Prince Sadim and the silver tongue

There once was a prince named Sadim, who despite his wealth was always hungry for more silver. So it was with great luck that one day, he found a djinni imprisoned in a bottle that was among his great wealth. The djinni, powerless to refuse the demands of the prince, asked what it was the prince wanted. Immediately, prince Sadim asked for eloquence to persuade others to give him silver.

The djinni agreed, and granted this power to the young prince. With his silver tongue, he was able to persuade anyone. He went around his kingdom demanding things from everyone within. Though his subjects had paid their taxes, with just a word they gladly gave up their money, even to the point that they no longer had enough to live.

Overjoyed with his new wealth, leeched off the people he spoke to that day, he returned to his palace. He was greeted by a beautiful princess of a neighboring land. He had long desired to be with her, and arrangements between their families had been discussed for a fortnight. With his new power, he demanded she marry him unconditionally, and unable to say no, she approached her father that night and insisted she be allowed to marry him without concern for their own country.

Pleased with his sudden good fortune, the prince went to bed without dinner, dreaming of his ever-growing wealth. In the morning, the prince was surprised to find that his attendants were nowhere to be seen. As he stepped out of his bedroom, he came upon a most terrible sight. The princess to whom he was to be wed was just outside his door, reaching forward as if to knock, but frozen in place and made of pure silver.

The servants in the courtyard were made of silver, and every last subject he had spoken to the day before was an unmoving and glorious silver statue. He searched for his father, but he was missing. As the day drew on, his hunger got the best of him. Sadim sat to eat a meal, but the moment a morsel touched his tongue, it turned to stone. Brilliant bread, glistening grapes, shining sausages, silver all.

Parched, starving, and terrified, the prince located the bottle of the djinni who had given him this power. Begging, he asked that the djinni free him of this curse. The djinni, seeing this as its opportunity, agreed on the condition that he be set free from the bottle. The prince agreed, and set the djinni free.

"Go to the mouth of the river, and drink. Take with you soap, and wash your mouth thoroughly. Only then will you free yourself of this curse." The djinni laughed as it departed.

So the prince went to the river, and scrubbed his mouth free of the silver tongue. As he did, the things which had turned to silver transformed back to their original states. Thinking his troubles over, the prince returned to his palace. But there he found the princess, his servants, and all the subjects of the land. They all scowled at him, some bearing weapons, and others shouting curses.

For although they were no longer silver, they still remembered how he had used his silver tongue to coerce them into doing things they did not want to do, because a word spoken cannot be taken back.

What awaits the morning dew

It was a typical day in the town. Everyone going about their business, as usual. Albert kissed his daughter goodbye as she left for the bus stop. After finishing his oatmeal, Albert got ready for work, in his usual blue suit and tie and got into his car.

30 minutes, that was his commute. 30 minutes that he had to himself. Knowing how busy he would be at his job, the 30 minute commute to work was his time to steel himself for the job ahead, and on the way home, his time to ruminate on the day.

Today, he was noticing the weather. After a long drought, finally some rain had rolled in. It was a relief, he thought, as the water restrictions on the town were starting to get difficult to follow. Weather reporters said that the rain would be off-and-on for the next several weeks, but it was expected that the drought had officially ended. Minor flooding in some places, but still appreciated for what it was. Life-giving water, desperately needed by the parched land.

He arrived at work, and greeted the security guard at the front before heading in.
"Morning, Jacob."
"Morning, Albert. How's Jennifer doing?"
"Ah, you know how it is. Kids grow up so fast. She was so excited about something or other happening at school today, she was practically running to get to the bus stop. I'm sure I'll get an earful when I get home tonight."
"Yeah, sounds about right, if you can stay awake for it. You run yourself too hard, man. Seems like you're always tired."
"I do what I must to provide for my family, Jake. You know that."
"Yeah, and I can't say that about all guys out there. Lotta deadbeat dads."
"Well, that won't be me. I'm always going to be there for my girl. Oh, time for me to get going. See you Tuesday?"
"Nah, man. I've got the day off. My wife and I are going to be out of town all next week to celebrate our anniversary."
"Aw, happy anniversary, Jacob. Tell your wife I said hi."
"Will do man. Take care of yourself, ya hear?"
"No promises." Albert laughed, and took the elevator up to the 20th floor.

Sitting at his desk, a window seat, able to look over his computer monitor and see the suburb sprawling out for miles below, Albert did not have much time to enjoy the scenery. With the clouds rolling in, and the phone already ringing he started work.

Around 2:30, Albert took his lunch break. While he was eating, he noticed something odd. One of the clouds outside, looked strangely shaped like some... grim creature with claws, reaching down from the sky. Dismissing this at first as just his imagination, he checked his phone. Just a few more hours, and he'd be able to go home. Just as he was checking the time, a text came in.

Hey, honey, I'm making spaghetti for dinner tonight. If you could bring home some garlic bread from the store to go with it, maybe some salad, I'd appreciate it. Love you! <3

Looking back out, the strange cloud looked even more ominous. The mist of the cloud now had a strange red hue to it. Albert did a double-take. There, in midair, in the place where the cloud's "claw" was, a something was falling. No, not falling, but more like... dangling. Was it a drone? No, it was too large for that. Then it hit him, that was a human body. But there's no way a HUMAN could stay suspended midair that long on its own.

The cloud's gruesome head approached the floating body, and as it closed around the person midair, their body smashed into a spray of red mist, further darkening the cloud. Albert could not trust his eyes. There is no way he just saw what he thought he saw. Things like this don't happen. He could feel his pulse racing.

