A train wreck that is so horrible one cannot help but stare.
The scene changes
The sun rises in the north but sets in the east
The sun rises but it is only midnight
Directions and time lose all meaning here
The world has moved on.
Rose
A field of roses, a sea of crimson and scarlet, the Can'-Ka No Rey
Each rose appears to be hand crafted
Of the warmest reds
Brightest pinks
Each petal masterfully chiseled from the very fabric of life
They call to me
They sing to me
I do not know how long I can resist
I contemplate each petal of each flower and am perfectly content
Each rose tells a different story, each rose serves as a doorway to another world
Surely a higher power, a crowned king, placed these here, for My admiration and Mine only.
Tower
An imposing structure tears through the field
Like a giant black needle piercing flesh
A massive charcoal tower of an ominous nature
I do not fear it
The tower radiates Fear, Joy, Power, Love, Compassion, Sorrow
I feel these emotions and a thousand more as I witness this marvel of architecture.
Surely the crowned king lives there.
Surely I must see him.
But I have a long ways to go.
“This is the way the world ends:
This is the way the world ends:
This is the way the world ends:
Not with a bang but a whimper” runs through my mind.
An empty, once thriving metropolis
Smell the sickly-sweet cloying scent of rotting flesh
Hear the ravens feasting
Captain Trips and Nebraska and Corn fields and Colorado
What does it mean?
The urgency rises
Where is my Crowned King?
I am back at the tower and decide to enter and climb.
I enter every entry and experience everything.
I see a high school gym and a hotel;
I see a girl who loved Tom Gordon and one who starts fires;
I see a St. Bernard and a Buick 8;
I see the dark half and the dead zone;
All this I see and more.
I reach the top level and I find myself in the mind of the creator, that higher power I was sure must Exist
My Crowned King.