By Lee
The world is dark and musty, the air suffocating. It is hard to define the beginning of one object and the end of another. Earthy tones make my lungs feel like they are being filled with dirt and dust, plants growing in my veins, suffocating me. Much like when trees are suffocated by vines.
When trees are suffocated by vines, the vines are flourishing and beautiful, you can’t help but admire them for a second before remembering they are the bad ones in this narrative. The beauty of the vines helps distract the viewers from the dark nature of this entire act, the stealing of sun and air from someone else because it makes your life a little bit easier. I usually overlook this but I’m trying not to this time.
She sits across from me. Her hand is blurry and undefined but it is holding her up. I can't see where her hair ends and starts, or even if her hair is exposed and I’m not looking at a hat or veil of some sort. It seems she is wearing a coat. A gray or black or maybe even a green one. I cannot tell and I will not try to understand what it is I am looking at.
What I do know is that there is light, although sparse. It illuminates her face, the outline of her side profile. Her nose is a bit red, most definitely from the cold weather outside of our small refuge. Her lips are pointy and red, and from the texture of it, she could probably use some chapstick.
She’s a welcoming presence, and despite the cold, I feel a little warmer when I’m next to her.
She makes me forget about the suffocation of this world and the vines that swallow me.