Carnivore

x) Reliquum Tempus

ZINNIA DREAMT OF FALL SKIES AND COTTON CANDY CLOUDS. Where the skies were an astounding shade of sherbet orange and the clouds gleamed an ethereal mix purple and pink as they painted the stratosphere with texture and life. Of a world that was not the sterile whites and stainless steel, where the taint of chemicals staining her flesh couldn't reach her, even then. Verdant and emerald grasses grazed against her exposed skin with the sway of the breeze, tickling the nape of her neck, much like her mother would do to wake her up when she was younger.

Strands of glossy, wavy scarlet swept in the playful air as if the wind itself had grasped several small locks and proceeded to gently tug them to rouse her from her daydream.

The scent of persimmons and loquats touched the air as Zinnia pulled herself upright, sugar sweet and all things delightful on the tongue. Like whipped cream and dreams spun on a late summers afternoon, with those special treats she remembered Kali used to prepare when she had the health to spend her energy on the more mundane activities. Cinnamon camaraderies shared between her members, before life took its inevitable turns.

It felt almost like Zinnia could touch the sky, and perhaps sometime she might just try. But the soft sounds of laughter on the breeze drew her attention, calling her to climb to her feet and follow it wherever it may take her.

The grasses beneath her bare feet brushed gently against the arches of her soles before falling motionless, as if the blades sought to cast her a farewell caress before she left. The ground beneath her feet was stained with persimmon orange footprints, marring the otherwise picturesque landscape with unyielding marks that outlined her every step. They remained without change, even as Zinnia's form disappeared through the thicket of trees down the slope.

Chimes echoed overhead, periodically, as regulated as a clock ticking far slower than it should. The world almost seemed to tremble with every chime, the air was charged and sent jolts shooting up her spine with every repetition.

Footprints of different colours began to blemish the ground, all the more with every step she wandered within the forests. Cherry red soles at first, only distinguishable from Zinnia's own for the fact that they were remarkably larger than her own, though sunflower gold came and went in peculiar patches, as if the owner had changed their destination part-way through. Pawprints of lime green, the rough, lavender two-toed feet of some kind of perching bird, and other various footprints peppered the forest floor at varying levels, though those cherry-red boot-prints were the most frequent.

As the world darkened and Zinnia's footsteps began to follow the trail of cherry red boot prints, the sound of crackling thunder echoed overhead, and water began to rise up out of the ground, as if possessed by effervescent motions. Droplets lifted up out of the ground, from puddles oozing from the very ground to return to the skies. The droplets ran up her bare legs, grazing over the pinafore dress she wore over her tiny form, but never staining it. Like an ethereal existence, it traced over her like glass beads rolling over her skin.

Zinnia slowed to a halt as she watched the droplets rise towards the heavens, realizing before long that she seemed to have forgotten a great number of things. She didn't recall how exactly she had gotten here, to a dream that felt so real she could swear she was awake, to watching the rain rise from the earth to meet in the darkening skies above. She didn't remember anything, who those footprints belonged to, why she was here, and why she found herself wishing she would never leave this place.

The chiming seemed to reverberate louder, sending rippling discomfort tearing its way down her spine and prodding at her eardrums.

It drowned all other sounds out, pressuring her senses until they were rendered void and her breath fell short of maintaining her consciousness within this lucid dream.