Dark Night

Dark Night, Pencil on paper, Artwork size: 27 x 37 cm, 29 Jan 2014

List of chapters in 2014 “A walk on the dark side”:
Jan – Dark Night, Feb 2014 – The Tunnel, Mar 2014 – The Invitation, Apr 2014 – Underground Palace, May 2014 – Foxy Gentleman, Jun 2014 – Crystal Lizard, Jul 2014 – Three Little Mice, Aug 2014 – Mr. Mad, Sep 2014 – Chess Game, Oct 2014 – Lost Children, Nov 2014 – The Garden

Dark Night

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was becoming mad about cutting into my skin. Sharp like knives until it felt like my skin was starting to bleed. But even then it wouldn’t have been possible, because any liquid would have been blown dry quickly by the highway speed of crisp ice and wind.

So I was standing in front of the forest, maybe I was already among the darkness ready to be swallowed. The branches looked like dark witches’ hair but It was not as threatening as it appeared. I like witches, sometimes I feel like I could have been one of them if I was born in medieval times.

Why was I standing among the forest at this odd time of the day you asked? I was running from something. Don’t we all have something to run from? Those people or creatures who force themselves into our lives, occupying our mental and physical space, until we can’t bear it anymore? I couldn’t bear it. I’d rather put myself in this cold and windy place so I could numb myself from the wounds I had from struggling.

Where there was forest, there were creatures. People say “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”. That may have been true, but being tortured by the devil you know is a long and slow process, it took my soul away little by little. I‘d rather a quick death by the devil I didn’t know, life would be much simpler that way.

What kind of creature could have lived in this kinda place? Like a tiger with human eyes? Staring into my eyes? Perhaps. It was almost comical how it looked, trying to be fearful but certainly failing after you sense a tiny bit of vulnerability. It was quite a strange kind of creature, I‘d have to say. Its paws were subtle like any kitten trying to stalk you in the kitchen.

Slowly it approached me, and I could see it clearly. The dots on the creature did make it look more like a leopard, but it looked quite strange with its squarish front part of the body. It actually had a very bizarre front body. Bizarre in the sense that it didn’t seem to belong to the body at all. It looked like a montaged image, pieced together with glue onto paper.

It looked at me, with a somewhat disappointed expression. Perhaps it was seeking a sign of fear in me. I didn’t feel frightened at all, if anything, this strange situation almost made me laugh. I’m not sure if it was the cold night that was numbing my senses. So I just walked right past it, towards the house behind.

Yes, there was a house waiting there. It looked terribly symmetrical, not sure whether it was because it existed in the middle of chaos.

By now I almost forgot about the creature. I walked straight toward the house, somehow it seemed way bigger than it appeared meters away. Perhaps it was because of the simple structure, almost like how a kid would doodle a house on paper, a squarish house with a big triangle roof top. As I approached it, the single story house I observed turned out to be three to four levels tall. I felt so small, in front of a horribly tall brick house.

I was not sure if it was the cold, or simply the push of the creature, I knocked on the door. The seemingly long door that went all the way to the top. There was no knob or any window visible at the front, I wasn’t sure what was going on behind.

All of a sudden, just when I had a glance at the creature behind me, I saw it quickly move toward one side of the house, my left side. In the little corner, it put its head against the door, and pushed it open slightly, only enough to fit its head. Like any other cat, that means the body can follow through with ease. Quickly, it disappeared into the building as if it were never there.

Since it didn’t bother me, I thought to myself, I might as well just follow it to avoid being eaten or frozen in this icy hell.

I tried to remember the exact spot where it went, and knocked on it once. It was quite a heavy block, so I tried a little harder. I could feel the warmth coming from the other end. I suddenly realised how this could all end badly if someone or something was waiting on the other side of the door. Maybe there was a hungry master who‘d capture lost souls and have them with afternoon tea. But I didn’t really have a choice. I could go in, and try to get my way out, or die in the woods, eaten by some furious beast. At least the creature was to blame for my inconsiderate actions. I was simply its guest, after all.

I crawled through the opening, and I could see warm glows from fire that had lit the place inside out. Just what I needed, I thought to myself. A warm spot with a fireplace. There is always a fireplace somewhere, in a miserably cold night.

I was inside the building. I could only see a tiny area of lighted space where it’s closest to the fireplace. I was trying to adjust my eyes a little bit for the new environment, and wait for myself to settle down and listen to the surroundings. I remained quiet to detect any trace of movement or noise.

The creature reappeared from the right side of the fireplace. Apart from its subtle breath, I couldn’t really hear anything else. Oh wait, maybe the sound of the wind from outside, murdering everything out in the opening. I was so glad that I‘d found my little sput, a place to relax.

I still wasn’t sure about reaching toward the fireplace yet. That would be too obvious if someone just came down the stairs. The creature was obviously living here, I thought to myself, otherwise he wouldn’t have known the secret entrance.

But the fire was just too tempting, so I tried to move along towards it. I could see the surroundings a little better. There weren’t many chairs around like you would expect. In fact, there weren’t any sitting instruments at all in this place. There were only strange looking tables and shelves, as if a comfortable place to sit down wasn’t very important here. The furniture had seen better days, they looked like they’d been through a terrible fire yet survived. Everything was black and mysterious, with burnt marks covering almost everything. I could see details of human parts carved into the furniture, perhaps the owner had an interest in human shaped furniture.

I must had been a little clumsy when I tried to move toward the fireplace. I felt something was touching the top of my head. I was terrified for a second, quickly flinched and looked up. A giant chandelier had clearly been touched and was now moving from one side to the other. It sent a little noise into the almost empty space, echoing far away, and back again.