Post by Eternity on Aug 29, 2015 21:19:03 GMT
Have you ever awoken to a beautiful little song?
You don't know how or why but it's there now, repeating on an endless loop. Never from the beginning and far from the end, it's always stuck somewhere in the middle.
Today is one of those days for me, my love.
I'm gonna be the main event
Like no king was before
I'm brushing up on looking down
I'm working on my ROAR!
RRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
I know, I know, it's not quite as good as Joanna's...yet, but I'm getting there. Until then I'll just keep beating her for thinking she can do it better than me.
OH I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING!
What do you mean, that's impossible?
Listen Bub, it's 2015, anything a man can do, I can do, alright?!
Well yes, you're right, maybe I don't have the right equipment just yet...I still need to get my crown back from Alexis and for the life of me I just can't remember where on Earth I put my sceptre or my robe.
What do you mean not that kind of equipment? Honestly what other kind of equipment do I need?
Of course I know its anatomically impossible!
What do you think I am?
Honestly!
What is it with men always being so damn obsessed with what I keep down my pants?
You've got a dirty mind, my love, and I have always been fascinated by how it works. How one memory can lead to another, and how sometimes it all connects so beautifully and you end up back where you started.
Like the song playing in my head right now. I remember where I was when I first heard it.
It is one of my last few real memories of them - all of us - together...as a famiy...
Puffs of yellow smoke start to obscure the pictures I have placed in your mind, and the voices behind the chorus change.
As the smoke starts to clear, you hear four little voices coming from four little Scarlet hoods, each holding a candle as they circle a seven foot golden iron maiden with the face of Alexis Caffrey twice, singing all the while.
Girls: It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
Then the Iron Maiden swings open as yellow smoke pours out and slowly dissipates revealing me to you. A Heiress within a Maiden within a Maiden.
The hoods drift into pairs either side of the larger than life Alexis as I step out from inside of her, finally free. She had tried to keep me locked up inside for so long...no longer. Now she had no choice but to face me.
You see that a thin red slash is painted down my white face, across my left eye, bring out its unnatural green colour.
The four candles line themselves up in front of me and you hear me blow gently. All four of the dancing little flames go out at first, but the second reignites. You see me smile as I take this candle and dismiss my other children back into the shadows from where they came.
You see me sit down, cross-legged on the ground and place the still burning candle before me.
Hush little baby...don't make a sound...
You see me cock my head to one side.
Hush little baby...don't make a move...
You see me then extend a naked hand out in front of myself.
This is going to hurt...
Through the flame. I hold it there, steady, not flinching. A sharp intake of breath from you, I smile.
Me...more...than...you...
You see me then quickly withdraw my hand.
Which will it be? What will hit you first, I wonder.
The fact that Mike could never save you from me...or the fact that Mister Vee has saved you for me...
Hoohoohoohoohahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Tell me Alexis, just how much does it hurt to know how alone you really are in all of this?
However much it hurts you now sweetie, I promise you that it will never hurt quite as much as being denied by your child. The one you have raised as best as you could, the one you watched stumble through her first steps in this big wide world, alone.
As quick as they are to grow up, they're even quicker to forget that you were there in the beginning, aren't they Alexis? I was there the first time you thought you could realise all of your dreams without me...and we all know how that turned out for you, don't we sweetheart?
And so here you are again, seeking validation from me, the mother you were too quick to shun in the first place.
Do you see it yet Alexis? Do you understand how much you need me? How much we need each other?
We bring purpose to each other's lives, and we always will. I need you and you need me. That is our bond. A bond that will never be broken no matter how big you get. You will always be my baby girl and I will always be your mother. Nothing and nobody can ever change that.
I've watched you grow, you've waited so long for this, I know. I know how much your baby means to you. A mother always knows. As much as she means to you, you mean even more to me. Now I know that you're asking yourself who am I to care so much? Why do you matter so much to me?
It's simple baby, as much as I embarrass you sometimes, you are the only one who gives me a new lease on life.
Through you, my child, I achieve a sense of immortality. You are my legacy. You are the one I will leave behind when its all over. You may not see it now, but one day when I'm no longer here, when I have moved on to whatever lays beyond the here and now, you will look back and remember me for just how great I always was.
