[3]
The clam was darker, so dark that she almost mistook it as a rock. But when the woman opens the mouth of this clam, she finds that the clam made not just a pearl—but a black pearl. This pearl looks beautiful, yet the blackness makes it hard to see. It was cold as ice, and it was hollow like a ball. The woman couldn't stop thinking about how unique this pearl was that she had to put it somewhere more special than another pearl.
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I can't sleep. Yesterday was a weird day for me, and it was also the best day I could have. Lisa is still in my head, and I couldn't imagine what was happening to her today after she gave me that wave. And as I opened my eyes amidst the darkness around me, I found myself relished and well—but only because I was restless.
"What? Where...where am...I...?"
"Bed...? Sleep...? Humans...?"
"Wait..."
The voice in my head is much more coherent than the one I spoke, which made me realise how regretful my moment with Lisa was when I could have more questions for her. Meanwhile, Starglaze was sleeping beside me as if nothing had happened between us. He wasn't that friendly when I had the initiative to meet this human, so I thought it would be a bad idea to talk about her.
My head feels dizzy as if it wanted me to wake up and continue my dream elsewhere. Maybe I was meant to wake up this early for a reason—a reasonable reason. My blue dress has now become my pajama, and it felt so thin and uncomfortable on my glossy skin. I knew I had to wake up to find something else.
"Oh..." I thought. If I couldn't sleep, I did something else—Something that didn't tire me enough to sleep outside my bedroom. My door was slightly opened, and I saw darkness lying far away. Without disturbing Starglaze, I quickly tip-toed my way downstairs.
Tip-toe. Tip-toe. Tip-toe.
I went downstairs, my foot creaking with pain as each toe tried not to crack. I was a pearly face, after all—made not to stretch. But the night was so silent that my body creaked so easily on the woods, betraying me of the serenity. But nobody was awakened, and nobody was concerned—who would be awake for me after all?
"So calm..."
"So dark..." I mumbled.
The lower floor looked so different when it was darker—no sign of stars plastered on the wall, nor a glitter to shimmer a light. It's almost like I was walking in a den of Frowlings, waiting for one to come out. But it was so peaceful and weirdly comforting after negative thoughts.
I head to the counter, quietly grab the cake out of the fridge and take my piece without a trace. Unfortunately, muttering was not as easy as doing it. My hands weren't trembling weakly as I felt the lethargy within. A Joyling like me should have maintained a proper sleep, yet I could not sleep without a taste of something sweet. Doorwell used to say that.
"Eugh...augh..."
"Come on..."
The humans are putting a trap on this cake. Every time I tried to move this invisible barrier off, it made the loudest screech as if someone was holding a balloon while scratching it with a knife—always on the edge of popping. I was afraid—my head kept tilting back and forth.
"What is this...what is this thing...?"
Savouring the cake was worth the reward, but I'm unsure how to put this barrier back afterwards. All I can think about now is eating the cake, which only makes me thirsty. So I headed for a drink from the tap water, trying not to make a sound.
"Human water...it should be good..." I wait for the glass to fill.
"Be good..."
Now, all that I have here is sitting alone in the kitchen with water in my hand. The night was long, and I didn't feel good after eating the cake. I feel terrible, eating my way out of this darkness by hoping that a sweet could fill it.
Why do I not feel happy? Is it because the rude woman said I wasn't ever a star? Or is it because Lisa just rejected her only friend? Why do I feel heavy? The burden of this thought makes me more restless as I continue down in this darkness. I truly have so much to think about something I have none.
"I have nothing..."
"My fame, my name, and my friends...all gone..."
"I'm alone...I have nobody but me...and Star—yeah, him..."
I used to have everything—the peak of my life. I have friends, all who recognise me and love me as I want to be. Then the humans took it from me, trying to 'help' me from this 'sickness' I have. They tore everything, and now I'm just a pearl—unpristined.
I could live in a castle, a home better than this. I could live every day in a world without shame. I could have been a girl who was happy all day in the pinkish sea shell of my abode—dancing in the moonlight with my fellow friends while we waited for the stars to come out.
"Pristine Pearl is not the Pearl she used to be. Who's to blame?"
"The humans...they made me...terrible..."
