Evolution of A Soul: Continued

By: Diane Hypolite

The visions came slowly
like thickened molasses
pouring slowly into sight and
then as clear water will dispel
the murk of a cloudy pond,
they sharpened into clearer
focus.

A tiny newborn was hud-
dled into a box, it’s tiny head
lost in shadows as it cried the
harsh, breaking sobs of the
truly heartbroken. Above its
head was a faded sign saying
‘Orphanage’, and down the
street footsteps quickly faded
into non-existence.

Then the scene was
gone, replaced by the squalor
of a broken down trailer.
Over blaring, country music,
glass shattered, and a
woman hit the wall uncon-
scious and broken. Her hus-
band stood over her, swaying
as alcohol hazed his vision
into red, a bat clutched tightly
in his fist. Before the scene
whirled away into nothing-
ness the sickening sound of
wood crunching bone was
heard.

Then suddenly there was

BoY i7'S CoLo

TOO BAD
WE HAVE To

WELL T Wiked THE
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
INTO THE CAa'S LIGHT
SISTEM FROM THE
BATTERY,

Teen Vix. 1) HOLES

YOU CANT SEE THE WIRES
BECAUSE T COVEREO THE
CELINGG IN MOF PARTICLE
BoAkO To REFLECT THE sound
FROM MY SUBS. T DAILLEO
in Tae MBE so T

a man sitting alone at an
office desk, bare except for
the pink slip in front of him.
His mind was lost in thoughts
of failure and exhaustion. His
wife had left, his kids went
with her, his friends had dis-
appeared, his house was
seized, and his car was
taken. All was gone except
for one. Slowly he opened
the second drawer of his
desk and pulled out a shiny,
unused pistol. Handed down
the generations in his family.
He remembered the day his
father gave it to him. “...for
when you realize what a
piece of shit you are, boy.”
The office melted away
into the azure sky of pretty
summer’s day. A playground
buzzed with the activity of
children who _ laughed,
screaming out their fierce
enjoyment of youth. Only,
one child sat alone in the mid-
dle of the playground. His
loneliness was an ocean
pulsing that pushed all the
other children out to the outer
banks of the playground.
They were unified in their
semi-conscious desire to

HEY! Do you

TWO NEED A

AIDE CoWwAN THe
Wict ?

“THANKS FOR GING
Os A aoe

ignore him. The little boy sat
on the swings with his pos-
ture half-turned as he tried to
hide the scarred half of his
face.

The images flew thick
and fast, until there were no
more and | was left on the
ground a.sobbing, heaving
mess. | retched out disgust,
disillusionment, and the pain
of life. | retched until | was
nothing but an empty husk,
and then devoid of energy, |
lay unmoving. In the corner
of my eye, the fire still flick-
ered and | cursed myself that
| let myself be. manipulated,
that | let the fire hold such
sway over me. If it were not
for those flames and my own
damnable curiosity, | would
not be raw and bleeding
inside. | resolved then and
there that | would leave that
clearing and find my way
back to where | came from.
My memory was still gone,
but it was enough to reason
that to go back down the road
which brought me to this
clearing might be a good
place to start.

It was a long and painful

$O WHAT'S WiTH

on! No

PROBLEM -1 T'S
CRETTY Coro
OUTSIOE I'D

LOULoO FEO THE LIGHTS
THROUGH. THEN TO Finish
\‘T ALL OFF 1 covEeREeo
THE WHOLE CEILING INI

SoFT cone

GOoO GRIEF
why 7/ WHY
GO TO ALL
THAT EFFORT?

NHEN I Tues MY
INTERIOR LIGHTS CON
THER NIPPLES LIGHT
we! seer!’

process to bring myself to my
feet but | managed, and had
even taken a step when sud-
denly the fire gave a great
roar behind me. | stood still,
and slowly looked back over
my shoulder. What | saw
gave was a great shock and |
fell to my knees before it. A
tiger stood there, tail lashing,
as it calmly contemplated me.
And it’s eyes (those were the
strangest of all) were not
eyes at all but pools of dark-
ness. A closer look told me
that in the depths of those
black orbs flames flickered,
and | knelt, entranced within
them.

A voice, unbidden said in
my mind, ‘a soul has walked
the length of the fire and has
been tried. It has felt the
caress of the flames and the
scorch of the ashes and has
been reborn. The fire has
molds all into perfect symme-
try of light and of darkness.
Now, let the heavens witness
this, the newest of the bap-
tized’.

Suddenly | was the tiger,
and | was seeing a
disheveled creature through
i's eyes, pale and shaken.
Pity for this inane creature
welled up within my soul but !
could not focus long on its
suffering, for the night was
alive with anticipation and the
heavens gazed down on me
with expectant eyes. Around
me the forest pulsed with life
and the desire to enter and
begin the hunt was strong.
But first | stopped and stared

THE MANY FACES o

TERRORISM

at the wraith and gave a roar
of welcome, for | recognized
a future equal. Then | was
gone, through the forest with
the night in my veins and the
taste of victory on my tongue.

So ended this strangest
of all dreams and | woke up
shaken and slightly nau-
seous. For the taste of fear
was in my mouth and | did not
know exactly why. | lay the
whole night long in my bed,
awake and thoughtful. The
more | contemplated the mat-
ter, the more | began to think
of it not as a dream but as an
omen, sent for some higher
purpose. | felt inside myself
that | was changed in some
fundamental way, unseen to
all except the most naked of
emotions. Comprehension of
such a vision alluded me but
in the morning while involved
in the daily ablutions | discov-
ered a mark upon my body,
unknown to me before. It
was high on my right hip.
First inspection yielded only a
blob, but as | squinted closer
| made out the figure of what
could be a tiger, tail lashing at
the air.

So now | end my story,
still not knowing what to
make of my story. Whether it
was a dream or something
more, who can know? It
stands to you, the reader, to
make of it what you will.
Maybe, if there lives some
person who can understand
the oddity of such a vision,
there is hope yet for myself.