Culture Shock (LGBT)

I Like How It Feels

"So just turn it up, let me go

I'm alive, yes and no, never stop

Give me more, more, more

Cause I like how it feels

Ooh yeah, I like how it feels

You know I like how it feels

Oh yeah I like how it feels

Should we love, makes us one

Let's make a beautiful world

Take my hand, it's alright

Cuz tonight, we can fly

So we keep living, cause the feel's right

And it's so nice, and I'd do it all again

This time, it's forever

It gets better, and I I, I like how it feels"

Snow White's POV

The heady sent of flowers tickled my nose. They were just so sickly sweet. And the worst thing of all was I kinda liked it. It smelt familiar, like the flowers we had piled high on Mother's tomb. All of this might seen a little dismal but I didn't mind at all.

I'd been in the conservatory all morning, just sitting and smelling the roses. This tiny square of warmth had become like a second home over the years, paradise in a prison of my own making. And prison it was being hidden away from the rest of the world, forgotten. Not even my own father cared enough to remember his own son's birthday!

I had sat in my room the entire day, hoping, praying, that he'd walk through my door any moment. And when the clocked chimed midnight I just couldn't take it anymore. Laying on my bed a their golden peals faded into oblivion, for the first time since my mother's death, I broke down and cried.

That night was the first time it really registered, I guess. It was then that I finally realized I hate my life. And it was then that I almost ended it. But Black Cat stopped me before it was too late. I'd just laid there sobbing in her arms as she coddled me. She convinced me that taking my own life was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Besides, I couldn't do that to Cecilia; she needed me and there were a lot of people that were far worse off than I was.

Our people were slowly starving. The past year's harvest had been pitiful to say the least and the winter unseasonably harsh. And here I was thinking that I was the only person in the world with problems! But in the end it was all my fault, really. I was the one that could have prevented it. Maybe if I'd tried harder I could have...what? I don't know but I could have done anything instead of just wondering! I know that I'm a horrible, selfish person but I just don't know how to fix this. How can I live with myself when so many people's blood is smeared all over my hands?

Well, the answer, my friends, is never that easy. But until I find it I've got Black Cat to help keep me on the straight and narrow. Hmm, maybe not straight if you know what I mean, but narrow enough.

So here I am, a month and a half later, sitting in my mother's greenhouse smelling the roses. The first melt had started and Spring will soon be underway. It's my favorite time of the year, the changing of seasons, when the world awakes anew. And something about it is incredibly mysterious with the dark at war with the light. Anything could happen and the future will always remain unseen.

Or so I believed a year ago. The day I met Black Cat everything changed, though. She opened my eyes to all that I'd been taking for granted. And for the first time in my life I didn't feel guilty just to stop and smell the roses.

So, over all, I'm beginning to like how it feels. The way that everything's now in crystal clear focus. I think that's the real thing Black Cat has to show me, clarity. She blew into my life like a winter storm and I guess we are currently in the eye. But the second blizzard is just around the corner, I fear. Nothing this good could last forever.

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"Snow, get up!" A voice was yelling in my ear. My eyes instantly snapped open and my hand instinctively found the dagger under the pillow. What was happening?! It was still dark outside proving the sun had yet to rise. I had been awakened out of a dead sleep so my brain was still a bit foggy.

As my senses adjusted the culprit was reveled. It was none other than the golden goddess herself standing at the foot of m bed in nothing but her nightdress. The hearth fire was now hardly embers as she was bathed in a red pulsing, halo. "What is wrong?"

"Snow, I need you to get up and follow me but don't bother getting dressed. Something's happened and our time together is running out. Remember when I told you I couldn't stay? Well, my departure has been moved up and you still have a lot to learn, things that I just can't teach you. So, I'm enlisting a few of my friends to help, too. But the thing is, we have to leave right now! Got it?"

I was in too much shock to do anything but nod my head. I had so many questions but right now was obviously not the time. Whatever it was that scared Black Cat to this extent...it must have been very bad. She's the most level-headed person I've ever met so the circumstances must be dyer.

I threw off the covers and ran after her as she rushed into the corridor. It wasn't quite Spring yet and the air was frigid against my bare feet. The cold was creeping into my bones and stealing my breath but still I followed after her. Black Cat, my mentor, my best friend, the closest thing I'd had to a mother in a long time, needed me right then and I would never disappoint her.

Our mad dash was soon brought to an abrupt halt in the Great Hall. There were men-at-arms everywhere! Whatever had Black Cat panicked obviously affected everyone. But the thing was, once they saw us they changed direction and headed right for us. Black Cat grabbed my sleeve and started running again back the way we'd come.

"What's going on?!" I panted out.

"They think I'm a witch! The queen...she wants me dead. We have to go now!"

"But where?! There are people everywhere!"

"Snow, I need you to trust me. Remember the story, how I told you we're both in it?" She didn't wait for my answer before going on, "Well, you're the prince, I'm the stranger, and your step-mother is the witch! She wants us both dead so we can't fulfill the prophesy and end her rule. But we've got to get out of here tonight, alive!"

"But what about Cecilia?!"

"She's female. She can't inherit so she's not a threat. But the queen will kill you!"

I'd been so stupid! Looking back it was all so obvious! "So how are we getting out of here?"

"Like this!"

It was only then that I realized where we were, the battlements of the castle. And there we stood at the top of the world for what seemed an eternity. The wind was spitting snowflakes in our faces and the sun was just peaking over the horizon, instantly blinding us. But we just stood there, hand-in-hand, waiting.

And so just as the castle guards reached the roof and began to surround us, we jumped...

Years later there would still be rumors about what happened that night at Ravenwood Estate; what were those two tiny specks were that fell from the sky; what had caused the blind white flash was just as they were about to hit the ground. But honestly we might never know.

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Okay, everybody, that concludes the end of part one of Culture Shock. Did anybody see that coming? Of course not, that was the point. So, what happened, you may ask? Well, I can't tell you! Not yet anyways. But don't worry, even if Snow and Black Cat met their untimely demies the story must go on. So meet me back here a little later to find out what really happened. Best guess gets a dedication!