I didn't realise that about my own mother until it was too late, either Lexi...
You see me shrug.
I think they call that the circle of life, baby. Life goes on for all of us whether you like it or not.
One day soon the baby you've cradled and clutched so tightly, kept so safe for months and months and months will outgrow you. It is inevitable, you can't change it, no matter how much you might want to, no matter how much you need to. I've accepted that and so will you Alexis, as we all do, in time.
If you're lucky it won't happen for a while yet, but let's face it, Alexis.
We've never been very lucky have we?
One mother is sick in spite of your best efforts, the other is sick because of them, and then the cruel hand of fate forces you to make a choice. How do you chose something like that Alexis?
I couldn't. You can't.
And so you stand to lose it all. Alone.
Like mother, like daughter.
We are the same, split right down the middle.
There's a little bit of me inside you. An inherited spark that exists inside all the special little girls. A spark of madness, of joy. For they are indistinguishable. Just as we are, my darling.
Don't you see that Alexis?
Don't you see what you must do?
To stop me worrying, to stop me coddling, to stop me doubting whether you're ready to fly the nest. You must seize it Lexi, you must embrace it. Hold on to it my love, hold on tight.
It's going to be a bumpy ride,
We cannot ever stop running, we can never stop to take a breath because we're afraid of wasting it. We need something to cling to, a reason to go on, and a way of justifying our existence in the here and now. For you it is the hope that you can be even more than me, even more than your mother before you ever was.
For me it is the same.
It is time to emerge from my shadow, little butterfly. It is time to stop walking in my shoes. I want them back. I want you back. I want my baby back. I want to see you step barefoot into the light. I want to see the beautiful young woman I'll be leaving behind. I want to look deep into your eyes, your soul. I want to show you something, something rare and special.
I need you to understand that it is the same hope that drives us through this life, the same dream that defines our value, and most importantly the same obsession that marks us...
You see me then outstretch my hand and show you my palm, marked by the flame of my resilience.
And for that they call us crazy. For that they mock us. Dismiss us. Blinded by their arrogance to who we really are and just how far we've come.
That's why you'll always be my baby girl.
It's taken a long time for us to get here again Alexis, but once more we are set to share a grand stage. Destined, perhaps as we always were, to do this all over again, one day.
Today.
Tomorrow.
The Day After Tomorrow.
Tomorrow Never Dies.
Tomorrowland.
The Land Before Time.
For all time - that's how I will remember you, my child. My baby. My daughter. Bound not by the blood we share, but by the blood we spill. Together. That will be our story. That will be our Legacy. So many have tossed us into the same fire and left us to burn, left us for dead, haven't they Alexis?
That's why you'll always be my baby girl, Alexis.
So many have mistaken us for prey, not predator...and paid for their ignorance, and so it is with a chilling inevitability that it has all come down to this. The Heiress and The Maiden. Somebody will move on, somebody will be left behind...because somebody always is.
Somebody always has to die.
Somebody else always has to lose.
I have been there once before, and I am not afraid to go there once more.
A scarlet hood then shuffles out of the darkness and heads towards me with a large slice of watermelon in hand. You see her offer it to me. You see me then rub my burned palm across the fruit, soaking it in the red dripping juice, some of the seeds stick to my fingers.
You see me tilt my head back, wipe my palm across my forehead and whisper into the air.
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala...
The camera then pans down slowly to the single burning candle in front of me.
The flame quivers in our presence. Almost as if it knew we were watching its final dance.
You don't know how or why but it's there now, repeating on an endless loop. Never from the beginning and far from the end, it's always stuck somewhere in the middle.
Today is one of those days for me, my love.
I'm gonna be the main event
Like no king was before
I'm brushing up on looking down
I'm working on my ROAR!
RRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!
I know, I know, it's not quite as good as Joanna's...yet, but I'm getting there. Until then I'll just keep beating her for thinking she can do it better than me.
OH I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING!
What do you mean, that's impossible?
Listen Bub, it's 2015, anything a man can do, I can do, alright?!
Well yes, you're right, maybe I don't have the right equipment just yet...I still need to get my crown back from Alexis and for the life of me I just can't remember where on Earth I put my sceptre or my robe.
What do you mean not that kind of equipment? Honestly what other kind of equipment do I need?