The cloud, or was it a creature, reached down again. Moving as if a strong breeze were pushing the vapor close to the ground. Albert wondered if anyone even noticed in this rain what was happening. Then it hit him. It's raining, but yet the red mist in the cloud is staying suspended midair. Surely it would have dispersed or fallen already, but it was still there.

Another human rose into the air, and after a moment, same as before. As if shredded in a single "bite", the person was no more than vapor. Albert looked down, and noticed that there were some people who had just witnessed that. He watched for their reaction. They were closer, probably would have seen it better. He tried to figure out from their reaction if he could believe what he saw.

The people on the ground level suddenly covered their mouths, looked like some of them were panicking. People suddenly rushed to get into vehicles and take off. Not a single car that had a clear view of what had happened drove in the direction of the... Albert realized he had no idea what to call what he just saw. A cloud monster? A predator of some sort? Some kind of creature.

The creature's eyeless gaze suddenly settled upon the building he was in. It was as if it was staring at him. He felt a chill run down his back, like when standing in a crowd and turning around to see someone had been staring. Albert froze, uncertain what to do, what to expect. He had to go. He has to make sure his daughter is safe. She is all that matters. These were the thoughts running through his head.

"No. There's no time for you to run. I thirst, and you will slake it."
Albert screamed in terror as he heard these words echo from inside his own brain. He turned and ran toward the elevators. He took a moment to glance back, and saw the cloud rapidly approaching the building. There was a deafening sound. Not exactly one sound, a cacophony of sounds. Twisting metal, shattering glass, crumbling stone, as the sides of the building crashed in, as if being bitten. Albert fell to the floor and everything went black.

He woke up, in a daze. He hurt all over. It was dark. Instinctively, he pulled his phone from his pocket, and checked the time- 4pm. A sudden realization swept over him, as he realized he was laying in the rubble of his office building. He remembered that creature, and everything came back to him at once.

He pulled himself free of the debris, and found his way to a place where he could more clearly see around himself. He was trapped on what appeared to be the 12th floor of the building. That he had survived was a miracle of sorts. Or was it a curse? He had no way down from that height, and in his desperation, he called 911. The line was too busy, and he could not get through. He looked out from the crumbling wreckage of what had been a much taller building before it was chewed through. No surprise that the dispatch number had been busy. In the distance, he saw it. Now very clearly. With the swirling dust, and the fine red mist making its features more distinct, he knew. That thing was the reason 911 was busy.

Albert thought how there are not people enough in the world to answer the calls that are sure to be coming in now. He had to get to his family. He had to ensure they were safe. The world was ending, but he had to do something. He managed to locate a stairwell, but it was blocked by rubble. Eventually, he got the door free, and was able to make his way down to the security desk, although every step was agony. He probably had several broken bones, but the thought of his family spurred him on.

He reached the front desk, but it was deserted. He walked to the parking lot, and saw that the majority of the building he had spent the last 8 years working in was there on top of everything. He recognized the black Honda in front of him. It was Jacob's car. There was a huge chunk of concrete sticking through the front end. Albert knew better than to look closer, as there was a puddle of red dripping from the car door.

Albert tried to find his car, but it was hopelessly lost among the remains of the building. He tried to call his daughter's school. No answer. He tried to call his wife, but the phone went straight to voicemail.

"I need more!"
Albert heard echo in his head. At that very moment, he knew. Everything was over for him. There was no coming back from something like this. Sure, maybe he and his family survive a day, a week, a month. But nobody knew anything about the creature that had come suddenly, and devoured the suburb. Nobody would know when it would be sated, if ever. Worst of all, it might not be alone, for who knows what awaits the morning dew?

One year later, but just the same

Last year, first month, almost exactly one year ago to the day as now, I wrote about the numbness that I have felt. A numbness that has kept me functioning, but also prevented me from experiencing satisfaction.

One year later, and the same is true. I was thinking this evening about how upset this makes me. I don't really feel anything, but on a mental level, I am angry that I can't feel.

I'm angry that I have no choice when I am alone and lonely but to remain lonely until the feeling (one of the few that actually appear) passes.

Is there something about me that needs to change to be the catalyst of feeling again? What can I do? Why does it seem like nobody wants to be around me?

I ask these questions, but I know that nobody will answer them for me. Nobody ever answers. I'm instead left hating myself for feeling less than human. I can't even tell if anyone will read these thoughts, carefully written out, a diary screaming for help, posted on the Internet for the world to see how pathetic I am. Yet I am probably so unimportant in the GRAND SCHEME of the universe, these words will probably never matter to anyone else.

In truth, I write them for me. I've changed recently, too. Recent as in... Over the past few years. I have nothing to fall back upon. Nobody and nothing to petition for help, nobody to blame for my decisions except me. It's incredibly freeing to be rational, and believe in the observable and in lucid, logic based ethical frameworks. It's also scary, having to be honest with myself about my responsibility to others in this regard.

Like most other humans, I am incredibly self centered and selfish in general. I just would rather like to have another person who I could share the good and the bad with. But people are so complex, multifaceted and each with their own unique personalities and back story. Where would I even begin? I start at the surface, because it's what I can see. That's probably the problem, but I don't know what else to do. The surface is part of the package, even if not the most important part.

I am struggling. I have resolved myself to be more bold this year, hoping that by risking more, I may reap some benefit from my efforts. Then again, I had high hopes last year, too, and I know how that ended.