A Lone Beat

 Prologue

            Diamonds dancing over taffeta. 

            Sapphires bouncing on tulle.

            I can feel the silk slide past my fingers like a dream that had once been my reality.  The delicate threads weave together to form a material soft as a newborn’s pearly skin.  The more valuable pearls, themselves, fly through the air like bubbles of luxurious soap coming from a warm bath.  There are streams of satin flowing lithely over seats of rose and powder blue velvet.  The walls are lined with gloriously painted sheets with golden piping. 

            My dream world shatters like flawless glass in a mirror.

            These walls are pealed away to reveal plain wooden walls incased with dirt and mud.  My seats of velvet are melted away by the downpour of pearls that change form into dirty water dripping from a cracked roof.  The comfortable and stable furniture is altogether replaced by simple wood structures that may break with just a brush of a fingertip.  The silk, taffeta, and tulle I once knew are now basic cottons, wool that scratches the skin until numbness ensues, and burlap that was not meant to be a household decoration. 

            My gowns and jewels are all gone, following the silk masquerade that used to be my lavish existence.  Left in their stead are dirty rags that have been left behind by a creature I dare not meet.  This filth lays over skin that once welcomed riches and kisses, alike.  The lips that once brushed across other lips are now dry with loneliness left on the tongue that used to speak with a delicate tone of nonchalance and ease.  All that is left is a rusted voice that will be heard by no one.  No young ear to hear careless whispers meant for only one; no happiness to be gained by the contents of these breathless sighs. 

            The one I once knew is gone.  I am gone, and have left only a frame of a once glamorous picture.  I am no longer anything. 

            Simply a lone beat of a frozen heart.