Because humans hated it. They hated us being fazed by the stars so much that they rid that hope from us and replaced it with a spotlight. Gears grinding and Joyus leaking—but the humans were laughing instead of pitying, for what comes out is a new Pristine Pearl after her failure.
After all, what's behind this pyjama was not the flesh it used to be. It used to be pink and transparent, but now I can see my bones shining with Joyus. When I became a disappointment to Sebastian, I became more transparent, except for the head. The head just couldn't be transparent, Sebastian said.
"*Sobs* I can go with this. I can..."
"No friend? Not a problem...not a problem..."
*Cling* *Cling* *Cling*
My head was drowning in sadness and emptiness as I wielded nothing but shame. Yet before I could feel sorrow coming deep like the ocean, I heard a sound coming from a distance that I was not familiar with before. This sound resonates so oddly, like ornaments ringing.
"Huh?" I gaze. From a distance, it was all darkness. There was no light for me to look at, but something was moving around there. The chimes linger around the hallway as it become the only thing that sings through the silence.
I have never feared darkness before, only humans and intruders. But an intruder who hid in the dark is much more scarier than the one in the light. I couldn't see the face well, nor could I expect who was coming after me. Footsteps and chimes it was all wandering faintly from my eyes.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
The intruder is walking, but his footsteps are closer to me. I quickly hid under the counter before the sound of his chimes was getting stronger and louder in the kitchen. I was right—and the intruder was close. Luckily, it didn't see me.
"No, no, no...what was that...?" I whispered. My eyes are opened as I see the cake and cup I haven't put near the fridge that could tip my presence here to the intruder. But he didn't seem to notice through this dark kitchen by himself.
*Chime* *Chime* *Chime*
"Wait...that chime..." I thought.
I heard the chime again, and it sounded more like a harmonious ring of a bell than a simple ring. But then something finally resurfaced from me—a past call. The chime on that bell sounded so low yet so menacing, and it only came out following a tap on the ground—but not from the intruder's shoes.
"Chime after a tap...not a footstep...cane..." I eavesdropped. The intruder still wanders around the house, moving with his cane as he swerves through the darkness, looking for something. Either he hadn't found what he was looking for, or he was teasing me.
But I realize immediately. There was only one person I knew who could've made that ring. That ring came from the head of a cane, along with several echoes of tiny ornaments hanging around it. His footsteps are slow but coordinated like a game of cat and mouse.
One person stood out in my head quickly when I heard all the criteria. It was held only by the being in my life who would've held something so grimly and saddening in his possession. He, whom I had never seen for years.
"H-how...? How could he...?" I stayed under the counter, hearing as he kept himself busy around the kitchen.
"After all these years...? He returned...? W-where have he gone...?"
*Heavy howl*
Oh, the howls—His howls. No doubt it was him there, and he must've been here for me. But how long has he been waiting since? He seems to have wasted years for nothing. Moreover, it was too dark for me to see anything else around, especially even a sight of him.
"*Cough* Not the air..." I whispered.
The room turned humid in his presence, as faint water began to roam around the walls and made it suffocating for me to breathe. The dampening space I was in, and the moisture were almost killing me. But I am brave-hearted as I am ready to hide like a brave girl I am.
*Confused howl*
His tone was shifted, but his eyes must have looked upon the cup and cake I put on the floor. I heard his footsteps even closer, and now he stopped moving around or chiming his cane. His breath was somewhere in that darkness, turning closer towards the fridge as I heard it.
"W-what are you doing here...? What are you...please...leave..." I whisper. I could only watch in darkness as a hand grabbed the cup and cake from the floor.
"No...no...no...just...leave...just leave..."
I tried holding my breath, making myself even more silent than ever. But the intruder is toiling before me, trying to find me between the traces of cup and cake. Suddenly, its footsteps were coming at me. It was chiming as if snow had come, and I hate snow when it was dark. Slowly, I can see its shoes right before me! He was blocking my only way out.
"No, no, no, no..." I whispered in panic.
He was above my head, but he couldn't see me because of the roof above my head and the dark space I was in. I immediately recognised the type of shoes he was wearing—still the old kinds of shoes he was in. His pants are blueish-dark, like the cloudy days in the town of Frowlings.
"He's standing tall."