Of course I know its anatomically impossible!
What do you think I am?
Honestly!
What is it with men always being so damn obsessed with what I keep down my pants?
You've got a dirty mind, my love, and I have always been fascinated by how it works. How one memory can lead to another, and how sometimes it all connects so beautifully and you end up back where you started.
Like the song playing in my head right now. I remember where I was when I first heard it.
It is one of my last few real memories of them - all of us - together...as a famiy...
~~~~
The lights went down. A girl, ten years old, is sat next to her father.
She admired the castle at the heart of the kingdom of Walt Disney Pictures.
She loved being here again, escaping to Disney's make believe world.
Blackness. Bird song.
WALT DISNEY PICTURES
presents
NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa...
She jumped in her seat, unprepared for just how loud the voice was that cracked through the serenity before it. She looked around, her mother still wasn't here and she wondered just how long the line for the popcorn really was.
...nts ingonyama bagithi Baba
Sithi uhm ingonyama
Naaaaaants ingonyama bagithi baba...
She sat perfectly still this time and smiled, ready for it. The voice would not catch her out again.
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama
She watches an orange sky with a couple of clouds, suspended like elongated puffs of frozen smoke in the air. The yellow sun rises slowly over the horizon, the shadow of a solitary tree stands in the corner.
Siyo Nqoba
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
A rhino lifts its head and turns towards the light. Three antelope, several meerkats and a leopard all behold the glory of a new dawn as the African chanting continues.
She had never seen the sun like that before and she would never look at it in the same way again. It was then that she began to see beyond the art. She saw the majesty and the meaning and the power and the absolute beauty beyond the light of the sunrise.
Shadowy birds fly across the waterfall and the chant remains. She couldn't understand it, but she knew it sounded beautiful. Elephants walked in the mist. More birds flew free.
It was then that she decided she would definitely like to come back as one.
Shadowy antelopes leap across the foggy plains and then a mother and baby giraffe walks across the green hills.
From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done
Now she began to understand. As the elephants marched behind the birds, she found meaning.
There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round...
~~~
Puffs of yellow smoke start to obscure the pictures I have placed in your mind, and the voices behind the chorus change.
As the smoke starts to clear, you hear four little voices coming from four little Scarlet hoods, each holding a candle as they circle a seven foot golden iron maiden with the face of Alexis Caffrey twice, singing all the while.
Girls: It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life
Then the Iron Maiden swings open as yellow smoke pours out and slowly dissipates revealing me to you. A Heiress within a Maiden within a Maiden.
The hoods drift into pairs either side of the larger than life Alexis as I step out from inside of her, finally free. She had tried to keep me locked up inside for so long...no longer. Now she had no choice but to face me.
You see that a thin red slash is painted down my white face, across my left eye, bring out its unnatural green colour.
The four candles line themselves up in front of me and you hear me blow gently. All four of the dancing little flames go out at first, but the second reignites. You see me smile as I take this candle and dismiss my other children back into the shadows from where they came.
You see me sit down, cross-legged on the ground and place the still burning candle before me.
Hush little baby...don't make a sound...
You see me cock my head to one side.
Hush little baby...don't make a move...
You see me then extend a naked hand out in front of myself.
This is going to hurt...
Through the flame. I hold it there, steady, not flinching. A sharp intake of breath from you, I smile.
Me...more...than...you...
You see me then quickly withdraw my hand.
Which will it be? What will hit you first, I wonder.
The fact that Mike could never save you from me...or the fact that Mister Vee has saved you for me...
Hoohoohoohoohahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Tell me Alexis, just how much does it hurt to know how alone you really are in all of this?
However much it hurts you now sweetie, I promise you that it will never hurt quite as much as being denied by your child. The one you have raised as best as you could, the one you watched stumble through her first steps in this big wide world, alone.
As quick as they are to grow up, they're even quicker to forget that you were there in the beginning, aren't they Alexis? I was there the first time you thought you could realise all of your dreams without me...and we all know how that turned out for you, don't we sweetheart?
And so here you are again, seeking validation from me, the mother you were too quick to shun in the first place.
Do you see it yet Alexis? Do you understand how much you need me? How much we need each other?
