Sunday, May 1, 2011

AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING

Sarah and Jonathon held hands, as they ascended the wide, granite stairs. Huge, fatty torches mounted in crude iron holders bled scattered puddles of yellow light. An infinity of stone galleries pushed out from the walls. Exotic creatures leaned over to watch them. Were they human? Had they been human? After a fashion, I suppose. They had the usual compliment of centaurs  and centaurinas, satyrs and hypatias (the usually white coated, female variety). There were insect-winged pixies, elves, cherubs and some other gargoyle-like beings who I'm told descend from ancient Sumerian dieties. Some  of the notables assembled wore fine, glittery costumes. Others could not be bothered with such frivolities and made due with nothing at all.

As they approached the summit, as they neared the royal platform, the King and his throne expanded and grew in size, until they were as tiny mouseykins standing by his feet. The Monarch reched down and scooped them up. Our vampires wrapped themselves around the thick, strong fingers and held on tight, in fear that they might fall, or worse, that he might shake them off. But he brought the wide-eyed specimens up to his well-formed face, the better to examine them. In a low whisper he said - Remove all fabricated membranes....And they did, taking special care not to slide off.. Then he ordered them to raise their arms and twirl around a bit, so that he might definitively identify therir species and gender. After a few heartbeats he playfully poked them with the index finger of his free hand and said - Ah, yes, altered humans, just as I anticipated. Here, Lady Maud, see what you think.......An equally enlarged woman stepped round from behind his throne. She had fine, porcelain skin, a delicate face and slim, poetic arms. The King carefully transfered each 'altered-human' into Lady Maud's soft, dry hands. Now to be truthful, certain of her features were a bit strange, especially when you take into consideration the fact that they were Statue of Liberty sized. Her eyes bulged out, encompassing the whole upper half of her face, for they were bugs eyes and possessed of a terrible, repulsive beauty. Sarah almost fainted. But that only made the deformed giantess laugh. And the assorted monstrosities in the galleries (both handsome and not so handsome) joined in........Then the King said - Go ahead, taste one.......So she shrugged her shoulders, cocked her head to the side, pinched Jonathon between her thumb and index finger and popped him right into her mouth. If still completely human and not mercifully 'altered,' he would have dropped dead right then and there. Believe me. He wanted to. But he did not. So he stayed awake and aware, as she rolled him round on her tongue, the better to savor his flavor. My, my, my, what big teeth she had. And the back sides (the part that did not show) were liberally caked with rough, stinking tartar. Jonathon expected to be gulped down into an acidy pit at any moment. Yet that did not happen. For she daintily spit him out into a polished golden bowl and pronounced him a 'superior quality morsel.' ......Then the King lifted Sarah to his wide, grinning mouth. She froze in fear. But he did not pop her in. Instead he carefully extended his flexed tongue and lightly brushed the tip of it up against her exposed body, after which he pronounced her to be a 'superior quality morsel' as well. She joined Jonathon in that golden bowl, as the multitude of beings in the galleries broke into thunderous applause.

And then, in a thin, microscopic sliver of time, it was over. Our twosome now found themselves in another place, a sunkist place fresh with the scent of the sea. For they were in the expansive, marble entry hall of the ghost of The Great Library of Alexandria. Structures also can have spirits too, you know. An old man with a short, white beard,  stepped out of the ether to welcome them. The first 'day' of school was about to begin...

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