"Come on...come on..."
I couldn't move any of my body without making a sound. His feet are still blocking my way, but his intention is still a mystery to me. I couldn't hear anything he was doing above my head, but I could hear his chime softly ringing around as he stayed. It was such a terrifying sight for me.
I decided that I had to do something for myself against this intruder. Luckily, I had the cake spoon in my possession, and I immediately grabbed one for a show. The moment his legs were temporarily bent, I quickly put my hand out with the spoon and threw as far as I could onto the back dining room behind him.
Clang!
*Confused howl*
The spoon lays loud, and he hears it well. He grunted in confusion after hearing that tempting song and left me. With that time I had, I crawled my way out of the counter and reached for the living room while he was distracted.
I wanted to see his face, but he was covered in a hood. Strange, he didn't even have his crown. He was holding his cane, but he wasn't a king in that stance. Though I could have gone closer to him, he was already looking away from the diversion, and I immediately crawled into the living room as soon as I heard his chime and footsteps again.
"*Pant* *Pant* W-what do I do...?" I thought to myself.
The air was cold and dry as before, making it easy for me to breathe again. But the intruder was still there, haunting and searching for me. I couldn't risk myself going upstairs, knowing he would follow me there. My next move is to find a more secretive, safer place to hide.
*Creak*
"No...." I whispered.
*Confused Howl*
The lounge door betrays me—its creaking was so rackety that I ended up dragging him close to me! His chimes were coming my way, and his footsteps were even louder. I quickly entered the lounge room and sealed the door before he could find me. My breath was so intense that I almost had him looking at me!
"*pant* *pant* *pant* Come on...come on..."
Suddenly, it was silent. I couldn't hear him anywhere around the house, and I believe it was over. The intruder walked away with his chime, leaving me alone at last in this lounge. At last, it was safe and bright again in this room once I turned the lamp on. But now, I couldn't move out of this room while he was around.
"Aww..." I thought to myself. The couch was the only place I could sleep now, and I had no blanket or bed to lay on.
"What is happening...? Why is he here...?"
"Why...? Why...?"
I prepared to sleep on this bed. My head was low, and my body was lying on this couch again. Much like yesterday, I slept well here while all these dreams and phantoms were around the house. But here, the nightmare won't find me, not while I'm shimmering. —————————————————————————————————
As morning came, I heard the first chirp of a bird outside the window. The sun was brighter, and the clouds were beautifully orange. It was dawn, but I never woke up in this dawn before. I could hear the new life given to me after long, dark thoughts.
"Pearl! Pearl! Where are you??"
"Where is she??"
"Find everywhere! She couldn't be missing!"
Oh, I must have slept for long. My human parents thought I was leaving them. Perhaps I should've stayed upstairs instead. Leaving the lounge after a short rest never felt so relieving to me, especially after the sun was shining above my head.
"Mother, father, Starglaze! I'm here!"
I left the lounge, and my parents were there panicking as they were about to get their hands on the phone. Their teary eyes suddenly turned to relief as they saw me alive and well behind the lounge, yet Starglaze looked even more pressed and disappointed seeing me.
"Christine! Where have you been? We were so worried about you!" My mother holds me by the face.
"Why are you in that lounge?"
"I'm so sorry. I was sleeping on the lounge last night because I was afraid."
"What? Why?"
"Well, I was attacked by someone last night.
"What? What do you mean? Who attacked you?"
"I don't know. But I have a suspicion that I know who..."
There was no time to wait. I knew that last night was real enough for me to check. I stood up and took my moment as I checked for the kitchen. As I expected, the metal spoon was still there, lying on the floor from where I had thrown it. I checked the fridge and found my cup still standing on the floor.
"He was here...he was really here..."
"Who's here? Christine, who's here?" My father checked in confusion.
The one man—the one and only man. He who holds the power among the Frowlings, standing as their ruler and leading the wave of sadness into the rainbow of happiness. He who brought apathy and sorrow as he walked. He, who only knows misery.
Long have I never heard of him since years—since his mysterious disappearance behind the curtains. Now he returned, right before his only enemy—the main character of perseverance and beauty. He, whose name is remembered by many Joylings with a trembling leg.
"King Glum," I uttered, and there was silence.