The lady's hand does not fall.
The volcano opens his eyes, the green at first surprised, then slowly burning, boiling, blazing to rage.
'So be it, my lady,' he says, and he rises to his feet, his head reaching to the sky. His voice shakes the foundations of creation as it whispers in her ear. 'I love you, my lady, and now my hatred for you shall be as large as that love. As large as the universe entire. Your punishment shall be that I shall never stop chasing you, never stop tormenting you, never stop asking for that which you cannot bestow.'
'And I love you,' she says, 'and your punishment will be that I will forever do so.'
He leans down to her. 'You will never be at rest. You will never be at peace.'
'Nor will you.'
'The difference, my lady,' he says, with an ugly smile, 'is that I was never at rest to begin with.'
She takes a step back from him. And another, and another, moving faster and faster, until she turns her back on him and takes flight, racing away into the heavens.
YOU ARE READING
The Crane Wife and the Volcano
General Fictionthis is not my story, it belongs to the great book "The Crane Wife", by the amazing writer Patrick Ness. this story explains the life of one of the main characters, called Kumiko (aka the crane wife), told by herself in 32 parts. even though there...
