Lovely Creature

Lovely Creature

Farewell, Lovely Creature.

Was she the sand? Maybe.

Was she the fallen leaves? Possibly.

Was she the woman who destroyed me? Definitely.

We journeyed together for a time. Saw plenty of the world. Mountains and deserts and rivers and seas. She showed me things - wonders, mysteries and sins.

We travelled, too, through the seasons. The winds carried a different scent as one moved to the next. Winter’s sterile air became spring’s, full of blossom and birdsong. Eight perfect summers we shared.

Through it all, I never felt the time racing. I didn’t realise the sand was running out beneath us.

It must have been growing there all the while we were together; a shadow, slowly creeping; a darkness gathering.

Her voice was laughter and song. Smile bright, eyes dark. That’s how I remember her now - not as the withered, bird-like creature she became at the end.

I buried her in the same ribbons and green gloves she wore the day we met.

I wander now alone, through the mad and moaning wind, across the shifting sands.

THE END

Word Count: 178

Inspired by the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song Lovely Creature.

There she stands, this lovely creature
There she stands, there she stands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands

So I asked this lovely creature
Yes, I asked. Yes I asked
Would she walk with me a while
Through this night so fast

She took my hand, this lovely creature
"Yes", she said, "Yes", she said
"Yes, I'll walk with you a while"
It was a joyful man she led

Over hills, this lovely creature
Over mountains, over ranges
By great pyramids and sphinxs
We met drifters and strangers

Oh the sands, my lovely creature
And the mad, moaning winds
At night the deserts writhed
With diabolical things

Through the night, through the night
The wind lashed and it whipped me
When I got home, my lovely creature
She was no longer with me

Somewhere she lies, this lovely creature
Beneath the slow drifting sands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands