Indigo: Abraham

The Princess and the Key, Chapter One: A Stray Feather

Indigo

: ABRAHAM :

The Princess and the Key

Chapter One: A Stray Feather

We are all just stray fathers,

Floating on the wind,

Which one of us will fall first?

Alex was in darkness. She had been for the past few weeks. Every night, as she slept, clouds rolled in. They suffocated her, pressured her, and crushed her underneath. No matter how hard she pushed she couldn't lift the sky.

While lying flat against the ground she would hear it—the Voice. It shook the foundations of the world with each mighty word. Sometimes it sounded like a sledgehammer cracking stone. Other times it sounded like the gentle movements of the sea. Always, it was larger than life.

It told her the same thing night after night. "A storm is coming, and you are at its center. Trust not false friends and false lovers. Trust not illusions of peace. There is an enemy in your midst, and only you can stop them."

It was prophetic, she knew, but hollow. Every morning she woke with her skin clammy and her heart banging hard against her ribs, and she couldn't remember a thing except for the shadows and the weight of it all.

Her roommate woke her. Alex could hardly hear her over the roll of thunder that was the Voice. She didn't wake until Ellen shook her. Then, she shot up right into the ceiling and fell back down after, cringing and clutching her head.

"Alex! Are you okay?"

Alex grunted.

"I'm so sorry, I was just trying..."

"What do you want?"

"Well, I was just thinking you might want to go to class."

"When does class start?"

"Oh..." Ellen looked back at the alarm clock. "About five minutes ago?"

Alex rolled from the bed and landed lithely on the ground before becoming a whirlwind of motion. Ellen watched in shock as Alex stripped her clothes, threw on what both girls hoped were clean clothes, grabbed an old banana from the top of the mini-fridge and then rushed out the door with a brief and hurried, "Thanks."

Ellen shook her head but smiled. This was their routine now. Alex always slept in. Ellen always woke her, or she at least tried to. Her success rate wasn't flattering. They were paired off as roommates earlier that year and over that time built up something of a friendship, with Ellen being clearly more invested. Still, Ellen liked Alex.

She grabbed the clothes Alex left on the floor and threw them into Alex's dirty clothes. Then, she grabbed a towel and her shower caddy. Today was her day off from classes, and while she did have some errands to run, she wanted to meet the day at a leisurely pace and enjoy it.

After her shower Ellen put on a plain t-shirt, a pink jacket, grey sweatpants, and her favorite yellow tennis shoes and then left the dorms. She took headphones and a music player with her and sifted through her music until she found something that suited her mood.

It was sunny out, early spring, and the sky was clear and blue. The chill of winter faded slowly and struggled into mid-morning. Once a week, Ellen walked to the local grocery store. She could drive, but she enjoyed the exercise and found this to be her form of meditation. It was a private joy, and the ritual of it was comforting.