Tabula Rasa

Firstly, the fairies. Those pesky little fairies. They had never stayed so long. Yet, tonight - tonight, they truly outstayed their welcome. At first they were no bother, causing such a gentle patter on my cheek, so soft and so slight that my unconscious mind dreamt of cotton-legged creatures leaping through the clouds. Soon, however, their boredom grew and they ramped up their nocturnal bullying. Extremities and pointed limbs became involved in a most aggravating way. Their spindly toes scratched at my exposed flesh. Their fingers, with a death-like grip, tugged at my eyelids. They shook their sparkly little bottoms in my face. Such mischievous creatures. Flying upwards in total formation once I was finally coming to, they cast a series of twinkly lights thinly across the skies of my room. “Drrring?” “Prrring!” “Trrring!” After all these years I had never been able to understand their jingles. Always a sense they were plotting something against me. Always a sense that I would never be alone again. I gave up my attempt at comprehension and watched them glow. And then there was the moon. Now fully awake, there was nothing to do but gaze doefully out of the open window, the breeze causing the curtain to flutter peacefully. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but then I couldn’t look away. The giant nightlight hanging in the pinnacle of the sky above was shapeshifting at somewhat of an alarming rate. Crescent. Eclipse. Full. No wonder the wolves and the waves were so async. My family were all sleepwalkers, always had been. Slowly combing my way downstairs, their semi-conscious presence was unsurprising. Their energy, however, was entirely aligned to one another in an incredibly choreographed way. A slow collective groan slipped from their lips and I allowed them to filter out into the street. Synchronised swimming along the avenue. Dipping and diving alongside one another under that controlling crescent moon. Then there was you. The third piece of my midnight trifecta. The front door, now somewhat ajar, was calling my name. Smooth like candied sugar it opened itself fully with one tiny blow from my mouth. There you were. A vision before clandestine constellations. I wanted to dip you in honey. We made love under the watchful eye of the waxing, waning, vanishing, blue moon. Our bodies became one another. I consumed you in your entirety. My jaw unlocked as I howled at the sky. Rain commenced. The earth swelled around me and I felt myself rising to the Heavens. Engulfed in crashing waves, the world ceased to exist. Tsunamis and thunderstorms enraptured me. Upon the final crack of thunder, my eyes snapped open to the string of fairy lights above my bed. I felt a yearning ache inside of myself. Yet my body was satiated. My thirst quenched. “Drrring?” I called out to the dark. No mischievous jingles echoed. No scrapes along my cheeks, my knees, my back. My jaw, perfectly aligned once more. An altogether odd night indeed.