We bring purpose to each other's lives, and we always will. I need you and you need me. That is our bond. A bond that will never be broken no matter how big you get. You will always be my baby girl and I will always be your mother. Nothing and nobody can ever change that.
I've watched you grow, you've waited so long for this, I know. I know how much your baby means to you. A mother always knows. As much as she means to you, you mean even more to me. Now I know that you're asking yourself who am I to care so much? Why do you matter so much to me?
It's simple baby, as much as I embarrass you sometimes, you are the only one who gives me a new lease on life.
Through you, my child, I achieve a sense of immortality. You are my legacy. You are the one I will leave behind when its all over. You may not see it now, but one day when I'm no longer here, when I have moved on to whatever lays beyond the here and now, you will look back and remember me for just how great I always was.
I didn't realise that about my own mother until it was too late, either Lexi...
You see me shrug.
I think they call that the circle of life, baby. Life goes on for all of us whether you like it or not.
One day soon the baby you've cradled and clutched so tightly, kept so safe for months and months and months will outgrow you. It is inevitable, you can't change it, no matter how much you might want to, no matter how much you need to. I've accepted that and so will you Alexis, as we all do, in time.
If you're lucky it won't happen for a while yet, but let's face it, Alexis.
We've never been very lucky have we?
One mother is sick in spite of your best efforts, the other is sick because of them, and then the cruel hand of fate forces you to make a choice. How do you chose something like that Alexis?
I couldn't. You can't.
And so you stand to lose it all. Alone.
Like mother, like daughter.
We are the same, split right down the middle.
There's a little bit of me inside you. An inherited spark that exists inside all the special little girls. A spark of madness, of joy. For they are indistinguishable. Just as we are, my darling.
Don't you see that Alexis?
Don't you see what you must do?
To stop me worrying, to stop me coddling, to stop me doubting whether you're ready to fly the nest. You must seize it Lexi, you must embrace it. Hold on to it my love, hold on tight.
It's going to be a bumpy ride,
We cannot ever stop running, we can never stop to take a breath because we're afraid of wasting it. We need something to cling to, a reason to go on, and a way of justifying our existence in the here and now. For you it is the hope that you can be even more than me, even more than your mother before you ever was.
For me it is the same.
It is time to emerge from my shadow, little butterfly. It is time to stop walking in my shoes. I want them back. I want you back. I want my baby back. I want to see you step barefoot into the light. I want to see the beautiful young woman I'll be leaving behind. I want to look deep into your eyes, your soul. I want to show you something, something rare and special.
I need you to understand that it is the same hope that drives us through this life, the same dream that defines our value, and most importantly the same obsession that marks us...
You see me then outstretch my hand and show you my palm, marked by the flame of my resilience.
And for that they call us crazy. For that they mock us. Dismiss us. Blinded by their arrogance to who we really are and just how far we've come.
That's why you'll always be my baby girl.
It's taken a long time for us to get here again Alexis, but once more we are set to share a grand stage. Destined, perhaps as we always were, to do this all over again, one day.
Today.
Tomorrow.
The Day After Tomorrow.
Tomorrow Never Dies.
Tomorrowland.
The Land Before Time.
For all time - that's how I will remember you, my child. My baby. My daughter. Bound not by the blood we share, but by the blood we spill. Together. That will be our story. That will be our Legacy. So many have tossed us into the same fire and left us to burn, left us for dead, haven't they Alexis?
That's why you'll always be my baby girl, Alexis.
So many have mistaken us for prey, not predator...and paid for their ignorance, and so it is with a chilling inevitability that it has all come down to this. The Heiress and The Maiden. Somebody will move on, somebody will be left behind...because somebody always is.
Somebody always has to die.
Somebody else always has to lose.
I have been there once before, and I am not afraid to go there once more.
A scarlet hood then shuffles out of the darkness and heads towards me with a large slice of watermelon in hand. You see her offer it to me. You see me then rub my burned palm across the fruit, soaking it in the red dripping juice, some of the seeds stick to my fingers.
You see me tilt my head back, wipe my palm across my forehead and whisper into the air.
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala...
The camera then pans down slowly to the single burning candle in front of me.
The flame quivers in our presence. Almost as if it knew we were watching its final dance.
Well howdy there pardner.